Stubborn Together Blog Hop: Couples Therapy

Piccolopony,  awesome blogger and the owner of one of Bridget's soulmates, Katai, asks us:

How does your current (or past) trainer manage the partnership/relationship between you and your horse(s)?

I'm so, so, lucky in that I've found a coach that works for us the vast majority of the time. There are definitely days when I find it all beyond frustrating, where I just want to go back home with pony in tow and cruise the trails for life, but I seriously can not argue with either my coach's  resume or the results she gets from us. I've learned more in the last year than I ever have, and its solid, positive stuff I'll probably use for life.

Relationship wise, she's very good at being realistic about expectations, but also encouraging you to be the best possible you. That goes for both horse and rider. On a Bridget and T specific level, she is always encouraging me to ask for and expect more from Bridget. She thinks Bridget is pretty awesome, and is not quick to blame the horse for anything, so usually it's me that is expected to step up my part of the relationship a little more! I appreciate her honesty, it very much helps to keep me motivated and confident. I think without this specific coach, I'd still be motivated and have goals, but be quite vague about how I was going to get there, and also would lack the confidence to ask Bridget for as much as I should. Progress would be very slow and I'd likely give up at some point, believing we just weren't capable of getting to a higher level.

Famous Bridget. Sorry, so nerdy, but amused me too much not to share.

Ginger wise, I'll forever appreciate my coach listening to my musings last year and basically responding with "Life's too short. I can teach you both, but I'd rather teach you on the horse you're having fun with right now." The decision to focus on Bridget has been a very wise one, and I respect that she never came out and said "Silly person, for your goals Bridget is the one with the talent and mind you need!" Instead, she just set out to prove her point re: Bridget's awesomeness, worked to increase my confidence, and found Ginger a super little lease rider in the meantime. Ginger is doing really well, I do ride her from time to time and enjoy it, but I'm cool with the status quo and I've never been pressured to ride her or sell her or basically make any decisions until I'm ready. Lately, I'm pretty much all aboard the "breed Ginger to Cardi" train, partly because I like the idea, but mostly because I trust my coach's  judgement and expertise. If she thinks it's a good plan for my future prospect, I'm in.