Ok, this is something that would be banned or cause HUGE arguments in other forums, but it's not a 'who isn't' but WHO IS your fave trainer or instructor and why? What discipline you train for, etc.

Hey, I'll go first!!! LOL. I have two, Helen Egan in North Canterbury as she taught me to ride in my 30's! Teaching someone to ride as an adult must be hard and she was very patient and keeps things simple speak.

Then from Helen I moved onto Tracy Kovacs and she taught me to jump, she taught me and Saffy from 4 year old green Saffy and Rach who had never jumped over 80cm's, and a couple of years down the track we are doing 1.10m + tracks and wanting to go higher! It was Tracy that told me to buy Saffy if I ever got the chance.

Tracy also told me to buy Molly! LOL. I think I've forgiven her for that... just kidding.

I have tried many other instructors of national and international calibre but I always go back to Tracy because the way she rides/teaches suits me and my horses.

The only other instructor I go to is Jen Hamilton. She is amazing, she is a lot like Tracy (well Tracy trains with her as well) and it's all about precision and riding correctly and jumping correctly.

nice! Always good to hear the good things about people like that... I'm still searching for one at the moment and just going thru the process of trying some different ones out I'll report back in a few months time LOL

Tracey Paige (Wonder if its in the name)

Shes the most amazing instructor and have actually turned "miss hoon into any jump" into "use your leg to keep her going..."

I use her for showhunter and she is extremely patient and has got me back from not jumping for 10 years to jumping up to 1m

Pretty much all of her advice is spot on nd I trust her judgement explicitly.... she doesnt let me or prada get off lightly either

Anyone wanting to get into show hunter in aukland i would Strongly recommend her

Check out the Show circut new mag - tracey Page does and Interview in there

my fav would be Jody Hartsone, simply because have gone to her a few times with my now semi-retired boy, and had some signifcant improvement that no1 elce seemed to be able to help me get out of him! and now with my young fella, who is by Landioso, she has helped me imensly to get him going, as when we bought him, he was completly dead to any leg aid, orig owners had been told to out spurs on a 4yrold!! poor boy, and now we are going foward without to much troubles.... the hardest part is , trying to find time to get down to her place for the lessons!!

Mine are Ken Dromgool & (the late) Ray Hunt 'cause I found them both easy to understand & learned huge amounts from both of them! Lots of 'lightbulb moments' when I was being confused by other trainers who would tell me what to do but couldn't tell me why I was doing it, what result I was expecting from it or what to do next if I got no/ little/ different reaction.

From a NH perspective I love having lessons with Jenny Patterson and Buck Brannaman when he is here, they make everything clear and easy.

From a classical dressage perspective definately Nadine Francois and Ramón Guerrero. While both have been taught by different schools, they both follow the simple philosophy of forward and soft.

And for jumping, a couple of friends who live in Cambridge, they have taught me so much and give me the confidence to tackle more. Best of all we sit down and have a good natter and a coffee while I recover!

I learn from Steve Brady twice a year and have his book which I find amazing, so clear and concise. I would like to get some jumping lessons over summer.

I have a handful of instructors for dressage, though it is very much about WHO you train with and what system you follow. I have the McLeans as my overseas instructors. I love the theory behind it, and I love what it has done to some seriously messed up horses I have had in the past.

For my regular lessons I have Sally Field-Dodgson. Very particular about the contact and my position, which I wish someone had started slamming earlier! I can be corrected but I believe she has trained more horses from scratch through to GP than any other currently competing person in NZ (11). Not sure how many went to Advanced (I think 14)