intensive lessons

[cheato]

i have started riding again after about 14 years (i had my own horse for about 10 years) and have fallen into all sorts of terrible habits. i really want to find a riding school that offers intensive riding weekends to crack me into shape. can anyone recommend anywhere in UK? ideally i would like to do some x-country (small fences!)

[Just.Jump]

After a break of 14 years, I would class you as a beginner (though you will relearn everything basic fairly quickly).

As a beginner, I can safely say that you need lessons. As far as I know, nobody has "weekend" intensives (unlike ballet summer intensives, where I imagine you got the idea?). You must realise that horses aren't like people-not many owners would train their horses with beginner riders for more than an hour at a time. Reaosn being that beginning riders, quite frankly, injure horses. They bounce, they pull, and all sorts of other beginner mistakes. Unlike ballet intensives, training in horseback riding has to take into consideration the partner. So, a pas de deux, per say.

Where are you finding horses to ride after a 14 year break anyway? And if you are slipping into nasty habits, you really do need an instructor there to spot them and fix them. Don't expect to do any cross country until you've jumped, and don't expect to jump until you are at least an intermediate flatwork rider.

[shirley]

Would whole heartedly agree. Take weekly lessons to begin with and buildup. It is not also about just getting back into the saddle and thinking you will just be as fit as you were after owning your own horse and riding probably daily. You will also need time to get your own fitness back up as well. Also learning to more supple through your whole body as well. That way you will be a much better rider and be able to carry yourself on the horse better, have and retain a better position for longer. So within several months you will be able to move things on a way.
The best things in life are worth working at and building up slowly - that way the joy lasts longer and we get much more fun out of what we do.
Good luck

[Skib]

I dont entirely agree.
At several points in my four years of learning to ride, I would have liked to have an intensive course - I have met people who have had a week and found it very useful. And I think most BHS schools will let you arrange this.
It is very rare to learn anything in life without getting a chance to practise what you have learned.
After thinking over my this week's lesson, I worked something out and would really like to have gone back and tried again. Instead, the normal pattern in riding (unless you have your own horse) is to wait a week.
That's only the mental side. There is the physical side too, of building up new habits. A child learning piano is expected practise every day.
That's why I started hacking between lessons and told Rob he should do the same. If anyone offered me a school lesson every day for the next week, I would accept like a shot.

[Rob26]

I think intensive riding lessons are a good idea. The way I see it is over a typical year I might have 52 hours worth of lessons, taking a 1hour lesson each week.

However, if I had lessons 5 days a week (on school horses) I've condensed a years worth of lessons, practice and learning into around 10 weeks. If I was forunate enough to maintain the 5 lesson/week regime i'd effectively cover 5 years worth of learning into 1 year on an hour to hours basis... accelerating my learning 5 fold.

This coming week i'm taking 2 lessons instead of my usual 1 for this very reason and within the next month or so will have a full weeks worth of lessons and as Skib said, i'll be adding in hack at weekends too. :)

[DavidH]

Yorkshire Riding Centre. They will tailor a course to meet what you want and they have a small XC course.

[Skib]

Rob, I think men beginners get treated by schools with more respect than women. Reflecting social status perhaps.
Make sure that when you have 2 lessons a week you do actually get the double value you are looking for - or alternatively a true chance to practise.
My experience when I went for extra lessons to learn to canter was that the school weren't bothered to find me a suitable horse or space in the arena. The attitude seemed to be that I would be coming back the next day, so it didnt really matter.

[eml]

Cheato it basically comes down to how fit you are and how good your riding was when you were regularly riding. I have had people return after 25 years gap and look as if they had never been off a horse, others look as if they have never been on one! Equally an intensive course will be poor value if you ache so much you can't really benefit.

I do agree with Skib however that progress is slow as a weekly rider, each lesson of an hour really gives 10 minutes getting comfortable and warmed up, 15 minutes revising where you got to in the last lesson, 10 minutes learning a new topic, 15 minutes practicing ( I can add the rest is needed for getting on and off and general rider/teacher chat summary etc!)

I have most sucess with customers who want to progress quickly doing one private, two class lessons and a hands on stable management session(really increases confidence and understanding of the horse) Far enough spaced out to let muscles recover, close enough to remember what you learn each time. Private lesson gives chance to address any problem areas, group lesson (all my adults except beginners work in open order) a chance for unpressured practice. The cost of an intensive weekend would probably buy you about six weeks of this type of training.

[teabiscuit]

skib i was just thinking about your men get more respect comment, and i wondered is that because of their novelty value? men are the minority usually arn't they in this environment.
sorry i'm wandering off thread agian :o
my sister went for a lesson as a beginner after 15 years break and the instructor knew straight away that she'd ridden before so i reckon it'll come back quickly :) hope you have a lot of fun with it.

[Skib]

eml - We should be so lucky. I only had half an hour. Half hour seems the normal lesson slot at schools down here. And I am due a half hour lesson this afternoon.

[Ross]

I'd recomend Talland School of Equitation - they have horses of every level, reasonable facilities, and good instructors. THey will put together whatever you want, I believe - but they're very approachable, so you could always ring and discuss it wit them. When I went there, they didn't actually do lessons on Sunday, but that was some time ago.

Ross

[Calsanjo]

I too was going to suggest the Yorkshire Riding Centre. I wouldn't class you as a beginner if you've had your own horse for 10 years before now - however I reckon things may not work as you expect and will ache a lot more afterwards :rolleyes:

[sophie33]

Depending how fit you are I definitely see the point of an 'intensive course'. I wanted to do one last year and just couldn't afford to go to the Yorkshire Riding Centre or similar places but I asked my riding school and they were quite happy to design a course for me. I had to take time off work in the week because they are too busy at weekends but it worked out brilliantly - and I did learn much more than I can in half an hour lessons. I did three days a mixture of lunge lessons, flatwork, and one jumping lesson combined with hacks and stable management. I am probably much more of a beginner than you - I had only ridden for a year or so when I did the course. However, to answer just.jumps point, I obviously didn't torture one poor horse for three days - in fact I rode two or three different horses a day!

[Just.Jump]

At my barn, everyone gets the same amount of respect- though there are rarely any men to take on their own bit of it =P. Sadly, the only men I've seen at my barn have been taking private lessons. Probably because it would hurt to be in an arena with a lot of very young girls.

As to the intensives idea- the only thing like that we have around here are clinics and camps. Look around for basic/beginner clinics, as camps are basically for kids.