Lessons at 34

[Gypzywingz]

Hey everyone, I am 34 yo and have ridden horses off and on my whole life on just trail rides, friends horses, etc. but never had formal training. Last week I went to visit a stable to inquire about lessons and the guy there automatically assumed it was for my little boy but I told him they were for me. He gave me a pamphlet and told me to call him when I knew more when I needed lessons. I called today and the guy was kind of hesitant and said he would talk to his wife (she is an instructor too) and would call me back when he could find out more about times.

I just get the impression from this guy that he isn't very interested teaching people that are older. Has anyone else run into this starting to learn later in life?

[Paul C]

No - I was very much made to feel welcome when I started (at 37!) but then I was handing over a fat wad of cash for the privilege...

I found the tutors there treated me no differently from the other riders in the classes I attended, and they were usually people in their 20's.

It was at quite a large yard - you don't mention how big the place was you went to, but maybe you should see if there are any others near you that seem more interested in helping - it could be they feel less confident training someone who is older because they've not been teaching so long and you may know more than them!

Good luck :)

Paul

[BackintheSaddle]

Most of the clients at my barn are either adult beginners, or adults trying to reclaim their childhood joy of riding. Our trainer is *ahem* older and I think she is gald to not be chasing after a barn full of littles. I think adult riders really get a lot from lessons as they try very hard and pay attention, and actually think (sometimes too much!) about what their body is doing.

Hopefully your current barn will work out, but if not keep trying as lessons are great fun and will improve your seat and confidence.

[Trakehner96]

Yes, I have heard of this. Although sometimes it can be just a misunderstanding. However it is your time, money, and heart you are putting into it and the wrong instructor (for you) can ruin what should really be a great experience. If it doesn't feel right by the 2nd conversation, it probably never will. I know, I have wasted a lot of money on lessons where they really were more interested in younger kids who show. Now I am at a great barn where they care as much about my little ol' stirrup length as they do about getting ribbons at the next hunter/jumper show. And that is a great feeling. Keep looking there are plenty of barns that welcome older riders just starting out. Good luck and hang in there.:D

[Grace O'Malley]

I'd look around some more; see if you can arrange to observe some lessons. You can tell a lot by observing someone's manner with students, as well as with the horses.

And yes, not all instructors are comfortable with adults. It's kind of a different knack to teaching us. FREX: adults have longer attention spans, but kids don't usually have fear issues. But there are instructors who are great with novice adults. Hold out until you find one!

I started at age 41. It was actually my son who wanted lessons, and I thought maybe it was something we could do together. I picked up some cards at the local tack shop, arranged to watch one person teach. She was working with a girl who'd had a very bad experience at another school, and was terrified, even though she wanted to ride. I was so impressed with her that I never even bothered contacting the others. That little girl is in college now, and has her own horse.

Good luck!

Grace

[Zingy]

I've come across it, with the excuse given being that adults are too unreliable and tend to just have a couple of leessons then stop, whereas kids continue. Therefore the yard really wasn't geared up for adults and only had ponies, so they said they'd be completely unsuitable. It may be a similar thing and not that they wouldn't teach you, but they aren't set up for it and he's just not willing to say it.

[Gypzywingz]

I have e-mailed two others that listed lessons on the virginiaequestrian.com website and neither has contacted me back yet either. It is discouraging. I wanted to learn western however the stables around here don't offer english lessons so I decided to learn the basics in english but now just finding someone just to return my e-mail for seems harder.

[Grace O'Malley]

It can be hard making contact with riding school people. They're outside all day, and bone tired in the evenings. They may not check their email very often (unlike us deskbound types :rolleyes: ). Do the listings have phone numbers? If so, you might try leaving voice messages too--hopefully they'll eventually respond to one or the other! Be patient, and keep trying every few days (that hard to find balance between enthusiasm and harrassment ;) ).

You'll find someone good eventually!

Grace

[kedwards]

I second that about the difficulty getting a hold of instructors. If I'm trying to book with someone new, I pretty much plan on calling repeatedly, as they rarely call back. It's the nature of life for instructor's I suppose.

As for the place that thought you were booking for your child. Why not ask them directly whether they think your being an adult would be a concern. Most instructors I know seem to enjoy teaching adults, but some programs are just focused more on children. If that's the case, they may not be able to meet your needs.

[MI Horsey]

instructors are hard to get a hold of !!! i tried to rescedule the lesson i missed while sick but i cant get a hold of mine , its been 4 days now . going to the barn in person tomorrow !!!
Personally I can't say that I've had any problems taking lessons as an adult .Actually my instructor prefers adults over kids ( she said it's the parents that make it harder )

[Skib]

If you are an adult beginner, you should go to the school in person, and hopefully watch some lessons too. That is what the British Horse Society suggest.
My experience is that good teachers are busy and have lots of adults who want to learn from them. Dont be offended by a failure to reply to phone messages. And dont be dissuaded from going for the best. To find out if they are the right teacher for you, and have room for you in their schedule, you may need to go to the stable, book a lesson and pay for their time. This seems to me reasonable.
The other side of the coin is that much teaching of beginners in the UK is done by unknown young women. If you go to a school for some lessons, you may by chance be allocated a junior member of staff who makes lessons a pleasure and in the process teaches you to ride. I owe my own riding to one of these girls and I was never provided with her name.

[Kea]

I took my first lesson this year at the age of 35!

My trainer is a blessing, she treats me just like the 12 year old I feel like. She has been really encouraging, and tells me even the pro's and olympic riders still take lessons.

Sometimes I feel a little weird if I am taking a lesson right after a small child on a pony and before a young teenager, but I am never "made" to feel uncomfortable.

[Gypzywingz]

I still haven't heard anything back from the guy I talked to yesterday about lesson times. I think I might just go there today after work and see how things go. Watch a lesson and see how I feel again after talking with him. If I still get the same uneasy feeling I will just move on and try to find someone else to take lessons from.

[Gypzywingz]

The stables finally called me back! I talked to his wife who will be teaching me. She said I would have to wait a month until she gets 2 girls moved up to group lessons. I told her that was ok but in the mean time if I can find someone to teach me western, I wanted to learn western but since western trainers are hard to find around here the beginners forum suggested I just go with the english lessons since the basic are the same. But I am just glad I am finally getting somewhere :D

[Dummer&Drummer]

hi i am thirty years old and only been riding four weeks, never ventured within 500m of a horse before. my instructor is great and think he enjoys teaching adults. in some of my lessons sometimes i am the eldest by 20 years and in others there a few older ones. i am his oldest novice though and it great, the children are wonderful. it is a mixed ability class. my instructor takes every single lesson, no one else teaches, just him which is great. of course we have lots of junior helpers :)

my daughter who is 11 now rides with me and is loving it, kids have no fear. think my instructor actually quite likes an adult in his kids classes, bit of adult humor while we trot round.

[Yann]

I started getting tempted when I took my then 5 year old daughter for lessons and used to stand watching her every week. The school and the instructors were completely fine about me starting lessons, although I thought long and hard about it before taking the plunge. It helped that there were a couple of male liveries on the yard and one or two other male clients as it turned out, so I wasn't totally unique:D

[Gypzywingz]

I am sure there are many adults out there that would love to learn to ride but are afraid that will be made fun of because of their age. I was kind of offended when one of the owners just assumed it was for my 7 year old son and not me. My son wants to take lessons too and that is something that I would consider. He just wants to do so many things and riding lessons are very expensive. He takes tennis lessons, and is in the cub scouts, he wants to play baseball and football and take karate! I think he needs to pick one or two things to stick with and I don't want to spend a lot of money on something he isn't going to stick with.

Thank you all for your comments. I can't wait til I start my lessons!

[Dummer&Drummer]

it always amused my instructor that all the mums and dad stayed to watch their children ride and i had my 11 year old daughter watching me. she now rides, but at first i compromised by paying for 1/2 hour lessons to start with. i ride 2-3 times a week and she rides once now with me, its really nice to be able to share it with her, but not sure if she has the bug in quite the same way, lets face it in a few years if she does not get the bug she will be down the pub with her friends :)

i am a single parent and she is my only child and is getting older so it is great having something to do for my self, something just for me.

i think me and m boyfriend are on the rocks, he feels jealous that he does not have four legs, and he is right he doesnt!!!;) poor man.

never felt so passionate about anything in all of my life, given me a new purpose, and cos of my nerves it is such an achievement when i get things right. real horse phobic! i have a duff leg as well and not even that matters when i get on a horse, its amazing!!

i ride with quite a lot of young children and we all get on great, but they seem to be bringing their dads to meet me and watch me ride, how embarrassing when they point him out to me, :rolleyes: lol, what can you say to that!!!:) great when i fall off though lol of laughs knowing a few are watching, and that out of all the little children that are riding it is me that comes off :D

[Kea]

LOL

I'm 35, my mom is over 60!
She's out there sitting on the sidelines with those 30yr old moms, watching her baby get a riding lesson :D

[kedwards]

I hear ya Kea. I was 29 when I started lessons. My mother wanted to go to the first one and take pictures. Because I had some of the same reservations as the original poster (fear that I would look silly for being an adult) I was mortified at the idea and downright banned her from coming. Boy do I wish I hadn't. What I wouldn't give to see those pictures now.

Gypzywingz, have a great time at the lesson! I'm looking forward to a full report when you get back.

[Gypzywingz]

It's great when you get support from family and friends especially starting a sport at an older age. I have snow skiied all my life and this past winter I wanted to learn to snowboard, so I did! My parents watched my lessons and felt so bad for me when I would fall but they were proud that I got back up and kept going.

I am a single Mom too, my son will be 8 in January. I have been saying that i need to get some interests too because before to long he will not want to be around me and be with his friends and this way I won't be sitting alone by myself. My boyfriend totally supports me in what I want to do, just as long as he gets his time in too :)

[Dummer&Drummer]

backinthesaddle, i agree with you, us slightly older novice riders do put a lot of effort in to learning.

my instructor is great he is like, thank god an adult to talk to :) he he like gets swamped by children at the begining of the lesson saying 'can i ride that horse' ' oh but i want to' :) dont they realise he is not picking a lucky dip, his list was wrote out of who is riding who 24 hours before we get there

i turned up to a lesson a few weeks ago and i was larking around saying ' oh please please let me ride this horse mr instructor' ;) he obviously laughed and said 'oh god not you as well!!!' :D

my instructor is quite old 'i think' he has one of those faces where he could be 50 or 70, not sure really, god he'd hate this statement depending on his age :)