Siblings riding with different trainers/barns.

[80s rider]

Do any of you have children that ride at different barns? My kids all have different issues. I haven't found a "one barn fits all". Heck, my kids go to 3 different schools. We have one pony, that my oldest rides. The other 2 kids want to take weekly lessons. I am seriously thinking about having them lesson at another barn. Not because of the trainer, but more of the lack of school horses. The second barn is a top barn, with top riders. We could never afford to board/show with this barn, however I can afford to let my two youngest take weekly lessons.

[CallMeGrace]

My kids have ridden at different barns for a while now. My daughter events, and my son rides H/J. Now, my daughter has decided she wants to ride Eq. I would LOVE for her to ride with my son's trainer, but she doesn't want to. I now have three horses at three different barns. It's a pain....

[findlymine]

80's rider sent a pm

[WorthTheWait95]

My sister and I rode at different AA show barns as kids. She only rode until she was 13 (discovered boys) but we never had much of a problem with it. We both loved having our seperate groups of friends to hang out with at the horse shows but were still friendly/polite to everyone at the other barn and enjoyed the friendly (most of the time) competition b/t total barn ribbon counts. Sure we fought sometimes but all siblings do and I think we fought much, much less then we would have had we been with the same barn. We would have just been together way too much, more time to get under each other's skin. She was hunter focused and I've always been more of a jumper rider so the seperate trainers were a good fit for us.

Of course, that is all from a kids point of view. I'm sure it was a PITA for my parents to be writing two sets of checks each month and driving to two different barns. Luckily they were only about 10 mins apart.

[Limerick]

I've discovered as a pony mom, finding good lessons and good barns for kids is a challenge. If a quality barn is offering lessons, I'd go for it. And I'm sure all of your kids will benefit from meeting more pony kids. I don't know about your area but pony kids are few and far between where I live.

[RV]

well, I don't have kids, nor do I have a sibling that rides, but I have two horses with two different trainers. Is it a bigger pain to go to two places? write two checks? kept track of two schedules? lug my saddle/helmet/boots back and forth? etc. etc. etc. YES, but it's worth it because they have different needs (one personal horse in training, one an investment/sale horse), so I can imagine it would be even more difficult to find one trainer for two kids with different learning styles, goals, expectations etc. If you can make it work, I would think it would be a great way to be supportive of your kids and identify them for their own individuality.

[HobbyHorse101]

My sister and I have almost always ridden at different barns as we have different interest and are at different levels of riding. She is more into equitation and dressage, where I am big into hunters, jumpers, and have recently started a small interest in eventing. On the occasion that we do ride at the same barn we have always ended up jumping down each others throats. (Less so now that we are both getting older, but a ten year difference in age doesn't always help.)

I do however board my horses at four different barns, the hunter and the jumper go to the show barn, the older pony is at a local very close barn that has hundreds of acres full of trails so she can enjoy her semi retirement, a mini is at another local vet's wifes barn where she has injured horses that need a companion that won't bully them, and another older horse and a young green horse are in a two hundred acre pasture just next door to my sister's house.

Do we like writing four different checks a month, visiting four different places a month, not really but its works for now and the horses are all getting good care, until we can have them at our own place and then I will hual in for lessons and I know a few trainers that will come to you, so it works.

(Sorry if I got a bit off topic in the last part)

[Whisper]

I also don't have kids, but have taken lessons at two different barns at the same time before. I'm currently only doing vaulting lessons, mostly at one barn, but occasionally at a second one, and riding for free at my friend's place. The logistics can be a little challenging at times, but it's nice having flexibility.