What Should a Lesson be like?

[HorseHappy]

A friend and I (Both early 40s) just started taking lessons. The only riding I done was a few western saddle trail rides as a teen. My friend took englsih saddle lessons as a child.

We've had 4 lessons now and I'm beginning to get concerned about the quality of the lessons. The instructor has shown us how to groom, briddle, saddle the horses-which we do every week. After the first lesson in the outside ring, we've been stuck in the barn due to all the rain from the hurricanes.

Since the first lesson about the only the instructor has had us do is walk for a while and trot for a while in a single file line. Her only comments are 'keep heels down, toes up" and :shorten the reins". She also has the annoying habit of talking on her cell phone during our lessons.

My friend can post from her previous riding experience but I'm having a hard time.After reading through this website and numerous others I'm beginning to think we are not getting quality lessons. What should we expect from a lesson?

Thanks in advance. I'm really enjoying being around the horses. I just want to make sure that I'm also learning to ride well.

[JGarrick]

Originally posted by HorseHappy
habit of talking on her cell phone during our lessons
That would be an immediate and automatic disqualifier for me. If you're paying for a lesson, her phone should be TURNED OFF during the lesson period. If it was a one time thing where she forgot to turn it off, it would be pardonable (assuming she dismissed the call in very short order), but you described this as a "habit."

Are you taking lessons from a private party? If not, I'd take this up with the owner/manager of the facility. If my instructor made a habit of doing this during my lessons, I'd be furious.

[HorseHappy]

Are you taking lessons from a private party? If not, I'd take this up with the owner/manager of the facility. If my instructor made a habit of doing this during my lessons, I'd be furious.

Unfortunately, my instructor is the owner/manager. It is her stable. I don't think she has other instructors there.

[bexj]

Most of it sounds ok and pretty normal, although I would expect to receive a little more explanation as to why you should keep your heels down etc. As for the phone thing, that would put me offl. Big time. That is just so rude. If you are confident enough then you should ask her to stop it, otherwise, I would vote with your feet.

At the end of the day, if you feel like you are learning something new every time you go there (and it doesn't have to be anything massive) then you should maybe ask nicely about the phone problem and carry on, but if you never learn anything new, then go somewhere else.

Its lazy teaching but you are paying your hard earned money for this.

[Peace]

What a small world.:)

Anyway, do you mean your instructor isn't telling you anything, just putting you on a horse and watching while you figure it out for yourself? If so, definitely go elsewhere - no use paying for a lesson when you're not being taught, right?;)

My instructor will have short conversations on her cell during my lesson, just long enough to explain to the person (usually someone I know, since by now most of my friends are barn friends:p ) that she's giving a lesson and will call back. This doesn't bother me at all.

But I watched an instructor at another barn once, with a ring full of kids, carry on a 20 minute conversation on her cell.:eek: That's a bit much, I think.:rolleyes:

If you want a recommendation of somewhere to go, PM me - I haven't lived in Gvl for years, but I was there the summer of 2000 taking care of family, and rode at a wonderful place. I'll be glad to give you their name - just click on the PM button at the bottom of this message and let me know if you'd like details.

[galadriel]

I don't turn off my cell phone during lessons, but I don't have long conversations either. There are a few people who might be contacting me due to an extreme emergency; I will answer calls from them, and if it's not an emergency, immediately excuse myself and say I'll call back.

A riding lesson should be composed of lots of instruction. Particularly for a beginner, the instructor should be helping you throughout the lesson to understand what it is that you're supposed to be doing, how it feels to you when you're doing it right, and WHY you're supposed to be doing whatever it is that she's explaining.

I typically am talking throughout the whole lesson. Even if the student is just practicing something trying to get it right, I am trying to offer encouragement, praise where things are done well, suggestions for how to do things better, or going over the reasons why that particular something is done.

[JGarrick]

Originally posted by Peace
...just long enough to explain to the person ... that she's giving a lesson and will call back.

Even this would be too much for me. They invented voice mail for these situations. I'm afraid I'm a cell phone hard-liner. :)

And now, a soapbox moment - feel free to skip this rant...

We survived as a species for quite a long time without phones, but now we can't go the hour it takes for a lesson without taking all calls. In my opinion, disrupting a lesson to take calls is not only a disservice to the person paying for the time, but just plain bad manners on top of it. Furthermore, I think it's disrespectful and rude for a student to take calls as well. An instructor putting serious effort into teaching shouldn't have to compete with a phone for the attention of the student. If it's absolutely required to have a live voice answer the phone for your business, hire a receptionist. If I'm paying for the time, I expect to get every penny's worth. If I were teaching, I'd ask students to turn off their phones, and would insist on it in a group lesson.

Personally, I don't make it a habit to take all calls when I'm away from work unless it's convenient for me to answer and I'm not doing something more important. If I'm busy, I have an answering machine. My philosophy is that nobody has the right to demand my immediate attention from a distance. At work, if I'm focused on a task that requires my complete attention, I forward all calls to voice mail and check it when I'm done or at about one hour intervals if I'm not.

Nobody has ever died or suffered great bodily harm due to my delayed response to phone calls, and I seriously doubt that anyone ever will, but if you're concerned about missing a true life-or-death emergency, you can always carry a pager to get a far less disruptive alert.

And if I called a stable to ask about lessons and got a message saying "I'm sorry I can't take your call, I'm giving a lesson and can't be interrupted," I'd be tempted to drive right over there and sign up because it's a place that's got its priorities in order.

OK, I'll get off the soapbox now. As you can see, this is a major pet peeve for me.

[galadriel]

Originally posted by JGarrick
Nobody has ever died or suffered great bodily harm due to my delayed response to phone calls, and I seriously doubt that anyone ever will

Okay, your experience is valid for you, I am sure.

An equine professional is often responsible for a number of very large, very fragile animals. There are situations where anything else must be interrupted in order to go help with an emergency.

If that happens to be in the middle of a lesson, it's unfortunate, but it's just the way things go sometimes. The student shouldn't be cheated out of a lesson, of course, and that would need to be resolved somehow (scheduling a make up lesson some other time, or some such). An equine professional sometimes MUST be available, no matter what else is going on. Horses are so delicate; a major injury or a sudden illness (ie colic) needs immediate attention.

Sure, "We survived as a species for quite a long time without phones." How did we get through this sort of thing without cell phones? We lost a lot more horses or had more situations exacerbated by later treatment instead of immediate.

[JGarrick]

Originally posted by galadriel
a major injury or a sudden illness (ie colic) needs immediate attention.


Galadriel -
I think we're going off on a tangent. It certainly wouldn't upset me if an instructor had to interrupt or cancel a lesson for a legimate emergency. but the original message was about her having a "habit" of taking calls during the lesson. "Habit," in this case, sounds like a code word for "talks on the phone constantly." I could be wrong (it's been know to happen).

HorseHappy, et. al. ...
Returning to the teaching, I'm a little bit more flexible about explanations for things. I'll accept some instructions without explanation ("heels down," for example) and wait to fill in the "why" part until later. I often find it becomes clear on its own or the instructor gets around to it in the course of events.

I also think part of teaching and learning is the teacher and student getting to know each other - their strengths, weaknesses, and styles. In this case, four visits should be enough to establish some rapport. It's possible that the instructor is plodding or even lazy, but it's also possible that the instructor is methodical and the student is impatient. The true situation is probably somewhere in between.

BTW, I'm in almost the exact same situation - early 40s and a very green student. If I were in your position, HorseHappy, I'd ask myself if I felt challenged by the lessons. If not, I'd ask the instructor if a faster pace would be appropriate for you.

[Skib]

Galadriel, I agree with you entirely about lessons and their content when adults learn to ride. But here in the UK there seems to be another school of thought, the "sink or swim" approach.
Presumably the theory is that if you sit an adult on a quiet horse for enough half hour lessons, often with no stirrups and making no use of the reins, they will (if they persist) acquire some sort of natural seat, just as they might if they had learned to

[Skib]

Galadriel, I agree with you entirely about lessons and their content when adults learn to

[HorseHappy]

Originally posted by galadriel


A riding lesson should be composed of lots of instruction. Particularly for a beginner, the instructor should be helping you throughout the lesson to understand what it is that you're supposed to be doing, how it feels to you when you're doing it right, and WHY you're supposed to be doing whatever it is that she's explaining.

I typically am talking throughout the whole lesson. Even if the student is just practicing something trying to get it right, I am trying to offer encouragement, praise where things are done well, suggestions for how to do things better, or going over the reasons why that particular something is done.

YES!! This is exactly what I am looking for. It's not that I'm not challenged by the lesson but rather I'm getting so little instruction/feedback that I don't feel I'm gaining any knowledge or getting any better. In other words, I could probably just take the horse on a trail ride by myself and come back with the same amount of new information and acquired skill.

Also - I do appreciate the fact that people like to have their cell phones handy in case of an emergency but in this case she's just gabbing on the phone acquaintances.

Funny about the cell phone debate. Some friends and I were just discussing this. A friend called someone and got her son. The son said, "Mom doesn't have a cell phone." Well, my friend couldn't get over the fact that in 2004 a person could actually function without a cell phone. Personally, I feel it is a very useful tool, a security blanket so to speak in cases of emergency, communications with the kids, etc. However, there is a portion of our population who abuse this tool. For example, to take a non emergency call while you are in the company of others can be very rude at times. My husband has a co-worker who does this repeatedly in meetings with him. During seminars, etc.,etc. Let's face it - most of the cell phone calls we get and receive are not emergencies. I try to make sure I silence my cell phone whenever I engaged in an activity or are with other people. That's what voice mail is for!!

Thanks for all the comments to my original post. I feel as though I've learned more about riding in this forum than from my lessons.

[galadriel]

Originally posted by HorseHappy
Also - I do appreciate the fact that people like to have their cell phones handy in case of an emergency but in this case she's just gabbing on the phone acquaintances.

Certainly, understood. My comments were about--

Originally posted by Peace
...just long enough to explain to the person ... that she's giving a lesson and will call back.
Originally posted by JGarrick
Even this would be too much for me. They invented voice mail for these situations.

Chatting is not at all the same, and if someone takes time to *chat* during my paid time, I'm going to ask for an extension of the time I paid for matching the time they spent chatting.

On the other hand, it doesn't sound like you're getting much out of these lessons anyway. Perhaps there is another lesson stable you could try?

You could also try talking to the instructor. Some instructors have worked with so many beginners that they don't notice when an adult beginner really WANTS to do more. She may not have any idea that you're looking for more feedback, for reasons and explanations, for her to tell you more about what you should be doing and why. She may have assumed that you'd be too sensitive to criticism at this stage. She still shouldn't be chatting during your time, but you can address that too.

[Peace]

I feel it is a very useful tool, a security blanket so to speak in cases of emergency, communications with the kids, etc. However, there is a portion of our population who abuse this tool.

I can't imagine how we lived without them!:) Well, I can, too - I vividly remember having to dodge back and forth through five o'clock traffic to the pay phone after a car accident a few years ago. After that, I joined the ranks of cell phoners. But you have to be careful with 'em, in my business. Federal courts won't let you inside the courtroom with them - they scan your bag to make sure you're not smuggling one in;) - and state courts can hold you in contempt if they go off while court's in session.:eek:

Cell phones are a boon to horse people. I used to spend four hours or so a day alone on a fairly remote farm with about 30 head, and I would have loved the security of a cell phone for that occasional emergency that just will arise if you're around enough horses for a long enough time.:)

Anyway, HorseHappy, I PM'd you with details of a lesson barn in Greenville. I visited and phoned a bunch of places that summer of 2000, because I was taking my sister (brand-new beginner) along with me and I wanted to find just the right place. I thought it was wonderful.

As I said in my PM, if you go there please ask about my old lesson mare, Sierra - I still think of her often.:) Thanks.

[imabrit_us]

. . . lessons are supposed to be fun. For me, the fun comes from learning a new skill. It also comes from the interaction I have with my instructor (which is why I'm so bummed that my instructor has left the yard . . . :(). Sounds to me like this particular instructor a) has no imagination; b) is RUDE (cell phone); and c) isn't right for you!

I'd switch yards.