Horse Trainer Burnout- Misconceptions in the Equine Industry

 Horse Trainer Burnout

 The false illusion of what a trainer will do for the horse, meaning offer this neat packaged result, is ridiculous. For so long nobody considered the individual owner, their abilities, their goals, their time commitment, and most of all nobody actually considered the horse they were working with. 

The cookie cutter pattern of training approaches for horses with the "one size fits all" mentality, created beyond an overwhelming stress due to unreasonable expectations, and the cut throat, rather than supportive, mentality in the horse industry was the icing on the cake that for many trainers mentally burnt them out. 

Then add in the cost of running a facility. If the trainer does not own it, the percentage of payout to the property owner took a majority of their training income. Or if the trainer does own the facility themselves, they don't pay themselves what they need to to survive, and instead sacrifice their time and effort. 

Finding quality people to work, is rare for many reasons. But one of the top ones is if the trainer themselves aren't making enough money, they cannot pay decent wages for help. And yet have the high expectation whether it was with the assistant trainer or facility employees to come through for them. 

Most trainers who are overwhelmed do not have the people skills to handle it well, the business skills to make good money decisions, nor the financial option to pick and choose their clients for the sake of their own mental health. 

The stress of continual financial hardship, it can be a nasty, vicious cycle whether working with a group focused on showing, starting colts, or anything in between.

Owners need an honest shift in their unreasonable expectations, and the entire industry needs perspective on the hours that not only go into the training- but that they are paying for a very specific skill-set and all the past horse experiences the trainer is bringing as they educate a horse. For many owners this is their hobby, they seem to not pay according to the trainer's worth, and instead based on their fun budget.