How To Make Success As A Horse Trainer

[Welshies]

I'll do a couple more adjustments. No more "or less", just 30 days.

 

[Kusanar]

Ok... well, it does have training information. Look at ALL the pages.

It looks like you changed the format, there is a LOT more there now than there was when I made that comment, there were only 2 pages when I looked before.

 

[Welshies]

It looks like you changed the format, there is a LOT more there now than there was when I made that comment, there were only 2 pages when I looked before.

No, it was just hard to navigate- so I changed the format. Now it's a LOT easier to navigate.

 

[Percheron chick]

This is going to be long winded but you asked.
I have read the entire post and it has left me a little empty.
It is great that you know what direction you want to go professionally but you appear to be taking the " Jack of all trades, master of none" approach.
What are your best skills? What do you excel at? Where do you have you the most recognition? What are your short term and long term goals? What are the greatest needs in your community? Horse training is no different than any other job. You pay your dues to get where you want to end up.
As a potential horse owner looking for a trainer, I want to know who you are. How many horses have you trained, how long have you been doing this, who did you ride or study under, what have you accomplished.... Next I want to know where I am sending my horse. What type of facility do you work out of? Own, rent, rent a stall...? Do you have an indoor, RP, trails...? Where will my horse be kept? What will he be fed?
Next on the services offered, there is too much fluff. I want tangible skills my horse will be taught under your care. On a green horse just being started, I would expect him to come home with certain skills such as WTC (basic nothing fancy), back, halt, LR turns, stand to be saddled and mounted, walk past scary objects, ride out relaxed on a trail... Depending upon the skill set the horse arrives with as well as his ability to learn and progress this list will be shortened or lengthened. What does 30 days mean? Is that 30 rides? What is the contingency plan if the horse or you comes up lame? Bad weather?
30 days of ground work? You will end up with a tone deaf horse. What skills are you addressing? Basic leading, tying, space, standing for the farrier, trailer loading... Too much sacking out, despooking makes for a dull horse. I would offer this on an hourly rate or no more than a week at a time. This is also a skill set that the owner needs just as much as the horse or he will revert back to his old ways. There are such subtle cues when working a horse on the ground that the only way to learn them is to do it one self and have you correct them.
Restarting horses. What's your deal breaker? When do you walk away? Your health is much more important then your reputation. You will get horses that want to kill you if you don't have boundaries. You didn't make him that way and not all can or should be fixed.
Lastly, I am troubled by the finishing. You and I both know that it takes years to finish a horse. You seem to imply that you can make a child proof horse in a mere 30 days. Again state what you can accomplish with an additional 30 days but don't promise anything as bold as that.
I would focus on what the greatest needs are. Groundwork and starting under saddle. Get 50-100 horses under your belt and the other jobs will come either through repeat customers or word of mouth. Limit yourself to 3 horses at a time tops. That's 3-5 hours of saddle time a day. It will be exhausting but you also need the time to do the extras the first year to figure out what works. That will mean additional hands on time as well as saddle time.
Continue to perfect your long term goals with your own horses.
Good luck. There is always room for quality horse trainers in this world no matter her age. Your skills are what will set you apart.

 

[casportpony]

This is going to be long winded but you asked.
I have read the entire post and it has left me a little empty.
It is great that you know what direction you want to go professionally but you appear to be taking the " Jack of all trades, master of none" approach.
What are your best skills? What do you excel at? Where do you have you the most recognition? What are your short term and long term goals? What are the greatest needs in your community? Horse training is no different than any other job. You pay your dues to get where you want to end up.
As a potential horse owner looking for a trainer, I want to know who you are. How many horses have you trained, how long have you been doing this, who did you ride or study under, what have you accomplished.... Next I want to know where I am sending my horse. What type of facility do you work out of? Own, rent, rent a stall...? Do you have an indoor, RP, trails...? Where will my horse be kept? What will he be fed?
Next on the services offered, there is too much fluff. I want tangible skills my horse will be taught under your care. On a green horse just being started, I would expect him to come home with certain skills such as WTC (basic nothing fancy), back, halt, LR turns, stand to be saddled and mounted, walk past scary objects, ride out relaxed on a trail... Depending upon the skill set the horse arrives with as well as his ability to learn and progress this list will be shortened or lengthened. What does 30 days mean? Is that 30 rides? What is the contingency plan if the horse or you comes up lame? Bad weather?
30 days of ground work? You will end up with a tone deaf horse. What skills are you addressing? Basic leading, tying, space, standing for the farrier, trailer loading... Too much sacking out, despooking makes for a dull horse. I would offer this on an hourly rate or no more than a week at a time. This is also a skill set that the owner needs just as much as the horse or he will revert back to his old ways. There are such subtle cues when working a horse on the ground that the only way to learn them is to do it one self and have you correct them.
Restarting horses. What's your deal breaker? When do you walk away? Your health is much more important then your reputation. You will get horses that want to kill you if you don't have boundaries. You didn't make him that way and not all can or should be fixed.
Lastly, I am troubled by the finishing. You and I both know that it takes years to finish a horse. You seem to imply that you can make a child proof horse in a mere 30 days. Again state what you can accomplish with an additional 30 days but don't promise anything as bold as that.
I would focus on what the greatest needs are. Groundwork and starting under saddle. Get 50-100 horses under your belt and the other jobs will come either through repeat customers or word of mouth. Limit yourself to 3 horses at a time tops. That's 3-5 hours of saddle time a day. It will be exhausting but you also need the time to do the extras the first year to figure out what works. That will mean additional hands on time as well as saddle time.
Continue to perfect your long term goals with your own horses.
Good luck. There is always room for quality horse trainers in this world no matter her age. Your skills are what will set you apart.

 

[dainerra]

you can get a knock off go-pro for as little as $50. And a Go-Pro can be purchased for less than $200 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C80O0ZU/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_4_w
Not to mention, if you are going to make this a business it's a tool that you will NEED. You will want to be able to update clients on their horse's progress. You will want to have video of you working so that you can have an outside view of what is going on. There are a million reasons that you might want to get one.

Or just get a cheap handheld video camera for your tripod.

 

[dainerra]

If you are going to be training for others, especially for those who might want to compete in some discipline, you are going to need to know what the horse looks like from "outside". What will the owner see as to progress if he walked in the door right now while you were riding? Will he see a horse that looks put together and collected? Or one that does the moves but lacks that certain "something" You need that outside view to know where you are in training.
You can see and feel a lot from the back of a horse but nothing will beat that distance viewpoint for spotting issues and progress.

 

[Welshies]

This is going to be long winded but you asked.
I have read the entire post and it has left me a little empty.
It is great that you know what direction you want to go professionally but you appear to be taking the " Jack of all trades, master of none" approach.
What are your best skills? What do you excel at? Where do you have you the most recognition? What are your short term and long term goals? What are the greatest needs in your community? Horse training is no different than any other job. You pay your dues to get where you want to end up.
As a potential horse owner looking for a trainer, I want to know who you are. How many horses have you trained, how long have you been doing this, who did you ride or study under, what have you accomplished.... Next I want to know where I am sending my horse. What type of facility do you work out of? Own, rent, rent a stall...? Do you have an indoor, RP, trails...? Where will my horse be kept? What will he be fed?
Next on the services offered, there is too much fluff. I want tangible skills my horse will be taught under your care. On a green horse just being started, I would expect him to come home with certain skills such as WTC (basic nothing fancy), back, halt, LR turns, stand to be saddled and mounted, walk past scary objects, ride out relaxed on a trail... Depending upon the skill set the horse arrives with as well as his ability to learn and progress this list will be shortened or lengthened. What does 30 days mean? Is that 30 rides? What is the contingency plan if the horse or you comes up lame? Bad weather?
30 days of ground work? You will end up with a tone deaf horse. What skills are you addressing? Basic leading, tying, space, standing for the farrier, trailer loading... Too much sacking out, despooking makes for a dull horse. I would offer this on an hourly rate or no more than a week at a time. This is also a skill set that the owner needs just as much as the horse or he will revert back to his old ways. There are such subtle cues when working a horse on the ground that the only way to learn them is to do it one self and have you correct them.
Restarting horses. What's your deal breaker? When do you walk away? Your health is much more important then your reputation. You will get horses that want to kill you if you don't have boundaries. You didn't make him that way and not all can or should be fixed.
Lastly, I am troubled by the finishing. You and I both know that it takes years to finish a horse. You seem to imply that you can make a child proof horse in a mere 30 days. Again state what you can accomplish with an additional 30 days but don't promise anything as bold as that.
I would focus on what the greatest needs are. Groundwork and starting under saddle. Get 50-100 horses under your belt and the other jobs will come either through repeat customers or word of mouth. Limit yourself to 3 horses at a time tops. That's 3-5 hours of saddle time a day. It will be exhausting but you also need the time to do the extras the first year to figure out what works. That will mean additional hands on time as well as saddle time.
Continue to perfect your long term goals with your own horses.
Good luck. There is always room for quality horse trainers in this world no matter her age. Your skills are what will set you apart.

My best skills are in gymkhana and rodeo.
The local area needs an english trainer. There are none. They also need one willing to work with problem horses.
I have trained 5 horses so far.
My accomplishments are ALL listed on the website....
I am limiting myself to 2 horses in winter and 3 in the summer. Had you seen the website you'd have known what my training facilities were.
Some of it might be fluff yes, but this is for the OWNER to contact me about. They'll ask questions. Too much info at once can turn people away.

 

[Welshies]

If you are going to be training for others, especially for those who might want to compete in some discipline, you are going to need to know what the horse looks like from "outside". What will the owner see as to progress if he walked in the door right now while you were riding? Will he see a horse that looks put together and collected? Or one that does the moves but lacks that certain "something" You need that outside view to know where you are in training.
You can see and feel a lot from the back of a horse but nothing will beat that distance viewpoint for spotting issues and progress.

That is true, but a phone is easy to use. As is my soloshot- which I already have- and it's made for this kind of thing.

 

[Kusanar]

Some of it might be fluff yes, but this is for the OWNER to contact me about. They'll ask questions. Too much info at once can turn people away.

I disagree with this. When shopping for ANYTHING, I want all of the information available to me NOW, if I have to call someone and ask questions about something that should have been on the website, they have lost my sale as I will just move on.