Placing your horse with a trainer may be good for your horse, but will the outcome be good for the both of you! You must select a trainer that will enhance your ability to work and learn together. In other words, make two good students that complement each other.
- Goals for you and your horse: Explore your intentions. Do you wish to compete, or ride for pleasure? This will have a bearing on the amount of cost and type of trainer.
- Age of your horse: Are you starting a young horse, or a fully trained horse? The age greatly affects the amount and type of training.
You may want a trainer that is noted for starting young horses, as a specialty. Solid, gentle and trusting handling can produce a foundation for the lifetime of riding your horse. This cannot be stressed enough.
If you have a fully trained horse and wish to enhance their training and uses, seek a trainer that will work with both of you. This way, you will learn to use the new tools they teach your horse. Consider that the age of your horse and training history will also have a bearing on the outcome. You must understand old issues your horse may have and use this as a guide to select a trainer. - Breed and desired use for your horse: This also has a bearing on the intended abilities you wish to enhance.
Be sure you find a trainer that can bring out your horse’s talents, while staying within its individual ability. Pushing a horse beyond its limits can be easily done. It takes a good trainer to recognize what talent lies within each horse.
It also takes an honest and open mind to accept a trainer’s evaluation of your horse and its ability. Don’t ever be discouraged and think your horse is not capable. Explore other uses and you may discover your horse’s true ability. In many cases, change is good for your horse, if you are not getting the desired results in a particular type of training. - Behavioral problems and bad habits: These can be tough issues and require a trainer with fair and good judgment. Finesse always wins over force. You can be tough and be fair with the treatment of a spoiled and ill-mannered horse. Common sense and good results are what you look for in a trainer.
Also, be clear and break down the issue you have with your horse. Is it problems with ground manners? Ground manners directly relate to problems in the saddle. If your horse does not lead properly and be respectful of your space on the ground, then this directly translates to bad behavior while riding. Participation… is your horse willing and responsive to your commands? And, can you fine tune your commands into lightness of the request? 
Trainer’s reputation and does your horse’s quality match the trainer? Word of mouth is your best type of recommendation. Fancy advertisements do not completely tell the story and characteristics of a trainer’s ability. Make sure you evaluate you horse honestly. Be sure that it has the quality to be recognized by the intended trainer. A trainer should be excited and interested in training your horse.- Communication: Be clear and set a time period for training. Preferably, 90 days. That way your trainer has a time structure to complete the training goal. Check regularly – verbally or in person, on the progress. I recommend ‘in person’ at regular intervals to monitor progress.
- Finish with lessons for you and your horse: Be sure you have the tools to communicate with your horse, once your trainer has reached the training goal.
Remember that training should be a positive and growing experience in the partnership with your horse!
Jackie Brittain
Merriewold Morgans, Horse Trainer
It was a beautiful Spring day on California’s central coast. The horses were groomed, the pastures mowed, and all the preparations for the party were in place. The day was expertly managed by party planner, Melanie Knowlton. The turn out was even better than hoped…and at 10:00 in the morning 70-90 neighbors, friends and Morgan horse enthusiasts began arriving for the Merriewold “Open Barn” to celebrate the wonderful new horse facility.
You were first greeted by the smiling faces of Don and Diana.  Beaming with pride as they welcomed you to the ranch… you knew you had arrived at a very special place.
Then after signing the guestbook, you were treated to  a table all laid out with information on the day’s events and even a handsomely created Merriewold pen and notepad party gift! This was especially useful in writing down the names of all the beautiful horses you fell in love with that day, or the names and numbers of all the new friends you made!
 
Majestic Oak trees, wild turkey and even deer added to the serenity of this place. At the end of the road you found the new barn and behind that the covered training arena.
Then a curious Morgan nose would lean in over the swooping iron neck hole to greet you.   If witnessing the ‘Poop Patrol’ driving from pasture to pasture scooping away all evidence didn’t convince you of the extraordinary care these horses received…. then your tour of the new barn certainly did!
Heading back toward the sounds of music and conversation, you had one more look at the star of the day, as you passed by his ever-close-to-the-fence presence… the jet black, gorgeous and flirtatious Merriewold Hero.  What a looker! Everyone fell in love with Hero.
At the close of the Open Barn festivities, a group of guests were given the wonderful experience of meeting the brand new foals! They were hanging out with the Mares at a neighboring ranch and what a delight that was! The mares – standing closely by watching your every move, allowed us to pet and marvel at their babies.
As you prepared to leave, one couldn’t help but wonder who was living the ‘good life’ – the owners, or the horses of Merriewold. Assuredly both, but you felt most grateful that just one day in those beautiful hills was shared with you.
 On a quiet Saturday morning in Arroyo Grande, California, our two year old fillies Gaysha, Galaxie, and Georgia calmly waited for the blacksmith in the barn at Rancho Arroyo Grande. Then – for reasons known only to Gaysha, she startled, panicked, and pulled back so hard on her halter that she came out of it and flipped over backwards landing with a thud on her back.  Jackie Brittain, Merriewold’s manager and trainer, ran to her side as Gaysha got up, shaking and scared. Jackie soothed her, calmed her, got her back in her halter and looked her over for any injuries. All appeared to be OK. It was just some kind of freak accident. Gaysha was not a high-strung filly. She had always been easy to handle, good natured, and sensible. For several days after the accident, Gaysha remained out in the pasture with Georgia and Galaxie. However, it soon became apparent that her hind end was uncomfortable and not getting any better. So, we brought her in for stall rest and did some energy balancing work on her. Then one morning, about a week later, she laid down and either couldn’t – or wouldn’t, get back up. We now feared that Gaysha’s injuries were probably a lot worse then we had previously thought. We called Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center and talked to Dr. Carter Judy. We discussed our options and decided to get her up and bring her in to the clinic. Lucky for us that day, Cody – the manager of the stable, had a few friends over to do some roping. It took six of us to get Gaysha up. She was in pain and afraid to stand on her right hind leg. We knew it was risky getting her in the trailer and taking her to the clinic, but our other options were even worse. Once up, Gaysha hobbled slowly to the trailer and courageously walked on. 
We arrived at the clinic and Gaysha was escorted to the examination area. Dr. Judy gently swayed her hind end and knew immediately that she had a fracture. Jackie and I both had a chance to feel the slight clicking during the movement. To determine the severity of the injury he wanted to do a nuclear sintigraphy test. We left Gaysha there in good hands – not knowing, what the future would hold.Dr Judy called that evening and confirmed the worst. Gaysha had a fractured femur and a probable additional fracture of the pelvis on her right side. He cautioned us that although there was hope of recovery the road would be long with possible set-backs and not to be too optimistic. He prescribed maximum confinement, pain management and bone building supplements. She could go home, but only time could help with the healing.The incredible team at Rancho Arroyo Grande went right to work preparing a special stall for Gaysha. They installed an overhead steal cable diagonally across her stall going from hay to water. Her lead rope was tied to the cable and slid along so that she could eat and drink, but could not lie down. Extra bedding was added to cushion her feet.   A dirt ramp was fashioned so that she would not have to hop over the threshold (although she would not be leaving this stall for a long while). Gaysha needed to stay calm and quiet. Our fear was that she would keep trying to lay down and consequently re-injure the fractures.
The first and second week went by with Gaysha being the model patient. We took turns going in to her stall to give her light grooming, massages and to just spend time with her. She would look out her window quietly and occasionally called to her friends. By the third week, though, she seemed restless – or perhaps, depressed.  It was almost as if she was giving up.
 It has been a little over a year since Gaysha’s fall and as you can see from the picture above, she is back to her old self! She and Caduceus Marika share a pasture and have become best friends. In this photo, Gaysha is racing to re-join Marika without any concern for her old injury.
