There are a lot of horse and riding trainers out there and we have sampled a lot of them. The test of any trainer, in my opinion, is how well the student does when they get back home on their own with their horse.
Does the training you receive translate well into how you work with your horse at home?
With that test in mind, there is no question in our minds that our work with Jennifer Bauer and Larry Whitesell in Cookeville, Tennessee has been the best. Every time we work with them, the training translates well to our work at home with Sugar and Morgunn.
We worked for three days with Jennifer in July. Since we have been home we have seen real results in both our riding and our horses. Jennifer is excellent in helping us be better riders which translates into Sugar and Morgunn being better horses.
Betty is making real strides with Morgunn. His gait (tolt) has always been excellent. She is able to transition him from a walk into his tolt in a smooth way. She is able to do shoulder-in's with him along the fence rail on one side very well. Don't worry if you're not a horse person and don't know these terms - it's not important - just know that it's an indication of how Betty is riding and getting Morgunn to understand and move with her.
Morgunn used to be very head strong and would move the way he wanted to go sometimes. Jennifer helped Betty a lot with that and it's paid off well. He rarely does it any more and, when he thinks about it, Betty knows what to do to get him back in line with her without pulling on his mouth.
My work with Sugar is going well too. She stops and backs softly with the lightest body cues. This is an improvement because she got into a habit of walking through her stops and not backing up. Most of the problem was with me and Jennifer's coaching was a big help in the two of us getting back into line together.
Sugar doesn't do a shoulder-in as well as Morgunn, but she's starting to respond well to leg-yields. All we're doing now is going for a lateral step or two and that's working well. She also is responding well to transitions in speed - from a slow walk to an extended walk and back to a slow walk.
On Wednesday, her gait was really trotty. I wasn't concerned because I knew she needed to build her muscles after the long lay off in July. Yesterday, Friday, her gait was much smoother - a more balanced Rocky Mountain Horse gait. So I was pleased.
So, is Jennifer Bauer a good trainer? Using my test mentioned earlier of taking what she taught us and using it at home with Sugar and Morgunn - you bet she's a good trainer - one of the best!
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