Whoa! (Lesson 12 was, er, Interesting)

[wanabe]

I take my lessons on a 10 YO 17.1HH thoroughbred who used to be quite "excitable" but then injured himself and had to have surgery and has just now started being ridden again after a 2 year recovery period.

All my lessons to date have been "onward and upward" but not today!! First, during our walking warmup, he started first kicking and then bucking. I stood up in the stirrups and my RI said I handled that situation well. She also pointed out the horsefly that was making him behave that way and I killed it! :)

But then, during the trot, something seemed wrong. I had trouble getting a good rhythm and was not keeping my heels down, etc. etc. My RI told me that she was afraid to let me go on to canter until I addressed some of the problems with trot and so I trotted 3 times as long as normal.

Finally, allowed to canter, my horse became uncontrollable and sped up and up, finally breaking into a gallop for a couple of paces (so they said). I thought about bailing, briefly, but we were going too fast for me to feel comfortable doing that. Finally, I managed to get him slowed and then stopped and my RI said that he was just getting annoyed with me because I was "not staying off his mouth" and my out-of-control legs were also confusing him!! :(

(My RIs OH was also there (very rare for him) and let slip that 2 years ago I wouldn't have been able to stop him once he got going like that.)

Somewhat nervously, now, and remember I've always been very confident, I started off again and the same thing happened again!!

My RI got me off the horse and had one of her 16 YO students ride him to show me how it is done!!! :o

Hopefully next weeks lesson will be an improvement!!

[laura jeanne]

It sounds like you handled the whole situation pretty well. Just curious, did your RI explain what the student was doing that was doing right that you were not doing?

In my former lessons (where you visited), my horse got out of control like that a couple of times. It wouldn't have been so bad if all those jumps weren't scattered in the middle of the arena. I was told to sit up when that happens which is the opposite of what I was doing naturally and give and take with the reins until the horse slowed down. Mainly, keep your cool or the horse will get even more out of control.

I think it takes a while to get used to the trot on different horses so I think that's just normal. I would feel much more comfortable staying on a horse going too fast than trying to get off.

[wanabe]

Thanks. I think the advanced student had a very quiet leg. My RI said that by her being very "quiet" (i.e., not sending various signals you don't mean to send), the horse was able to understand what she wanted, whereas in my case, the horse wasn't sure what I wanted and so just sped up, hoping that was right.

I WAS giving and taking (like crazy!) but to no avail. My big fear, as we approached the end of the arena, was that the horse was either going to fall, taking the turn that fast, or else decide to jump the arena fence (5 or 5 1/2 feet high). Fortunately, it slowed and I got it back under control.

I'm not really discouraged. It just makes me aware that I have a long way to go to become a real rider.

[Cheko]

I think you did really well. Dont worry, it wasn't all your fault tho, TBs can be very sensitive horses to ride.

[laura jeanne]

It's worth spending a few months getting the basics down- developing your leg muscles, keeping your hands quiet, having good posture, etc. before rushing into cantering and jumping. RIs like to keep you interested by introducing these things too early in my opinion. At least that's what my experience has been. I have a great instructor now who is teaching just the way I'd hoped with the emphasis on balance, posture, listening to the horse, blah, blah. It's going slowly with just one hour a week but we have our fun riding at Cypress Trails altho it's kind of too hot to ride at the moment so we skipped this weekend.

[domane]

Oh isn't it just SOOOOOO irritating when you have had a bad lesson and someone jumps on and effortlessly makes the horse behave beautifully???

Oh to be able to ride like that (she sighs wistfully)......

Just a thought..... are the jumps usually in the same place where you have your lesson? If not, is there the slightest chance that your horse thought he was going to be in for some jumping and was getting excited at the prospect?

[wanabe]

Oh isn't it just SOOOOOO irritating when you have had a bad lesson and someone jumps on and effortlessly makes the horse behave beautifully???

Especially when the other rider is some 40-odd years younger!! :o

Your user name domane -- is that a reference to Robert Jordan's TWOT series -- the Suldam and Domane?

[Bay Mare]

Finally, I managed to get him slowed and then stopped and my RI said that he was just getting annoyed with me because I was "not staying off his mouth" and my out-of-control legs were also confusing him!! :(

(My RIs OH was also there (very rare for him) and let slip that 2 years ago I wouldn't have been able to stop him once he got going like that.)My RI got me off the horse and had one of her 16 YO students ride him to show me how it is done!!! :o

Hopefully next weeks lesson will be an improvement!!

First of all it wasn't your fault, you dealt with it in the best way that you knew how. After only 12 lessons your instinct is to pull back on the reins (I don't know if that ever really goes it's just that you learn other ways to deal with things) and you wouldn't have control of your legs. Personally I don't think that the horse is suitable for beginners if they know he can get strong. He may be great when he's behaving but the 'strongness' (not good English or even a word I know but I couldn't think of anything else :) ) is always going to be there. I wouldn't put any beginner on a horse just coming back from injury as you don't know how they're going to behave. 10 is still quite young in the general scheme of things especially if he's known to be strong and has had time off anyway.

Don't worry about the 16 year old getting on and showing you how it's done. She's probably been riding for years. Unless you RI told you what she was doing that you weren't then I don't see the point of the exercise personally.

It's worth spending a few months getting the basics down- developing your leg muscles, keeping your hands quiet, having good posture, etc. before rushing into cantering and jumping. RIs like to keep you interested by introducing these things too early in my opinion. At least that's what my experience has been.

I'm completely with you on that one. It does seem to be a trend nowadays that you're cantering and jumping really, really quickly. It might give you a sense of achievement but it won't help you if things go wrong and you fall off and lose your confidence! My first ever RI wouldn't let you canter until you could rise and sit to the trot adequately and were well balanced. I can never remember her lessons being boring at all. Canter is a great gait, I love the canter but I do know that it can be very intimidating and very strange when you first start learning it. If your seat isn't fairly stable and balanced to begin with it makes it so much worse. When she did introduce jumping it was when we were all competent and confident at walk, trot and canter.

Good luck wanabe, let us know how your next lesson goes. It may be worth asking to be put on a quieter horse for a while to get your confidence back and work on yor basics.

[wanabe]

Well, I have to say that I've enjoyed getting into cantering and jumping early! :)

I also thought about her assigning me to another horse but I hope she doesn't. I consider this a challenge. If I can control this horse then I know I will have solved some problems I have.

[*toHorse&Away*]

You did great after 12 lessons! Marvellous1

I agree in general that we seemt oend up jumpging and cantering way quickly these days - I remember first time I leanred it must hve been months before we cantered.
This time its been great getting back into everything quickly as I have learned my limitations quickly and what to work on. Did a private the other day and we barely got out of walk, but it was so satisfying getting leg yeilds and shoulder in etc right.

You have only has a few lessons - go gently, you are doing great but don;t end up being overfaced, the road back from a bad experience can be a long one

[dancing-horse]

awwww
it's OK. Im sure it was just a bad lesson. I used to ride a 17hh TB and I had a prob with speed. Theiur huge stride made them seem much faster and it was scary, so much that I found it hard to control my legs and heels. Yes, ure legs were probably confusing him. However, thats just the stage u are at riding right now. Ure legs will get better and so will ure next lesson.

[pattir7]

I also thought about her assigning me to another horse but I hope she doesn't. I consider this a challenge. If I can control this horse then I know I will have solved some problems I have.

Wow...you are either brave or crazy....or both. If you haven't experienced it already, I can tell you, it's a LONG ways down from a 17h horse. A sensitive TB coming back from an injury for a 12th lesson?? I enjoy a challenge too...but no way would I tackle that one. I'd be asking for a calmer lesson horse that isn't going to take off galloping if I do the wrong thing (like flailing legs, bad hands, bad seat, etc...). This is not a horse to learn on...you need a horse where you can get a better seat before riding a horse like this.

My instructor keeps me challenged too...but first and foremost, she's considering my safety.

[jacstar]

Good on you for staying on. :D

TB an be tricky if your a beginner i learnt on a TB many years ago and i learnt heap from him.

When a TB is broken in to saddle for his/her racing career they dont teach leg yielding etc

Most trainers dont break race horses in properly they will throw the saddle on one day then ride the next and it doesnt matter if they take off because that is what they are training for anyway.

Even if you get a TB that has been trained properly (some do but very rare)
and they have just finished there racing career they still have to be taught leg yielding etc etc as this is an excersise they are not used to
(jockeys dont use leg)

Jac

[domane]

Wanabe - sadly nothing so grand. Just a mix of mine and my husband's names Dom and Jane!!!!!

[wanabe]

Yeah, I figured it was a long shot -- women aren't usually into fantasy. (Although Jordan attracts some.) :(

Now that I'm "into" horses, I realize that the domane/suldam relationship in Jordan's books is a lot like the human/horse relationship (although both are humans, of a sort).

Does ANYBODY out there know what I'm talking about?!?

[Cheko]

Actually No> What are you talking about?

[wanabe]

Good, I was allowed to ride the same horse for lesson 13. :cool: However, it was a back-to-basics lesson now with only walking and trotting and actually learning a little about what I believe is called "collection".

The good thing about being allowed to come on fast is that I was kept interested (things didn't get too tedious) but then when I began to have problems I suddenly saw the need for going back and studying the basics in more detail because I had some problems to solve. :cool:

[laura jeanne]

Yes, the more you know, the more you realize what you don't know!