Should you ride your horse during training and how do you maintain a relationship with a horse in training?

Whether you should ride your horse during a professional training program is a question that depends on your skill level, your horse's current state of training, and what your trainer recommends — and the answer varies significantly by situation. For horses in foundation training — young horses being started or horses with behavioral problems being retrained — most professional trainers prefer limited owner riding during the active training phase, at least initially. The reason is practical: a horse that is learning new responses needs consistency, and an owner whose riding skills are below the level of what is being trained can inadvertently undo work through incorrect timing, inconsistent aids, or unintentionally rewarding the wrong behavior. This is not a criticism of the owner's skill but a recognition that training in progress is vulnerable to inconsistency. As the training progresses and the horse's responses become more confirmed, most trainers welcome and encourage owner rides — typically as lessons under the trainer's supervision, so that the owner learns what the horse has learned and how to maintain it. These supervised rides are an important part of the training program because the goal is ultimately a horse-and-owner team that functions well together, which requires the owner to develop alongside the horse. Maintaining your relationship with your horse during training — even when you are not riding — is both possible and important. Hand-walking, grooming, hand-grazing, and general time-with-no-agenda activities that Warwick Schiller emphasizes in his relationship work keep your bond with the horse current even when the formal training is in someone else's hands. A horse that knows you from daily low-pressure interaction will be more comfortable with you when the training progresses to the point where you ride together.