BlackFriar Farm Sawtell Eventing: 2016

Found this on Facebook. Thank you NB horse training for sharing.

When you work with a professional trainer (someone who trains exclusively as a career on a full-time basis, not just a horse enthusiast who trains on the side), there are some things you should know about us. Please take these things into consideration when interacting with us.

We’re always tired, it’s just a matter of what level of exhaustion we are currently functioning at. Please be mindful of this when you ask us to do extras for you, your horse, or your child or feel the need to talk about how tired/exhausted you are after your 8-hour work day or all the errands you had to run. There’s a reason you may get a blank stare when you talk about being tired as most of us wouldn’t know what to do if we had the amount of free time most people take for granted. Don’t get me wrong, we all work hard, just take a moment to assess the situation before you speak.
Most days our schedule is so packed we don’t even have a moment to sit down unless it’s on the back of a horse. If you want to talk to me, walk with me. Most days I don’t have time to sit and chat so please be aware of this when you drop by the barn to visit.
On average, we work at least a 12-hour day, 6-7 days a week. Don’t get me wrong, we chose this lifestyle, but be aware of this when going over your availability for lessons, attending shows, and coming to see your horse. You may leave work at 5, be able to go home and eat dinner and relax before popping out to the barn at 7:30pm but we’ve been here all day and haven’t showered or eaten yet ourselves.
Our work follows us home. Whether it’s book work, returning phone calls, emails, text messages, FaceBook messages, researching horses for sale, bloodlines, reserving stalls and signing up for shows, reading new rule books, etc. Most people will never understand this part of the job. When you run your own business there is no “down time”. When most people leave the office you can relax until the next work day. When we leave the “office” we start in on our next long list of things to accomplish for the day.
Our families are almost always irritated with us about our professional life. We don’t have much free time and our families get the short end of the stick on a regular basis so if we tell you we have family plans please respect that.
Training is not glamorous, financially lucrative, or easy on any level. While it may seem “cool” to work with horses and the high dollar amount of the sport itself may lend itself to financially well off individuals, the reality of it is quite different. We get bit, kicked, dirty, sweaty, sore, and most times are quite tight on money due to the high business costs associated with training.
We do actually like horses more than people! Don’t be offended, it’s just how we’re programmed.
We have to juggle dozens of clients at a time, their horses, their schedules, and their needs. You may not realize it, but we have a whole list of people we need to work with on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Please don’t try to change your plans/obligations last minute and expect us to be able to accommodate you.
We take horses very seriously, this is not a hobby, game, or passing phase for us. This may be your form of relaxation, a casual hobby, or just a fun activity, but this is our livelihood and we take it and our responsibilities very seriously.
While we are not by nature overly emotional beings, we care more than you think. Most emotions have little place in the business world or in the handling of horses but we do have a heart and know how to use it. We are not cold; we are just focused. We will lay down our lives for our horses and bend over backwards for our clients but we must also be professional. Horses need a steady anchor to look to so we remain calm, quiet, and collected even in the most stressful or joyful of situations.

Equine professionals are a unique breed of business people. We lead very different lives from that of the average person. All we ask is that you be mindful of the situation(s) we are in and the lifestyle we live and think about that before you act/speak openly. We love our clients, horse and human, and love our life but we would greatly appreciate some thought to these lifestyle situations before speaking, acting, or assuming things about our lives and our schedules. Thanks for reading!