Are school lessons essential?

[Skib]

Is there anyone here who doesnt have school lessons?
Are school lessons essential? And if so, is there a bare minimum one should be able to do before giving them up?

[augermoon]

When you say school lessons, do you mean that you do not have your own horse? I would say you never stop learning and if you can afford to continue the lessons, I would do so. I've been riding for 15 years and owned a horse for the last 8 and still have a lesson every fortnight on my boy. I love them as they keep me motivated and we are constantly improving.

Not quite the same situation if you don't have your own horse but am not quite sure what you are saying the alternative is if you give up the lessons??

[toohorsemad]

Ok I have been riding for 2 years and I can do xc, hunting, galloping, sj, pc etc. but I still get lesson because I am improving my position all the time and then improving my and the horse proformance all the time! So I plan on getting lessons for a very long time! :D But its really up to you! What I would say is don't stay in riding schools, I mean like group lessons as most the time you don't really learn a lot! But get a instuctor to teach you on your own horse or get private lessons in the riding school! You will benefit better from them! And plus the instuctor can get your faults corrected in the early stages as she only has you in the lesson! :D

[chev]

Lessons are not essential but they do have huge benefits however long you've been having them.

School lessons have advantages over private lessons, and vice versa. In a small group you get the chance to ride with other horses and riders around, you can have a lot of fun, and it can be fantastic motivation to work in a group too. In a private lesson you have the undivided attention of the instructor, and an opportunity to work more intensively on a particular problem or towards a goal.

[ajhainey]

I stopped for 3 months (weight carrier out of action at my stables, plus nerves) and just hacked out from another yard ever couple of weeks instead. Had my first lesson on tuesday and, man, can you see how far I've fallen behind....bizarelly in both skill AND fitness!

So I'd say you can survive without lessons (I had 2 years * 1 a week before stopping) as I was hacking out no problems but not having lessons does your riding no favours at all!

aj xx

[Mehitabel]

IMO, if you want to improve, or even maintain your standard of riding, then yes, lessons are essential. it's incredibly easy to slip into bad habits gradually and be adversely affecting the horse without knowing it. those 'eyes on the ground' are invaluable to tell you what you are doing and what little things you need to improve.

i hadn't had lessons for a few years, and had been bringing on babies mostly, and when i started them again at the beginning of this year i was really upset at how badly my riding had gone downhill. i hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to me. now i have a lesson most weeks, and i am rapidly getting back to how i used to be.

[toohorsemad]

Ok I had a terrible fear of jumping and two lessons on with Terri, my bril trainer and I have no prob! I have started using my weight for turning into jumps now! I would have never got this far in my group lesson!

[momofsix]

This is a hot topic of discussion at my house. My OH who is super supportive of all my horse madness does not see why I keep booking lessons when I now have 2 horses I can walk, trot and canter. But I learn something every time I go and my instructor always catches my little (and big) mistakes that have crept in. I only take them every two weeks, due to cost and scheduling. But I would do it if possible.

[sidesaddlelady1]

A Rat Bag speaks - You are a danger to yourself and the horse if you have never learned to ride properly. An amateur can help you but a professional will actually teach you.

[Peace]

I gave them up in January. :o But it's not my fault, honest. :p

My older horse Bram, aka the King of Ring-Sour, just won't do the school thing. He's a great trail horse and he's 22 and we all have our little idiosyncracies (*cough* like napping, rearing and mashing riders into gates if forced into a school) so I decided we'd both be better off if I quit trying to change him and just enjoyed hacking.

However, my instructor thinks my younger horse, Quanah, is ready for me to ride him in lessons and is planning to resurrect our Wednesday night ladies' group soon. So I imagine I'll be having lessons again soon - I hope Quanah and I still have classmates after the first one! :D

I think my riding has continued to improve while just hacking out - of course, I had lots of room for improvement :o - I've learned how to listen to my horse better than I could have while "distracted" by instruction. But I think lessons offer one the opportunity to try out new things in a controlled environment and so encourage the more cautious among us to develop new skills. And to hone old ones. :)

[Fizz]

i get sj lessons every month,not cos i cant jump but because i compete bsja & like to keep on top of things,i also have a flat work lesson every month too when i can fit it in as without flatwork in place your cant jump well :D

[Lgd]

You always need 'eyes on the ground' however experienced you get.

In fact I have more lessons now than when I was competing at a lower level. I generally have at least one lesson a week (sometimes manage two), either with my home based trainer or with one of the visiting trainers I use. i also try and have a week of intensive training at least once a year.

[Stella2]

My riding career is considerably shorter than LGD's (only 3 1/2 years), but the more effective I become, the more the training means to me. In the past year I have on avarage two lessons a week. There is always more to learn and something that needs more work.

If I was rich I would have 'daily training' as they do in Vienna (swoon ...!)

[lynz+ollie]

i would say lessons are essistial the whole wat through your riding life even top event riders still have weekly lessons. there isn;t a certain point you can stop having lessons and just ride on your own forever after that, as we all get into bad habbits, which we dont notice but they effect out horses. i would say u could cut them down, maybe even one a month bu keep having them

[ANN H]

Hi Skib,

I would say lessons are essential as horse riding is very technical. Even the girl who gives us lessons has lessons, and she teaches the mounted police how to ride! I'm on to my second horse and still have regular lessons. They keep you motivated.

Do have lessons if you can afford it.

[Luxie]

Well, I suppose that once you are safe and secure walking, trotting, cantering, and doing small jumps, all of these either alone or in a group, then you could certainly say lessons are no longer essential.

But I think that lessons (provided you have a good instructor, and one you are on the same wavelength as) are always beneficial, no matter how far you progress. As has been said, it's desperately easy for little faults to creep in, and I for one know from experience how very much longer it takes to correct them than to acquire them :( :( :( And of course rider faults have an effect on the horse.

And I personally find lessons both valuable and stimulating, and "the more you learn, the more you learn there is to learn".

But of course, it must always be a matter of how any individual rider feels about the lessons available to them.

[cvb]

Hey Skib I just realised something really ironic. Not so long back I gave Happiness quite a hard time about planning to give up lessons :rolleyes:

Anyway - same person came back later and had carried on having lessons and was happy about it

but - I think I learnt something through the whole thing (other than not to give poor happiness quite such a hard time !!).

"Lessons" are not necessarily formal, in a school, etc etc. If I remember right, there was a general feeling that a coach or mentor, someone to check how you are doing vs goals and so on, is something that is incredibly useful to stop your level of skill and competence from degrading over time. (and keep you safe).

But - whatever form of "lessons" you use, it should be appropriate to your goals. So if you want to be a top olmypic competitor, your lessons are going to be just a little different than if you are quite a happy hacker and just want to get on with your horse(s). ;)

I just wanted to say this cos happiness posted to thank me, and now its my turn to return the favour and acknowledge what they taught me !!

[Trewsers]

Even when OH and I bought our horses early this year and were a bit skint, we made provision for lessons - cos we knew we'd find them invaluable! We used to have 3 per week at first but have since dropped to 1 a week, and boy do I need that one lesson at the moment :p

[Skib]

I'll come back on this one to thank everyone. I have been really interested in the replies. It is not an easy question. I am still grappling with it and it is helpful to know that I am not the only one.
To answer your questions: No, I dont have a horse (yet) and I meant individual lessons with a teacher in a school (manege) - not necessarilly a group. When I started to learn to ride, I resolved to take proper school lessons for at least five years. Another 18 months to go.
My grief and incompetence in conventional riding lessons and the many posts from older learners who have been humiliated by caustic teachers or unrewarding horses, is making me rethink. May be it was not so wise of me to equate success in a school riding lesson with success in riding.
The replies show people like me feeling guilty if they havent had lessons. But some replies have re-defined the meaning of lessons and suggested that the teaching context in which you make progress will depend on your horse, your budget and the sort of riding you want to do. For years I've hacked weekly with a teacher and my capability as a rider (cvb helped me realise) has been learned out hacking.
Your replies made me acknowledge also the things I have learned in schools: lunge lessons, riding without stirrups, riding bareback which would be hazardous out in the open. Like Happiness, I still have weekly school lessons, but I've dropped the idea of forcing myself to continue until the five year dead line.
There may be some learners who ride better and thus learn more outside the school than in. Just as there are kids who fail in regular school, but flourish with something a little different.

[Cheko]

I dont have riding school lessons but I have a young lady trainer who comes to me and Falcon at the yard where he's kept. It's good to have someone on the ground who can give you an opinion of the way the pony's going and of your own riding. Also, if the pony throws a funny, she's there to grab hold of it!!!!!!!

[HAPPY TREKKER]

Have read with interest previous threads and have now decided after looking at other threads too that I really should have some lessons. Have picked up riding through practice and book reading which I know is nothing compared to actual lessons and now I'm riding weekly I realise I need some professional instruction. My point is this: how do I find a school that isn't pompous and will appreciate that my main motivation is the love of horses and riding not a desire to be in the olympics! I hate the feeling you get when you turn up somewhere and everyone seems part of a clique except you...thats what I want to avoid. I'm in West Sussex, anyone know of any friendly, relaxed schools?

[chev]

Can't help with schools in Sussex, but it's mainly a matter of trial and error unfortunately. Best bet is ask people with similar goals as you and the same kind of approach who they would recommend, and start there.

My kids have a fantastic instructor - she's in her 60s and been teaching all her life. She's firm but fair with horses, and really believes in developing balance and seat and an understanding of how horse and rider work before rushing onto new things. It's meant that my kids are learning slowly but very thoroughly - they have to work hard but they enjoy it. My 6 year old started having lessons around eight months ago and cantered for the first time this week - but because she'd spent all that time working in walk and trot, riding circles, serpentines, doing polework (she's managing small crosspoles in trot with ease) her first canter was controlled, and comfortable, and she came away with the biggest grin I've ever seen. :D And yet I hear a few parents saying that they don't feel their kids progress with the same instructor - and they go elsewhere. This instructor works well with our philosophy of getting the basics well sorted first - but it's too slow for some. So you do have to find what suits you and your style of riding.

You also need to find an instructor you get along with - some find they're better with a quiet, sympathetic teacher, others do better with someone who's prepared to push you more. When you do find someone you're happy with it does make a huge difference to have those lessons.

[Skib]

This post is a bit off thread. However
1. On Sussex.
My geography is shaky. But Julian Marczak is now in Sussex. And is expert not only on riding, but on the things that go wrong in riding lessons. (See his article Marczak, Julian. "Taught Something, Learned Nothing? Are Our Instructors Confusing Us?" Horse (Ipc London) 2005: pp86-88.)
I met someone locally who goes all the way down to Sussex to learn from him, following problems in a school here, and he would be high on my list.

The Kelly Marks list of IH Associates might also provide a local contact whose suggestions you could seek. If you are looking for someone out of the ordinary BHS style, Sue Gardner, ex Parelli, natural horsewoman is Sussex based. But no amount of expert recommendation can substitute for visiting schools, trying individual teachers (teacher more vital than the school) and finding someone who suits you personally. And that person may turn out to be a conventional BHS AI.

2. Wise advice.
And yet I hear a few parents saying that they don't feel their kids progress with the same instructor - and they go elsewhere. This instructor works well with our philosophy of getting the basics well sorted first - but it's too slow for some.
Yes. Sounds familiar.

[HAPPY TREKKER]

Many thanks for your advice. Sorry if I'm not following threads properly, still trying to get the hang of the site.....I'll get there though.
Will just have to bite the bullet and get myself round some schools and see what I think.

[*Sez*]

I've had riding lessons, private and group, since I was about two-years old (although very much on and off in the last few years due to marriage, moving home and my disability giving me difficulties). I bought my horse, Jake, almost a month ago and, as I've already posted, the lessons we've started having have improved both of us immensley. He had started bucking, and had thrown both me and my dad, who shares him with me. After just one session with my dressage instructor, Carla, he was completely different, and she was able to give me ideas and back up my convictions when I wasn't confident enough (like changing that damn bit!).

I intend to keep having lessons for as long as I'm able to ride. At the moment, we're having two fifteen minute sessions a week but will eventually build them up to a single hour lesson a week. My dad, on the other hand, is very much a happy hacker and hasn't had a lesson for at least a decade, and it shows in his position, and also in Jake. I don't think you can ever stop learning with horses, and would recommend an instructor to anyone wanting to ride, regardless of level. I'd gotten to the point where I was wondering what I'd bought Jacob for. Every time I tried to ride, he'd start bucking, and my confidence has improved drastically since last week. Schools aren't always ideal - Carla comes out to our yard. It really is a case of whatever scenario works best for you.