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Who was/is the best trainer you ever had?

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  • #81
    Nancy Peterson & Liz Courrier when I was at Hollins. I honestly think I learned more in those 2 years then I did in the 10 years previously. And Elise (the barn manager) taught me more than I could have hoped about running a barn & horse management.
    ***********************
    Proud member of the \"A\" Team and the \"Hubby won\'t let me have horses\" Clique
    http://community.webshots.com/user/Jeepgirl_311

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    • #82
      In the mid to late 80's I rode with Arlene Orr and Maxine Best doing the pony hunters. I was fortunate enough to be able to show ponies for other people in the barn, so I learned early on how to ride many different types of ponies. They both taught me how to learn from my mistakes, how to be proud from my success and to lose with grace, not always the easiest thing for a young kid to do. And since I was training with Mrs. Best when she got sick, she taught me a lot about life in general, things that had nothing to do with what happened at the show that weekend. I still think about her and miss her!
      http://community.webshots.com/user/sahara511

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      • #83
        My current trainer...

        Susan Lloyd. I've been with her for 10 years- since I was 9, and sometimes I think she knows me better than I know myself. When I was 9 I was timidly doing WT cross rails, and now I do the adult jumpers. She always knows what to say and how to say it to me- and when I need to be hyped up, or when I need to be calmed down. Like when she says "we've jumped way bigger and more technical courses than this- this is cake"... and months later I find out that she was just as intimadated by the course as I was. She knows my horses so well too- especially my jumper, its kinda like he is her horse, she knows him that well.
        flogarty
        "It is difficult not to be unjust to what one loves" Oscar Wilde

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        • #84
          My current trainer of course! She's not a BNT, but respected locally. Without a doubt, she is the best(for me alteast). She tells me how I should ride and what I should do if x were to happen. I currently take 1-2 lessons a week and usually she only rides my horse when I'm having trouble(maybe once a month). She makes me ride through the problems instead of giving up and letter her fix them. She's taken me from the 2' to the 3'3" in two+ years. If I do something wrong, and make a mistake...she'll tell me what to do for next time and it works! It's a miracle. My only regret is not moving to her barn sooner!

          My first h/j trainer is my 2nd fav(well...I've only had three). He was actually a student of my current trainer. He was a perfectionist...always telling/couaching to you throughout the lesson.

          Of course I've never 'trained' with a BNT(cliniced with a few) but I'm sure that a recognizable name doesn't always mean the best.
          -Kendra
          *Every horse, at least once in their life, deserves to be loved by a little girl*

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          • #85
            Victor Hugo-Vidal. Absolutely, positively the best.

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            • #86
              Sandy Aston while she was still with Hap in the early 80's. She was a wonderful teacher, I learned a lot from her. I learned a lot from Hap too, but he's not as good at articulating as Sandy is.
              One of a Kind Studio
              Fine Art Paintings, Horses, Dogs, Wildlife and anything else that inspires.

              New convert to the cow horse world.. love my QH mare.

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              • #87
                The late, great Denny O'Keefe, who was pretty much the Gordon Wright of New England. I was so lucky to have the benefit of his wisdom and I miss him every single day. Could REALLY use him right now b/c my nerve has dropped off to next to none and he was the best ever at powering you through that cr*p. You were more terrified of HIM than you were of whatever he was asking you to do, and you damn well DID it, no questions no excuses no repeats.

                He was one of the old ex-cavalry drill sergeants. Picture General Patton (watch the movie) to get a general idea of what you were up against. Most of us are aware that GM pretty much worships those guys - wrote an article in COTH to that effect several years ago (which could stand a reprint BTW). What knowledge we lost when they all went!! They were the last of the truly multidisciplinary horsemen... Denny had top students in saddle seat, hunter/jumper, eventing, dressage, and even sidesaddle! He hunted, played polo - not sure if he ever did anything Western, I never thought to ask! But really ANY game you decided you might like to play with your horse, he was UP for it, knew how to do it and knew how to shape you up to win. Everybody was terrified of him - horses, students, fellow trainers - but not in a bad way, more in a way of you knew you were in the presence of a MASTER horseman who took no cr*p from anything breathing. Absolute authority.

                His greatest gift and one I've never seen duplicated (although one saddle seat trainer currently gets close) was his ability to ANTICIPATE. He had the God-given ability to watch a horse and rider, see what was GOING to happen several strides before it did, and yell out commands in time for you to fix it and avoid it. You learned by absorbing this with your body and with muscle memory more than intellectually. Ohhhhhhhhhhh I could so use some of that now!!

                He was brutally outspoken and wildly eccentric and could be hilarious. Called all his riders "Ya dumb Swede" (for the record - I was the QUEEN of the Dumb Swedes - I owned the copyright on Dumb Swede-dom!). For years as a kid I couldn't work out what Mr. O'Keefe had against the Good Swedish People of the World, until it dawned on me that in European parlance a Swede is a vegetable! Rarely did you see him at a show ("Why the hell would I want to go and watch YOU ride?" ). The grim joke among his students was that if O'Keefe turned up to watch you at a show, he either figured you were fixing to DIE that day or figured you were fixing to win something unexpectedly big. More usually the former, but he never did tell you which was which.

                The most amazing thing I ever saw him do was get on my old War Admiral gelding, an OTTB who was *barely* cantering on both leads yet and was at that moment having a classic War Admiral meltdown/temper tantrum - and make that horse piaffe all the way down the long side and passage back up the other. ("Now: get back up on your G-D horse and DON'T EVER TELL ME AGAIN that he can't.") O'Keefe was age 85 at the time.

                God bless, Godspeed to the best horseman I ever knew. I'd give anything to have him back.
                "The standard you walk by is the standard you accept."--Lt. Gen. David Morrison, Austalian Army Chief

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                • #88
                  Ginny Edwards is absolutely amazing. She can be tought at times, but it's was well worth it, I would haven't been able to move up to the A/Os in college if it weren't for what she taught me the 4 prior years.

                  I had a lesson with her this past summer and her knowledge and understanding of the horse is absolutely amazing!!! She's constantly learning and very active within the industry as well...

                  I still go to her with questions concerning my horse, even though I only see her several times a year.
                  "It's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along"
                  Maroon5

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                  • #89
                    For the most part I would say everyone I have ridden with has helped me become the rider I am today. I learned different things from different people. I moved around very little as a jr. and when I did move, those people that I moved from knew I was moving to get more knowledge or something they didn't do or they moved or my life took me to a different place... Some highlights would be:

                    Jack Trainor- He taught me to be brave and always make it happen!

                    Bill Cooney & Frank Madden- Each had something different to offer but for the most part they gave me the polish & poise Karen Healy had started the polish but moved to CA.

                    Debbie Shaffner/Stevens & Billy Glass- What a different pair of people! Debbie made me very determined. She is tough. They gave me a great introduction into the jumpers and whole other world! Lots of opportunities to ride other horses. They showed me where I could go if I chose to.

                    Michael Matz- I took a lot away for the very short time I was there (a few years). I think most of my business philosophy is derived on words he said: "The key is to keep it small. If your business is too big you can't be considering every horse and rider. Focus. " For the most part Michael didn't have students so I was and am grateful for the opportunity.

                    Arlyn Decicco- My flatwork truely came into it's own working with Arlyn. I stretched my mind. I also leased a Dressage horse and learned up to 3rd level movements. She gave me a clear picture that a horse is an athelete and that our programs should be geared around treating them like an athelete. As a rider too I learned to change some of my routines to help me physically.

                    My Former Students- Having to teach made me a better rider. I had to think about how to convey the message. My students taught me prospective. They were invaluable!

                    I take all these lessons with me everyday in riding and life in general...
                    What a lucky person I have been to have touched all of these people and a few others- I am grateful for them all!
                    Last edited by CleoBella; Nov. 5, 2006, 02:11 PM. Reason: spelling- blah
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    ...There is a happy medium between always riding the horse to 'your' spot and the 'Jesus, take the wheel' school of riding…
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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                    • #90
                      The horse, PLAY WITH FIRE. If you missed a lick he GOTCHA. He didn't allow for errors and expected perfection. Nothing like an animal being the instructor. He didn't even yell at me, just GOT ME when I got it wrong.

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                      • #91
                        BridalBridle-

                        Hahaahaha- So true. Very funny!
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        ...There is a happy medium between always riding the horse to 'your' spot and the 'Jesus, take the wheel' school of riding…
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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                        • #92
                          It's a 3-way tie, though the ladies are proteges of Major.
                          Major Robert Borg, Christine Koch, Sandra Elwood.
                          www.customequines.com

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                          • #93
                            Originally posted by mem View Post
                            Victor Hugo-Vidal. Absolutely, positively the best.
                            Victor was also one of the best judges around. He gave really tough workoffs in the medal classes. He loved to make you counter canter forever! RIP Victor.
                            One of a Kind Studio
                            Fine Art Paintings, Horses, Dogs, Wildlife and anything else that inspires.

                            New convert to the cow horse world.. love my QH mare.

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                            • #94
                              John Turner. I love just putting his name here, an expecting people to know my thoughts on this. He is my favorite trainer, he's tought me so much, it's hard to find a place to start.
                              Who can teach someone to ride, better than your horse?
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                              • #95
                                My old trainer Jamey Prettyman, he is great!!! I used to train with him and loved him, I thought he was amazing, could ride anything and make it look like a million bucks, and always made me feel like we accomplished something. I no longer train with him only because he is a good 2 hours away from me, however 2 summers ago I did send my greenie to him for more instense training and had some more lessons with him and was very happy. My greenie is now doing wonderful and I couldnt be more happy with the work Jamey did with my youngster. I miss training with Jamey, but we are just to far away now for me to train with him consistently.

                                I am now training and working with Ann Zinsser who also boards her horses at the farm I do and love her. She is a great trainer and knows her stuff. She is amazing!

                                Jamey and Ann are both amazing trainers, not to mention amazing people.

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                                • #96
                                  Originally posted by sahara511 View Post
                                  In the mid to late 80's I rode with Arlene Orr and Maxine Best doing the pony hunters. I was fortunate enough to be able to show ponies for other people in the barn, so I learned early on how to ride many different types of ponies. They both taught me how to learn from my mistakes, how to be proud from my success and to lose with grace, not always the easiest thing for a young kid to do. And since I was training with Mrs. Best when she got sick, she taught me a lot about life in general, things that had nothing to do with what happened at the show that weekend. I still think about her and miss her!
                                  Me too. She was a wonderful "life teacher"- not just riding coach.

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                                  • #97
                                    i rode with maxine as a wee little one. she yelled at me all the time. remember her blue vw bug?

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                                    • #98
                                      Sunny Stevens hands down.
                                      I love cats, I love every single cat....
                                      So anyway I am a cat lover                                       And I love to run.

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                                      • #99
                                        Originally posted by mst View Post
                                        i rode with maxine as a wee little one. she yelled at me all the time. remember her blue vw bug?
                                        I remember that we used to bug her to bring her boyfriend to the barn. She wouldn't do it because she said she didn't want him to know that she yelled at small children and made them cry for a living. But that same tough exterior worked at horse shows. No one messed with her. I also remember that I was champion at Coppergate. I won all my classes. She told me that I should be embarassed at my riding. I didn't ride my best that day. I rode to beat the other kids. Not what she wanted. "Ride your best EVERY time." I had to take my stack of ribbons and prizes and go apologize to her. Looking back, that was one of my best horse shows. Not for the obvious reasons.

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                                        • #100
                                          Oh, easy. Harry Deleyer. I learned so much, not only about riding and jumping but about horsemanship, farming, everything agricultural.

                                          I loved the way he would let the horse be horses, and to work with their basic nature: 1. they need a leader 2. they like to be with other horses 3. they need clear instruction with consistent rewards

                                          It all flowed from there. Young horses might, for example, on a rainy snowy day, have a session in the indoor. Free jumping, three half sisters who share a pasture and are good friends, over small fences and simple combinations, make it joyous, when they get it right and have done a good job, they are done for the day. By the time these youngsters are competing they have had years of jumping experience :-)

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