It was never going to be easy to alter attitudes towards the corruptible flow of inside information in racing. Old habits die hard. But an attempt to impose a re-education process on the training profession has produced such an indignant reaction that the first two seminars on the subject, held in Middleham yesterday, attracted a combined attendance of only 15 trainers.

Mark Johnston, the leading trainer in Yorkshire, was among those present despite having said a day earlier he “had better things to do”. He emerged, though, to say: “It was a complete waste of time and money. They are working on the naive assumption that we know how a horse is going to run. I told them they would be better off educating people that this information is valueless.”

The mood was said to be fractious and this show of resistance has caused dismay at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). Last night, however, Rupert Arnold, the chief executive of the National Trainers' Federation (NTF), blamed the stand-off on slack and clumsy communication by the BHA, not least in scheduling a seminar in Newmarket during the main autumn yearling sale in the town. “They've made themselves appear to lack understanding of how the business works,” Arnold said.

Arnold feels that his members perceive a bullying or patronising treatment. Most object to an implicit threat from the BHA to withdraw the licence of any trainer who fails to undergo the prescribed awareness course on the complex issue of inside information.

A letter to trainers was sent by Paul Scotney, director of integrity services for the BHA. It explained that the process was mandatory and must be completed before the end of the year, either by attending a seminar or through a computer module. The letter emphasised: “Preventing the misuse of inside information has an important place in keeping our sport clean.”

No respectable trainer could possibly dispute that assertion but many found fault with the means of enforcing it. Charlie Mann said he would face a disciplinary panel rather than comply, while Luca Cumani said: “It's rather like we're all schoolboys, who need to be told how to behave.”

Some trainers overreacted but Arnold said: “I think that was understandable after the way the letter went out and the tone used. I did warn the BHA what the likely reaction would be and their discussions with the NTF could have been handled better.

“It also needs saying that the letter was originally sent more than a fortnight ago but many trainers did not receive it and some have still not done so. The BHA's communication was awry and they seem to be working to an unnecessary timeline.”

Arnold, like me, sat on the broadly inclusive Inside Information panel, which came up with definitions and guidelines after two years of debate. The real, lurking evil - that of “negative” information allowing horses to be laid with impunity - was sometimes obscured by misguided zeal to spread the net into the innocent, positive information that is the lifeblood of the sport

Many trainers believe the root cause of modern corruption is the advent of betting exchanges and would have them banned. But, as Paul Struthers of the BHA said yesterday: “That's not the way the world works. The government has ruled they are legal and we just have to work with the facts.”

It is tacitly admitted within BHA that some mistakes were made in transmitting the instructions to trainers but the damage may be done. Struthers said he hoped it was “a mountain out of a molehill at a time when there is little news about”. Arnold was not so sure. “More thought should have been put into the process. I hope we can put it behind us but I fear a backlash.”