Am I a bad rider? Very upset.

Black Bess, I do not know where abouts you live but if I was you I would have a hunt around and see if you can find somewhere that specialises in dressage. OK, you may not want to ultimately be a dressage diva but an instructor who specialises in that will work in a lot more detail in refining your position, aids and such like and give you much more in depth instruction in how to work your horses in a kind and sympathetic way. A lot of places will do you lessons on a good schoolmaster who knows the ropes well and will help you a lot. Even if you only went and had a few lessons, it may well give you just the boost that you need to help you feel like you are progressing again.

Whatever, please do not feel that you are behind or different to anyone else. We all learn at different rates and it is great that you are taking the time to learn properly. Keep up the good work and let us know how you get on
 
You are not a failure - you just need a good teacher and private lessons if you can get them! You're probably not holding the class back but it sounds like you'd be better doing one to one. Nobody is laughing at you either - well, I don't think they would be - not in an unkind way! Where I used to have lessons the kiddies used to laugh at me, cos I'm older and slower and quite frankly most of the time I was terrified !!!! i didn't mind them giggling tho, made me relax!
 
The riding holiday idea is a good one. Often when we try hard to master a new skill or progress, its easy to lose sight of having fun. On a riding holiday, you'll be able to get some hours in the saddle, plenty of time to forget about 'thinking riding' and just go with the flow and relax. (I always get into a mess when I start thinking instead of feeling '.)
 
I decided to follow up Wally's brilliant idea and look into a riding holiday in Iceland. There's a ride that takes in the Northern lights and is around the time of my birthday, I'm just waiting to hear whether its still available.

I'll definitely also follow up the dressage lesson suggestion - I thought you had to be a brilliant rider to take dressage lessons but its a great idea, as I could really work on getting my position and aids right.
 
You don't have to be a brilliant rider at all to have dressage lessons. Any instructor worth their sort will take you from grass roots level and train you in a dressage way from the beginning. Do look into it.you won't regret it
 
If you are anywhere near Heather Moffett, go and have an equisimulator lesson.

You'll learn more from her and her mechanical horse in an hour than you could imagine.

She's is brilliant at knowing how to sort problems, while you are riding the equsimulator tell her what you have problems with and she'll show you precisely how to place yourself to crack 'em.

The beuty of riding Icelandics is they take the pressure off you. You can ride and chill out and you'll have a great time.

Give Is Hestar a shout, they do all kinds of packages, and can cater for you all different ways.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom