Trainer Talk – Recovering From A Bad Go

We recently asked our readers:

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 “𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐨?” Is there a piece of advice that always helps you move on?

Megan Rechberg

The best help for me after a bad go is planning how to fix what went wrong. You learn more from bad goes than from good and the only way that I can recover is to plan to avoid making the same mistakes again… that and margaritas. 😉

 

Cor Inne Sabrina

I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer last April. When I got to ride last year, it changed my outlook, and I didn’t care if things went bad. I was just so happy to be there. My advice: remind yourself that there are many people like me that would be tickled with a bad ride, because to have even that would mean we were still out there living our dream. ❤️

 

Becca Funderburk

My mom is my “trainer”. I’ve never been allowed to act ridiculous about a bad go, and I’m grateful to her for that. I don’t lose my cool, take it out on the horse, or cry. We both recognize bad goes happen, sometimes at the worst of times! The only time you can cry is when you’re bleeding or dead 😂 Life is short, enjoy the horse, and recognize your own contribution to whatever may have happened!

 

Darlene Morrison

Take a walk, regroup, come back and work on what went wrong!!

 

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We also discovered in searching for your responses that this is a popular topic!  Check out what readers said last time we asked in 2021 when things went wrong in Trainer Talk- Advice at the Exit Gate:

 

Brian Brady– “[Very angry face after a wonderful pattern] Me: “You didn’t like it?” Trainer: “What about your THREE steps back there, Slick?” [Followed by very angry expression].”

Kaylee Mellott- “My first time showing Only In Showbiz in Western Riding was at the Redbud, and he launched me so badly that there were people calling us from the 7 Day Run in Iowa asking if I was okay. The next time I showed Juan in Western Riding was at the Youth World a month later. As I was walking out of World Show pen as a Reserve World Champion, my father, Jeff Mellott, the comedian said, ‘We should write a book called from dirt to globe.’”

Kristin Ashley Tullis- “Not when exiting the pen, but while we were both in the lineup in an added money Western Pleasure class. Me: ‘Well, I think they saw me break.’ Trainer: ‘It’s ok. They saw mine too.’ It made me feel so much better about my class and reminded me that we all have off days!”

Carmen Kellenbarger Porter– “Coming out of a Showmanship class in Wilmington, Ohio with Sheza No Lady. I had a new jacket that was really fitted, and my mare responded as if we had to hold a speed record. Melissa Maxwell looked at me and said, ‘We might want to loosen that up some. When this mare moves, you better be ready.’”

Susan Goodwin– “In Showmanship, ‘You didn’t know he was trotting the whole time you were walking?’”

Janet Spooner– “After an unceremonious attempt to unload me… ‘Great job! You’re still on the topside!’”

Brister Shum– “Beautiful Showmanship pattern! Next time, take your horse’s cooler off before going in!”

Micah Howard– “’When you get home, build a bonfire and burn that cowboy hat. You look like Hoss from Bonanza.’ I ended up at Kendall’s trailer ASAP.”

Amy Hoover- “Diagonals are not multiple choice.”

Brigette McGhay Cosgrove– “After a particularly bad Showmanship pattern, ‘Welp, you screwed the pooch on that one.’”

Marni Sampair- “Ummm…. Why did you stop and pivot when they reversed? We don’t do that anymore. Good Lord, it hasn’t been that long since you showed, has it?”

Amanina Abdul Rashid– “I took a video of you on the rail. See the horse that passed you? Yeah, it beat you.”

Robin Ochs Beall- “You didn’t use your buttons.”

Julie Cole Smith- “Ummm, how did you think that went?”

Samantha Quraishi- “There’s always tomorrow!”

Lynn McLean- “I didn’t hate it.”

Renita D. Hershman– “Your hat is on backwards!”

Jo Ann Miller Ives– “Ride the horse you have.”

Lexie Frencl- “So, did you forget something?”

Bonnie McCulla- “Just what did you think you were doing out there?”

Hallie Hall- “Why did you grab the horn?”

Gay Henderson- “Andy Moorman told me, ‘Never blame the horse; you either made it happen or you didn’t.’”