I WISH: All Trainers Would Be Certified

Summer vacation is right around the corner, and I’ll bet some of you will be taking some riding lessons.  As with anything there are good and bad instructors out there, so how do you find a good one, worthy of earning your hard earned money?

Here’s my advice: Start your search with one of the accreditation groups! That way you can be assured that the person you’re paying to learn from has met some sort of standardized criteria to teach and knows the precautions that need to be taken to be safe around a horse.  Unfortunately, too many riders declare themselves qualified to teach riding and train horses when they really shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a teaching or training situation.  Protect yourself with information!  

There are a number of groups that certify riding instructors, but the one I’m most familiar with is Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA). There are no free passes in CHA. All the folks who are listed as certified trainers have taken the classes and are ranked according to their skill set. ALL OF THEM!

I wish I would have known about this long ago. I could have saved thousands of dollars wasted with unqualified charlatans and folks who rest on their achievements from 20 years ago. 

Repeat after me:

• Just because someone owns a horse doesn’t make them an expert. It makes them someone who owns a horse. 
• Just because someone calls themselves a trainer, doesn’t mean they are qualified to be one. Do your homework. If you want to show, GO to shows. Watch the trainers interact with their students, horses, others. Ask for references. Call and verify them. Ask them for their certification.

Here’s a dirty little secret. ANYONE can call themselves a trainer in the United States. (Please don’t run out and declare yourself a trainer.) Not all trainers, even the big celebrity trainers, are certified. Why? I don’t know. Pride? Concern they won’t be ranked as a “MASTER” trainer?  Concern that they may learn something new? Frankly, I wish more trainers would step up and get certified,  if not to improve their skills then to weed out the trainers who shouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

PLACES TO START YOUR SEARCH FOR A CERTIFIED, QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR:

• CERTIFIED HORSEMANSHIP ASSOCIATION
• AMERICAN RIDING INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION

NOTE: I’m not a horse trainer. I’m not certified by either of these associations. I do know people who are accredited by these organizations and would gladly put my horse or myself in training with them.