I arrived on this board terrified of riding teachers and riding lessons. I was rescued by the experts on New Rider simply because I never needed to come face to face with them.
When a friend asked me to write about learning to ride in my sixities, I felt it impossible to give any account to the BHS without mentioning first the bullying and rudeness I endured. Riding can be an enjoyable and positively therapeutic experience but the bullying and humiliation which I describe is a serious obstacle to those who want to learn to ride - and for some livery clients as well perhaps.
I hesitated a lot before plucking up courage to complain to the BHS. Most of us who escape from bullying instructors want to move on and put it behind us. And I am frightened of alienating my present wonderful teachers and riding schools. I guess one could write anonymously and not mention names.
But could I ask anyone else on this list in the UK who has themselves been a victim of bullying or is aware of bullying in a riding school or in the training of students to come forward and write to the BHS, Stoneleigh Deer Park, Kennilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2XV or e-mail enquiry@bhs.org.uk
I suspect that I am not the only adult learner to suffer in this way, nor to abandon lessons in riding schools for this reason - though few are willing to talk about it.
When a friend asked me to write about learning to ride in my sixities, I felt it impossible to give any account to the BHS without mentioning first the bullying and rudeness I endured. Riding can be an enjoyable and positively therapeutic experience but the bullying and humiliation which I describe is a serious obstacle to those who want to learn to ride - and for some livery clients as well perhaps.
I hesitated a lot before plucking up courage to complain to the BHS. Most of us who escape from bullying instructors want to move on and put it behind us. And I am frightened of alienating my present wonderful teachers and riding schools. I guess one could write anonymously and not mention names.
But could I ask anyone else on this list in the UK who has themselves been a victim of bullying or is aware of bullying in a riding school or in the training of students to come forward and write to the BHS, Stoneleigh Deer Park, Kennilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2XV or e-mail enquiry@bhs.org.uk
I suspect that I am not the only adult learner to suffer in this way, nor to abandon lessons in riding schools for this reason - though few are willing to talk about it.