Homes are easy to invest into as we can see our money at work as home value increases with the improvements we make.
A room addition, new roof, remodeling of the kitchen or bathroom allow us to reap the benefits of our money instantly.
Although trees, grass, and flowers do not raise a home's value like a new kitchen, all would agree it increases the appeal of the house and gives the final addition to your home.
You can hire someone to plan, blueprint and implement your new yard and pay a one-time fee that is in the $1,000's of dollars or do parts of the landscaping yourself and save money.
Either way, no one has a problem with adding value to his or her home.
You also realize no matter the amount spent on landscaping, the homeowner needs to learn how to maintain their new yard.
Plants need water, weeds need pulled, pests need eradicated, and sprinkler systems need upkeep or the investment is lost.
Now consider your horse.
It can be hard to understand that training is an investment in your horse.
Just as your home becomes more enjoyable with improvements, your horse will benefit from some upgrades as well.
Now here is where things get a bit confused.
Those who do decide to 'send their horse in for training' think the trainer is a builder and that in one month 'poof' they will have the perfect horse, end of story.
This is very frustrating for the trainer; being looked at as the fix-it person, when in reality the owner needs to learn how to maintain their "new" horse.
You have to realize that upgrading a horses' training is like landscaping your home.
The trainer can get your horse looking like a million bucks, but you have to learn how to maintain that training so your money is not lost.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.
It is unfair to the horse if you invest the time and money into the horses' training and then handle the horse the same way you did before the horse went into training.
You need to learn how to "water, weed, and care" for the newly trained horse the same you would a new yard.
If the homeowner does not have the time to upkeep their newly landscaped yard they do not watch it die then march down to the landscapers office and yell at them for doing a horrible job, they hire a professional to maintain the yard.
It should be no different for the horse owner.
Yet, sadly, more often then not, the trainer is left in the wake of anger when a horse owner who will not take the time to learn how to properly handle their horse destroys all the trainers hard work and leaves the blame on the trainer.
My advice to all horse owners is to be open-minded and learn all you can from your trainer so you can take full advantage of the investment you have made into your horse.
And, for those who feel they have nothing to learn, get a steel horse.
They are predictable, need no training, and can be left in the garage for months between rides with no need for a 'tune-up' in order to enjoy them.
A room addition, new roof, remodeling of the kitchen or bathroom allow us to reap the benefits of our money instantly.
Although trees, grass, and flowers do not raise a home's value like a new kitchen, all would agree it increases the appeal of the house and gives the final addition to your home.
You can hire someone to plan, blueprint and implement your new yard and pay a one-time fee that is in the $1,000's of dollars or do parts of the landscaping yourself and save money.
Either way, no one has a problem with adding value to his or her home.
You also realize no matter the amount spent on landscaping, the homeowner needs to learn how to maintain their new yard.
Plants need water, weeds need pulled, pests need eradicated, and sprinkler systems need upkeep or the investment is lost.
Now consider your horse.
It can be hard to understand that training is an investment in your horse.
Just as your home becomes more enjoyable with improvements, your horse will benefit from some upgrades as well.
Now here is where things get a bit confused.
Those who do decide to 'send their horse in for training' think the trainer is a builder and that in one month 'poof' they will have the perfect horse, end of story.
This is very frustrating for the trainer; being looked at as the fix-it person, when in reality the owner needs to learn how to maintain their "new" horse.
You have to realize that upgrading a horses' training is like landscaping your home.
The trainer can get your horse looking like a million bucks, but you have to learn how to maintain that training so your money is not lost.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.
It is unfair to the horse if you invest the time and money into the horses' training and then handle the horse the same way you did before the horse went into training.
You need to learn how to "water, weed, and care" for the newly trained horse the same you would a new yard.
If the homeowner does not have the time to upkeep their newly landscaped yard they do not watch it die then march down to the landscapers office and yell at them for doing a horrible job, they hire a professional to maintain the yard.
It should be no different for the horse owner.
Yet, sadly, more often then not, the trainer is left in the wake of anger when a horse owner who will not take the time to learn how to properly handle their horse destroys all the trainers hard work and leaves the blame on the trainer.
My advice to all horse owners is to be open-minded and learn all you can from your trainer so you can take full advantage of the investment you have made into your horse.
And, for those who feel they have nothing to learn, get a steel horse.
They are predictable, need no training, and can be left in the garage for months between rides with no need for a 'tune-up' in order to enjoy them.