A different horse every time...

[Sarah]

I think what yor instructor is trying to do is to get you do trot with a lot of impulsion - or contained energy. This is a trot that really makes the horse work, but does not require the horse to go forwards very fast. A riding school horse can happily trot around for 30 minutes without using any energy and have an easy time. your instructor is trying to get you to get the horse to work underneath you.

I does appear that she is going about this in a strange way. She is obviously not very interested in your progress as she is turning up late and leaving early. I thinky ou should have a talk with her about htis - after all, you are paying her a lot of money for this! I am concerned at her sayingthat you are trying to ride too well - if you don't get the foundations laid correctly, you will not get far with riding.

With regard to changing horses each lesson, there are pros and cons to sticking with or changing the horse each time. I should think that you would be able to talk to your instructor and come to an agreement about this.

Your friend's experience with riding being different in a group and by herself is a very common problem. Horses are herd animals, and like to do what the herd (or class) is doing. If one horse trots off, the rest will follow. By itself, the horse has no herd leader horse to follow - instead the herd leader has to be the rider who has to really tell the horse what they are wanting.

Having read your posting again, i think that really you need to find a new teacher. The teacher you have currently is not explaining what you are doing to you and is charging you for lesson which she turns up late for and leaves early from. I would strongly recommend that you change teacher - either to another yard or at the same yard. I think it is important to still try to have individual lessons, unless you feel that you would like to go back to group lessons.

I am really sorry that your introduction to riding has been so poor! Good luck!

[Marlena]

Hi Sarah!

It is actually pure speed the instructor is after. In the beginning she thought I was making a lot of progress and a few weeks ago she said I was ready to join a group as soon as I could ride fast enough. So now it's a question of forgetting about everything else. "Whatever happens", she says "do not slow down!". I find this disconcerting, although there must be a logic behind this. I lost my stirrups last Saturday and almost fell but she was shouting at me because I slowed down.
The whole idea behind this is that when I join a group I won't be able to slow down otherwise the others will bump into me, that's what she says anyway. It's clearly a question of money for her because, like I said, I'm only paying as much as I would for a group lesson, so she's eager to dump me in a group. And because I couldn't keep up the speed with their best horse (and because I was paying attention to other aspects), I began to get on her nerves. She says I can start paying attention to the finer details of riding once I'm in a group.

[Emma H]

You pay for your lessons and have a right to expect a certain standard from them. Your teacher may think you are progressing too slowly but she has no excuse for showing it. You deserve an attentive instructor, willing to let you learn at your own speed and able to build your confidence. When it was agreed that you would pay the group rate for private lessons until you could join a group, did they place a limit on the number of lessons you could have? Did they tell you that you would get inferior teaching because you would be paying less than normal for a private lesson? I doubt it. Had they done so you would have been unlikely to have even started taking lessons. In your position I would not only change instructor but also change school immediately. There are instructors who will encourage you to do your best, focus on what you are doing right and avoid criticising; you owe it to yourself to find one. Remember, you know how you feel and you know what is the right speed for you. Do not let anyone push you beyond the stage at which you are happy.

I wish you the best of luck

Emma

[KarlR]

Marlena,

--- On instructors ---

I would be furious! If she turns up 5 minutes late, and adds 5 minutes on at the end, then fine. If she turns up 10+ minutes late *or* doesn't make the time up, then she is not providing adequate training at all. I know that it's hard to be so firm at this stage, but this really isn't acceptable behaviour from a so-called professional.

I left a school because they wouldn't work to my speed, and because the instructor was highly critical for no good reason - just out of habit. I think that the same can be said here. A negative teacher slows down progress or reverses it. It's your money and riding isn't cheap. If there are several instructors at the school, then say that you don't feel comfortable with the current one and demand another. If not, or if you couldn't face changing and then seeing the old instructor in future, then change school. There really are lots of them. Ring up the BHS if you are in the UK - they will be more than glad to help you find a new one.

I have never had a group lesson - I have shared private with my wife, and no-one would think of pressuring us into going group. Is it that much more expensive there for private, or are private lessons just too inconvenient for them?

--- On trotting ---

There are a number of reasons that you may not be able to keep up the pace...

1.. The horse could be lazy, or unfit. If lazy, then correct use of the whip in conjunction with the leg aids can help enormously. Has the instructor explained proper whip use (slowly, understandably, and with patience)?

2.. To maintain working trot you often need to keep a regular leg pressure up during the trot. Not too strong (unless the horse is ruined - deadsided), but regular. Has the instructor explain when, where, how strong the leg aid should be?

3.. Your leg muscles may just not have adapted yet to the demands of trotting. Here, the intructor is morally obliged to give you time...not pressure.

--- On changing horses ---

Some schools do tend to change people around continuously - other keep to the same horse every week. IMHO, both are unwise. My school gave me the same horse for the first two months while I gained confidence, then changed every few weeks afterwards. This, IMO is perfect. Confidence first, experience of different horses second.

Everyone has days when they feel that they have regressed and are disillusioned, but your experiences are down to poor instruction, not lack of effort.

It would be easy to stop riding with these sort of experiences. Don't.

[Heather]

Good lord!! Most horses would have trouble trotting for a solid half hour, nevar mind the average ploddy school horse! Whatever happened to frequent transitions, which teaches the rider control, and improves the quality of the trot.

Marlen, if this instructor is making you trot for a solid half hour, she has no right to call herself an instructor. She is teaching you nothing, demoralising you in the process.
As for having a preference for a horse, it is an absolute load of rubbish to say that you are too inexperienced to know. You know whether or not you feel comfortable on a particular horse. If it was a very popular horse in a group lesson situation, and several people were queing up to ride it, then fair enough, but in a private lesson situation, that is just illogical.

My advice is, look around at other maneges in your area, and see if you can find and instructor, that actually wants to teach you.


Heather

[Marlena]

I've been riding for a couple of months now and although I'm convinced it's a lovely sport, and although I keep telling myself that I AM making progress, things have been getting progressively worse, and last Saturday's class was a disaster, from the instructor's point of view.

I'm getting on her nerves (and feel it!) because I'm not making enough progress (the way she wants it, that is). The deal is that I get private lessons for the price of group lessons until she feels I'm ready to join a group. The only thing she now wants from me is that I manage to keep the horse trotting fast and steady for half an hour, because otherwise I won't be able to stick with the group. It has come to the point now that she shows up late for my lesson and disappears after 20 minutes and all she tells me to do is to keep driving the horse forward. In her opinion I'm constantly trying to ride too well and that's hindering my progress.

What I'm wondering about, first of all, is whether she's right in not letting me ride the same horse twice. I feel that having to get used to a new horse every time I lose a great deal of time and can't keep up that magical speed she's after. I really "clicked" with one particular horse, but she says I'm too inexperienced to have a preference. Last Saturday we really clashed because I rode the best dressage horse they had and completely mucked up the lesson.

Secondly, a more experienced rider told me that sometimes she has trouble keeping a horse trotting steadily for half an hour if she's on her own, although she doesn't have that problem in a group.

Does anyone have an opinion on either of these two points? I was really happy with the instructor in the beginning, but she's clearly too busy to spend any more time with me unless I trot at the speed she wants. Either I forget about everything else and make speed priority number one, or go to another school and just join a group.

[Marlena]

Thanks to you all!

After reading your responses I actually got mad at myself for not putting my foot down! All of a sudden I feel such an ass; I'm used to handling responsible jobs and being in charge of a multitude of things and when I walk into a manege I'm suddenly regressed to a shrinking little schoolgirl!

I realise I gave this school undue credit for being better than the first one; at least I started off on a lunge line and for the first weeks I had nothing to complain about. Yes, the instructor was a bit curt but then I was not expecting to befriend her, just to learn to ride. It is funny, though, that I always expected riding instructors to be blunt and impatient and the atmosphere at the manege to be nasty and competitive. That's how it was in my childhood and that's what I have gathered from listening to many other people's experiences. It even popped up in some articles I read in magazines; they were giving advice on how to deal with the backbiting and bullying. The old saying "no pain no gain" seemed to extend to mental suffering.

Thanks to this site, I am really beginning to get an idea of what to look out for (which is incredibly difficult when you have no experience!). Why aren't there more reasonable and supportive people like all of you in the schools around here!

I'm going to go back to this school once more, have a good chat with the instructor (if possible!) and if she is not willing to co-operate, I'll start looking for another school.

Marlena.

[This message has been edited by Marlena (edited 22 April 1999).]

[KarlR]

That sounds eminently sensible Marlena. Well done.

I hadn't picked up that you meant trotting *continuously* for half an hour. Poor horse (and how boring for both of you!).

[Gail May]

Dear Marlena

I sympathise with your plight - having gone through similar myself.

I too, feel I regress to a 10 year old everytime I have a lesson - but I am sure this is purely confidence and will go in the long run.

The longest trot I have every done was last week at my new riding school - and I am sure that this was due to the horse being on a lunge. I am sure with just me riding, he would have been less inclined to trot without stopping!

The thing that I noticed right away with this new school is that everyone is so happy - a change from the morose atmosphere at my last school!

Good luck in finding a new instructor who will understand your needs.

Kind regards
GailX

[Marlena]

Can anyone tell me what an average beginner's lesson should be like?

The beginning seemed fine: first a few classes on a lunge line without reigns, then a few with reigns, but after that I've been on my own in a manege just trotting around, trying to keep up that magical speed.

Marlena

P.S. Is it just this country or what?! I just talked to an acquaintance who couldn't sympathise with me at all; in fact, she said she would start taking lessons at the school I go to because where she rides the teacher doesn't teach at all! They're just riding around, beginners and more advanced riders in one group, and the teacher doesn't even speak to them, she's just "available".

[This message has been edited by Marlena (edited 22 April 1999).]

[KarlR]

Perhaps it's just your area? Where do you live? If "this country" is the UK, then I can assure you that there are some superb teachers around (and I don't just mean Heather!).

At my present school, the instructors instruct (continuously) and pretty well. At another school I went to, one instructor was superb - intuitive and helpful; another was awful, but even so still carefully observing and commenting.

It's shocking to even think that there could be an instructor so bad as to not even talk to the students.

[Marlena]

Hi Karl!

I live in the Netherlands, and although I'm convinced that it's just this area, I found my acquaintance's story shocking. A lesson at that manege means that you get to ride a horse for 45 minutes, during which time you do whatever they please (=it's completely chaotic, she says).

Marlena.

[Mike]

Marlena,

You really seem to be having a terrible series of experiences. I think I would have given up long ago. I admire your tenacity and bravery to go on.

I'm glad to hear the site has helped - your story shows how necessary it is to try and influence a change in the way riding is taught. Your point about not knowing what to expect when you have your first lessons is an important issue. I think it would be useful if I included a page with some 'danger' signs to look out for in poor schools and instructors. I'll add this soon.

I hope you can find somewhere better.

Mike

[Marlena]

Hi there!

Just a little update on how things went this time...

Never been so thrilled before!

First of all, I finally got to ride the one horse I felt so good with! I don't know whether it's because I feel more confident with her or because she really suits me, but
the class went exceptionally well. For the first time I felt my legs were glued to the horse's sides and not swinging back and forth all the time.

Secondly, I had a good chat with the instructor and this time the lesson was very good and challenging! Apparently she had been stressed out because of competitions (pretty unprofessional, though, I think, and no excuse really). I agreed that I would have another lesson from her and then a few from another instructor just to see if I'm happy to stay. In the mean time I'll be looking into other options. I got in touch with the Dutch riding schools' association (had a very interesting talk indeed -- wonder why that wasn't my first move! It wasn't a surprise to hear that none of the three schools I have been in touch with was registered.)They will be sending me a list of all registered schools in my area.

I can't begin to describe how good I felt after this lesson! The greatest part of the credit has to go to the horse. She's such a gentle yet curious and lively creature!

Thanks again to all of you! I'm positive I wouldn't have been able to stick with it without your support. Because I knew what to demand, I got the instructor to listen to me. Now I can take my time to decide which school would suit me best.

Thanks!
Marlena.

[Sean]

Your instructor isn't teaching you to ride she is making easy money, basically she is ripping you off. If I were you I'd get a new instructor. I never heard off someone making your ride a horse at trot for half an hour. Do you work on anything else like posting or rising, steering, downward transitions, cantering? This sounds really bad and I would find a teacher who cares about teaching riding and not just taking money and ripping off riders. She dosen't know how to teach, you don't ride horses for that long at one pace on less your conditiong the horse. In lessons you should be working on riding. If you have been riding for a few months you should be cantering, not still working on the trot.