I agreed to join Sarah Ward's training/lesson program in August 2014; I left July 2015. I had four rescue horses that needed to be sold. I put them in her training program thinking they would sell in a couple of months. I had to give away two of them including one she said was a "money" horse. A competent trainer later told me this horse had a club foot, turned knee and a capped hock. It was agreed commission for selling the horses would be 10%. She asked for 20% on the mare sold in February. By late May, I was so desperate to sell the final one I offered one half the selling price. Horse sold in two weeks - ten months to the day I started training. Any time I brought up how I could no longer afford this, she would become angry and abusive. She came unglued when I said I had found a buyer for Rose (not a rescue).
Sarah's training skills were inadequate. In addition to the rescue horses, I had other horses in her training program. I have other trainers who can substantiate these horses received minimal training over the course of the year. Her teaching ability was also lacking as she could not teach me to ride my own horse, Hilario. I was told I could not ride him because she had to "fix" something everytime I did. As a result I didn't ride him for much of the ten months with her. However, she was riding him as though he belonged to her, showing him and using him to enhance her reputation while charging me for his training, showing and other fees. Now that I've moved away from her I'm riding him almost daily and making great progress.
I never seemed to get my money's worth in lessons. I paid for each month in advance for myself and my adult daughter. Sarah would cancel lessons stating they could always be made up. This never happened. She was unavailable Sundays and Mondays and she was unwilling to carry over make up lessons into the following month.
The checks I wrote to Sarah were in lump sums with no invoices or back up detail. She included my vet bills in with the training and lessons. I started asking for a break down and would simply be given a number by email. I learned she had all my horses under her name at the clinic.
In the end, I believe Sarah's business practices were not above board. I think she became greedy, evidenced by the length of time it took to sell horses, and her unprofessional responses to my financial predicament. She has an anger problem in that she has a hard time keeping her temper when things don't go her way. I came to dread my lessons with her as I became increasingly uncomfortable being in her presence.
Sarah Lynn Ward Reviews
I agreed to join Sarah Ward's training/lesson program in August 2014; I left July 2015. I had four rescue horses that needed to be sold. I put them in her training program thinking they would sell in a couple of months. I had to give away two of them including one she said was a "money" horse. A competent trainer later told me this horse had a club foot, turned knee and a capped hock. It was agreed commission for selling the horses would be 10%. She asked for 20% on the mare sold in February. By late May, I was so desperate to sell the final one I offered one half the selling price. Horse sold in two weeks - ten months to the day I started training. Any time I brought up how I could no longer afford this, she would become angry and abusive. She came unglued when I said I had found a buyer for Rose (not a rescue).
Sarah's training skills were inadequate. In addition to the rescue horses, I had other horses in her training program. I have other trainers who can substantiate these horses received minimal training over the course of the year. Her teaching ability was also lacking as she could not teach me to ride my own horse, Hilario. I was told I could not ride him because she had to "fix" something everytime I did. As a result I didn't ride him for much of the ten months with her. However, she was riding him as though he belonged to her, showing him and using him to enhance her reputation while charging me for his training, showing and other fees. Now that I've moved away from her I'm riding him almost daily and making great progress.
I never seemed to get my money's worth in lessons. I paid for each month in advance for myself and my adult daughter. Sarah would cancel lessons stating they could always be made up. This never happened. She was unavailable Sundays and Mondays and she was unwilling to carry over make up lessons into the following month.
The checks I wrote to Sarah were in lump sums with no invoices or back up detail. She included my vet bills in with the training and lessons. I started asking for a break down and would simply be given a number by email. I learned she had all my horses under her name at the clinic.
In the end, I believe Sarah's business practices were not above board. I think she became greedy, evidenced by the length of time it took to sell horses, and her unprofessional responses to my financial predicament. She has an anger problem in that she has a hard time keeping her temper when things don't go her way. I came to dread my lessons with her as I became increasingly uncomfortable being in her presence.