Scary Lesson

[ina.click]

On short, I was scared to death by the fact that I had to make the lesson in same manege where 2 stallions were practicing as well. One was on lounge and later on he was making some dressage practice, the other was doing same as me - trotting etc around - and then the girl that was riding him practiced a bit some obstacles.

I almost wanted to dismount, hand the horse to the RI and walk out. However the lesson was scary and annoying.

I believe all 3 horses behaved good, it's me the crappy one. I never shared the same space with other horses, I barely can hold myself in the saddle, i still am unsure on my directions and my main focus is still balancing myself, while Fatima is mostly doing her circles almost alone.

I was so scared of anything that could have happened! I still can't control the horse accurately I was so worried about bumping into another horse or getting too close to the stallions or stepping on the other RI's that were walking around in there.

I just need more lessons alone and that's what I was trying to explain to my RI that was bitching at me from the side to trot: I cannot trot yet around 2 moving horses if I haven't barely learned to trot alone yet :(

I was making all sorts of turns trying to avoid ...collision as I still am not sure on my moves and all the RI could say was "are 2 riders in same manege too much for you?"

Well yes, if it is the first time I ever have to do that and if they're also stallions and I am riding a mare and I'm also slipping all over the place :(

She wasn't mean hearted though, there was no other way but to share the space and for some unknown reason I am not ready for the outdoor manege it seems (the horse will react differently outdoors she explained). But instead of trotting with a face like this :eek: I would have rathered walk around the other horses to get used to them and such...

What should I do next time? Insist to be left alone to walk around the other horses until I learn to steer properly, or go ahead and defeat my fear? I'm just scared of causing accidents!

[montys helper]

if ** not happy then u need to tell her. if u dont feel comfy then u will send that msg to ** horse and make her feel the same. havin lessons is bad enough with out havin anything to put u off. sorry to hear u had a bad time x

[curlycal]

It is scary when you are learning and sharing the ring with others at the same time. I do think your instructor could have been a bit more supportive.

My instructor used to tell me to ignore the other riders and that they would steer round me as I was the novice.

[Jenny2502]

This is bang out of order!!!!!!! You are paying for this lesson and therefore there is no excuse for these stallions to be in here.

I sometimes (as a working livery) ride around a lesson but this is with one other rider in there and i stay at the opposite end of the school and use the inside track and use left to left if i have to.

It is so intimidating to have a horse lunging when you are trying to ride, and sharing half a school with a stallion whilst the other is lunging, I can so see where you're coming from, you are so right and this is out of order, if there is an outdoor why arent they using it?

[ina.click]

Apparently the horse will run off with me if outside. Dunno.
Anyways if this happens again I'm off the saddle and home. I don't feel like causing accidents and neither learning the hard way, as if I wanted to learn the hard way I would've learned riding someplace else than a riding school.

[carthorse]

If you have to share the school (I don't know the set up at your yard so I'm not prepared to say whether or not this should happen) could you ask your RI to pop you on the lunge? That way you needn't worry about controlling the horse & can concentrate on your balance & position in walk & trot.

Personally I think the fact that the horses were stallions is immaterial, what's important is that they were under control.

[Trewsers]

I think its a bit out of turn when you're paying for a lesson that you should have to be so worried about being near other riders / and a horse on the lunge. I would find it incredibly distracting if I had to witness other riding instructors and horses whilst I was trying to concentrate - but I don't know the set up you are paying for or your yard. Yes, it would have worried me that they were stallions - as I ride a mare and I couldn't say how I would cope if say for instance she were in season - she can be fresh at the best of times!!! Also, I don't understand why you couldn't have a lesson outdoors? I had some of my first riding lessons in an outdoor school - indoor ones hadn't been invented (well they had but they were terribly expensive back then!). Hope your next lesson is better, but do speak up about it - its not fair of a teacher to expect a pupil that hasn't been doing it very long to cope with other distractions like that - you will have to eventually I guess, but if you are in the early stages then I think not.

[ina.click]

Thanks all.

All the horses were in perfect control, except mine and thats why I got so scared actually. I am still learning to steer and such, barely managed some turns and diagonals in trot when there was nobody around.

I was not worried about what other horses could have done, but about what I could have done to everyone else. I am quite a confusing rider even for an experienced horse like Fatima, I am still not appreciating distances well and still learning to use my hands and such.

So because of this, I almost ran over a guy that was entering the indoor area innocently, also my horse saw the door opened and simply trotted outside with me (we got back), and I was probably a big pain in the back for the girl who was practicing on one stallion too, because she had to slow down or interrupt trotting because I still cannot keep it up as much as her. And I had to trot following her on the lenght of a horse which did not quite happen, she soon was following me etc.

That was the only thing I was trying to explain to the RI: I can't control yet the horse, I might bump into the others or into horses, can I please WALK around everybody for start.

Thanks for encouragements though, I will be more determined both in leading the horse and in speaking up for myself :)

[Midori]

If you are a novice and paying for private lessons then you should have the school to yourself, not have to share it.

I would be nervous too with two stallions in these and me on a mare!

I definitely feel you are not getting value for money if you can't concentrate on your riding because of others in the school with you.

Make it clear to the RI that you felt you couldn't get the best from your lesson with stallions in there with you. A private lesson should be just that.

Cheers, Midori

[jumper27]

Hello to everybody.
I see from your pics that you have a very big mannage there. I also understand that you guys don't relly know the concept of PRIVATE or GROUP lessons. You just pay for the lesson and that's it. I also understand that are also other instructors there. Where i came from, there are no private or group lessons also. So you just can't demand to have the whole yard all to yourself.
Acording to your RI, i think she knew better than you what you can do and what you can't do. She is a riding instructor, remember? I bet you are not the first one she learned how to ride. Not to mention her own experience. So i think she thought it's time to push you a little bit further. All teachers do that. That's how we learn: we need to push our limits to move on. We push a little bit - we return to normal - we push again a little bit - back to normal. I bet on your first day, you were not prepared to trot on the lounge but your RI asked you to do it, and you did it, despite the fact that you thought you are not prepared. And everything went well. The same thing happened on your last lesson, right? Everything went well. I'm sure your RI was prepared to help you in case something happened.
I want you all to remember that most of you are new to riding and you just can't judge a RI or any other person with lots of horsey background.
Well, that's what i wanted to say. Good luck to you all.

[carthorse]

Hi jumper27 & welcome to NR!

I think you have some sound points in your post but I'd just like to point out one thing

I want you all to remember that most of you are new to riding and you just can't judge a RI or any other person with lots of horsey background.


Please don't be mislead by the name of this forum, a lot of us on here have many many years of experience on a wide range of horses & in a variety of disciplines. Some are qualified instructors, some compete at fairly high levels. Please don't think that most members are new to riding because that really isn't the case :)

[jumper27]

You may be right, Carthorse. But from what i've read so far, it seems to me that are lots of new riders here. But what's a new rider anyway? You can be a new rider after 1 month and you can also be a new rider after 2 years. But i was mostly thinking of riders with no experience in teaching. I forgot to mention, lol.

[ina.click]

Actually jumper may be very right meaning I am a kind of a woosie as well.

It's just that last lesson I would have rathered to walk around other horses than trot around them. there were too many new elements for me and I'm the kind that gets scared of anything :)

Edit: I wasn't disrespecting the rider instructor actually. I dont have many to choose from but she seems a very polite lady although she picks on me sometimes. However she is never rude or aggressive. It's just that...the lesson got ruined for me. Wasnt enjoyable, wasnt even ok, was just scary and I never actually looked at the clock wanting to go home untill that day

Second edit: and yes there are no private or group lessons. Private lesson means just that I got up early enough to find the manege empty - actually thats why I was appointed so early previously I suspect.

P.S. Please don't start an argument over my scary lesson. I bet there are hundreds of scary lessons more to come for me :)

[STEFF79]

I teach for a living and often kick liverys out of the arena espesially if teaching novices as it isn't safe!! I personally think a novice on a mare riding in the same arena with two stallions is an accident waiting to happen!! I'm sorry you had a bad experiance ina.click why should you be parting with your hard earned cash when me personally as an instructor i'm not only payed for my experiance but my sunny personality!! :D

[Meovcorz]

Apparently the horse will run off with me if outside. Dunno.
Anyways if this happens again I'm off the saddle and home. I don't feel like causing accidents and neither learning the hard way, as if I wanted to learn the hard way I would've learned riding someplace else than a riding school.

Ina.click, I think it would be wise for you too talk to your RI about this. She may understand, from what you have said of her before I doubt you will have any problem. Just tell her how you feel, and yes you might also learn to get scared now and again.

I hope you have good luck.

[ina.click]

Well I told her immediately after the lesson I was scared and apologized for my reaction which was not one of the best either by the way, I acted almost like a toddler.

Now the only difficult part that I still should tell her is that I discussed about all this on a forum :O

Other than that yes, she is great to talk with, not just horses. I doubt she will understand me completely though because we seem to have different personalities, she is the kind that talks less and does more, and also very determined, and I am the kind that talks for hours, does nothing and is permanently scared of whatever may happen.

Edit: and also, due to vacation, I might not get to ride untill...autumn or so :( Which is very sad.