On schools again...

[Marlena]

Hi!

I thought I'd turn to you people once more with a problem concerning schools.

After a difficult beginning (thanks for all the advice!), I am now taking group lessons at two different stables just to see which one seems better. The trouble is that I find it almost impossible to choose between the two.

School A) has a very friendly atmosphere and the groups are small (4). After about 40 minutes of transitions etc. anyone who wishes to do so gets to have a bash at cantering, which I always find a thrill! It's good fun, but at times the classes can be a bit chaotic because we're all pretty inexperienced.

Scool B) is far more competitive. The instructors are strict and the first 40 minutes comprise very regimental exercises, followed by 15 minutes of 'free' riding. Out of the 6 riders in the group I am by far the least experienced one, and feel it too. Here they won't allow you to canter before you've reached stage two, which can take up to 2 years, and the same goes for hacking.

If I went by the general air only, I would opt for the first one, and I also enjoy the prospect of cantering and hacking early on. However, the second one seems more 'efficient', and I also love the 'free riding' bit which gives you a chance to experiment.

Perhaps I'm being too impatient. Perhaps with just 3 months' experience I need more drills.

Thanks for your patience, I know this was a bit lengthy. I need to make up my mind pretty shortly and would really appreciate any suggestions!

Marlena.

[Marlena]

Thanks, Heather!

I think I'll take your advice and keep going to both schools. The free riding period at the end of a lesson has proved to be the best thing ever for me. Yesterday, for example, I had great difficulties with the horse I was riding because following the instructions takes more than half of my concentration (especially since it's in Dutch!). However, after the short break we always have before we get to experiment, I really seemed to get the horse to listen to me, which I found so incredibly rewarding!

I actually have another question, too.

Yesterday, after the lesson, I had a chance to watch more advanced riders. One lady in particular caught my attention because she was very large and yet rode her horse so softly and with such elegance that nobody could get their eyes off them two. However, at intervals she would hold her hands quite wide apart, so that the reigns did not touch the neck of the horse at all, and trot on in this way. Being a novice, I didn't understand what she was up to. Any idea, anybody?

Marlena.

[Heather]

I have often seen this done, but really cannot understand why anyone needs to do this, particularly if the hrose is fairly advanced. My old trainer Desi Lorent used to scatheingly say of anyone who did it 'huh, they are tractor driving'.

To move both hands apart is illogical. To move one hand out, as in what we call an 'open rein' to encourage a young horse to turn, i.e the inside hand is moved away from the other hand in a parallel gesture, never backwards, and always in conjunction with the outside rein in support, held against the base of the neck.

The advanced rider should be able to make adjustments on an advanced horse which are not even visibl to the eye. That is the hallmark of a really fine rider. Any aid that is really noticeable is too much. This lady may look elegant compared with what you are used to seeing, but if you ever get the chance to watch a video by the German based trainer Kalman de Jurenak called 'Classical Schooling 2',(easily obtainable, by the way) then you will see what I am talking about!

All the best, Heather

[Heather]

Marlena,


I think at this stage, it is probably better to go to both. The disciplined lessons will do you no harm, neither will the free riding period- wish more schools would encourage this, as so many riding school students come to me, who go home and never have a chance to experiment, as they are always in a lesson situation, and being told what to do.The first riding school sounds a bit haphazard, but if you enjoy the more light hearted atmosphere, and can have a go at canter, and you feel that it is fun, go there too, and let your hair down a bit!

Heather