Scared and Discouraged: Is it me?

[Harmonae]

I've recently started taking lessons again after a break of about five years. I'm having some issues, and I'm trying to figure out if I should continue this or if I'm just not cut out for this.

I used to be an okay rider: I took lessons several times a week for a year and went on some riding holidays. I just loved it and never had any problems. I stopped riding because of money/time... but my situation has changed. I'd hoped / dreamed to get back to where I was and finally get my own horse.

So, I found a riding instructor locally. We've done about 8 lessons in the last couple of months. During my second lesson, she told me to canter, and when I asked for the transition, the horse slammed on the brakes and bucked me off. I collected myself, got back on, we tried again and the exact same thing happened. My confidence was really shaken and it took about a month before I didn't totally tense up anytime a horse I was riding lowered his head.

Anyway, we got through that. I had a lesson today (or was supposed to). I get to the stable, and she told me to tack up a different horse. I went into his stall, he came up to me, smelled the lead rope and promptly bit me.

I'm not sure whether to be embarassed for being dumb enough to get bitten by a horse I don't know, or to be mad at my instructor for putting me in a situation where I got bitten. It just shook me up enough for me to finally admit to myself that I don't trust my instructor's judgment or her horses' training. I left and won't be going back.

The truth of the matter is that at this stage of the game, I don't feel like I know enough to be dealing with horses that buck or bite. I have zero chance of "riding through the bucks" and I have no desire to try because I don't want to get seriously hurt. I'm also simply too scared of the horse that bit me to be willing to deal with it again.

Am I just not brave enough for this, or is this an instructor problem?

[Stella2]

Don't doubt yourself, your instincts are good. Most riding school horses (and for that matter, most privately owned horses) do not buck and bite. I'd go and find somewhere else to ride.

Lots of us here can't sit a buck or wonder if we can (I would prefer not to find out) so we seek to ride calm, sensible horses.

Be kind to yourself, have a good look around several riding schools if you can and don't let any instructor push you into doing anything you are not happy to do, after all you are paying for their services!

Come back and let us know how you get along :)

[tolka]

I have been riding for 6 months now again same situation as you i used to ride / work at stables when i was younger and now i've got a decent job was hopeing i could jump back in and buy my own horse. but have come accross some confidence problems first of all 20m circle control in trot. then 3/4 months in i rode a new horse who spooked on the transiton into trot promptly bucked and then reared waited for me to relax then bucked me staight out the front door, ouch straight on my rear end but i got back on and carried on, the problems only started the week after when i found the dread factor creeping in which meant i couldnt trot for weeks untill my instructor put me back on the lunge which built my confidence so now after perserveing for 6-7 weeks can now trot shapes again but find i can now deal better with situations, as demonstrated this saturday, so i feel a good patient instructer is the key

[BackintheSaddle]

I think you've made a wise move. We have some ornery lesson horses at our barn that will take a nip if you give them the opportunity, but this fact is advertised on their stall door, and all the students are shown how to discipline them if they try to bite. There is no shame in wanting to be carefull with your body and not get bucked off! You deserve a safe riding environment where you can learn at a pace you are comfortable with on horses you trust under the instruction of someone who understands your concerns. I hope you find an understanding barn that will respect you and help you grow as a rider.

[tolka]

This Saturday I was riding moddy my normal riding horse aged 25 she seemed a little fizzyer than normal but after a few laps of the ménage fell in to three quarter line and promptly stopped at which point my instructor started shouting GET OFF which confused the living daylights out of me until I realised my horse was going down to roll so I jumped to the right only to find the horse 16.2hh rolling towards my legs in complete amazement jaw on floor!!at which point we both realised she was suffering from sparadic colic after a long night unfortunately we lost her Sunday morning. Sorry to depress people but it shocked me beyond belief.

[kelsey]

You are doing the right thing - personally, I think that you were quite brave to get back on the first time you got bucked off!

See if you can go and watch some lessons at a few other places so you can get an idea of the teaching style and quality of the school horses.

Good luck!