10/06/2025
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"Your trainer helps you and your horse learn, develop, and excel in amazing ways. They teach, demonstrate, encourage, cajole, enlighten, cheer-lead, remind, remind again, motivate, facilitate, remind yet again, and continuously provide you both with the support you need. Good trainers are very talented at doing these things, they enjoy their work, and they celebrate when they see progress in you both; it’s their job and it’s their passion.
Now, since you are an awesome team player, you may wonder from time to time, “What could I do to help them with this process?” Although saying “Thank you!” and showing your appreciation with Starbucks and beautifully wrapped Christmas presents are a great start, there are also some additional, specific things you can do to help your trainer help you. Teamwork is key, and helping everyone on your team be their best is part of your job as a teammate. Let’s explore my top seven things you can do to assist your trainer in this process:
1) Show up prepared and positive
Your job as a student is to show up to the lesson or horse show with a “can-do” attitude. How do you do this? By being mentally and physically prepared and radiating positive energy. Paying attention to details like your nutrition, fitness, speaking kindly and positively, and focusing on your goals for the day will help you and your horse, and it also helps your trainer help you. Being prepared and positive brings constructive energy to the lesson or warm-up ring that you will all thrive on. It also demonstrates respect for the process and the hard work, dedication, and effort your trainer puts in day in and day out to help you and your horse succeed.
2) Listen
Nowadays, riders often get referred to as “clients,” rather than students. However, especially at the ring and in the barn, the best trainers are excited to teach you—their student —about your horse, how to ride your best and how to be a successful competitor. They have a wealth of information to offer, but you need to be ready to hear them and everything they have to say. This means arriving at the barn with a clear, open-minded attitude. To do this, you may want to unclutter your mind as you drive to the barn by turning off your phone or do a “brain dump” when you park at the barn by making a list of all the to-do items swirling through your head so you can leave them behind while you ride. When your trainer feels you ready to listen and do your best it will help them trust you as an athlete which is an often-overlooked component of your team’s success.
3) Let them know what’s working
Your trainer wants to know when their work or teaching methods are having a positive impact. It’s motivating, it builds understanding, boosts the sense of teamwork between you, and helps them become even more skilled at their job. Did you appreciate it when your trainer provided detailed reasons of why you were finally able to nail the toughest part of your lesson today? For example, they told you that lifting your eye earlier through the turn and adding more outside leg helped you get straight and nail the distance into the last line. Or maybe it was helpful when the two of you watched your video together at the end of the show day? Let your trainer know how much you learned and how much you appreciated it! Even things that may seem unplanned or insignificant can be valuable to share with them. For example, you might have recognized how much it relaxes you when they tell you a joke or act silly at the back gate to help you stay calm. Be a good teammate—let your trainer know what is working!
4) Do your homework
Your trainer may give you homework between lessons or (because you are motivated and inspired), you may make up your own. For example, when your trainer asks you to work on counting and keeping a rhythm by jumping over small household “jumps” in your back-yard, do it! Or if they want you to build a new habit of keeping your hands above the martingale strap, you can visualize yourself riding a course with this arm position to build muscle memory. This is fantastic homework for the days you can’t get to the barn. Of course, actual riding time between lessons is always a terrific time to work on the physical homework they may give you. Therefore, try to create a system of how to remind yourself of your homework before you get on your horse, such as making a small list on the whiteboard in the lid of your tack trunk, for example.
5) Be an athlete on and off your horse
Your muscle strength, cardio fitness, nutrition/hydration, suppleness, and balance are just some of the things that will help you tremendously when you are riding. Having stamina and physical ability are musts in a sport that requires such subtle, clear, nonverbal communication with your horse. Your trainer works so hard to manage your horse’s readiness; you will help them immensely by taking care of your own.
6) Keep it simple
When you are highly motivated you can accidentally over-do it (yes, it happens to the best of us). You may do too much analysis, questioning, researching, processing and/or review. This is very well-intentioned, but nevertheless it can slow down even the most spectacularly talented trainer.
Instead, help the process by looking for ways to summarize and simplify whenever possible. Whether it is asking for help clarifying two goals for the course instead of listing the 17 you think are essential or saving a question until the end of a lesson, you can be sure that your efforts to simplify are appreciated by your trainer (and your horse). Your focus will be intensified and improved when it is directed towards a few clear, prioritized ideas.
7) Focus on solutions
When you have a rocky moment in the tack, keep your focus on the solution. Though you may be tempted to dissolve into an overly negative, emotional reaction, be strong! Trainers are all about helping you find solutions to your challenges, but when they must wade through large amounts of frustration, exasperation, anger, etc. it is difficult for them to help you. Was that the last time you will ever jump a one-stride or trot a serpentine, or ask your horse for the counter-canter? Of course not! Help them out by using some quality breathing to let go of any negative reactions, and refocus on what it will take to do it right next time. Then, use your mental and physical skills to make the solution feel like second nature."
📎 Save & share this article by Johnston, Mental Skills Coach at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2024/10/03/top-7-ways-to-help-your-trainer-help-you/
