I had a lesson a couple of weeks ago with a new RI - new to the RS, not specifically chosen by me. Cally had recently developed a habit of bending to the outside and falling in through her shoulder so I was looking forward to a lesson to help me sort it out.
The lesson felt awful. The RI said she was being 'lazy' and relying on me holding her up. She got me keeping the inside rein very short and down by her wither, and pulling the outside rein out wide and using loads of leg, and keeping lots of pressure on the inside hand until Cally softened, and then to soften to her. Cally was head tossing, snorting. My arms were aching! It felt very adversarial and not how I like to ride but the RI said sometimes with young horses you just had to 'get through' these little paddies and she would learn.
Things weren't a lot better by the end of the lesson and I just felt really unhappy, not just that Cally was not staying straight but that we had fought each other.
Today I had a private lesson with my usual RI and it was 1000X better. Cally was bending to the outside and falling in again so I started doing what the other RI had suggested, but my normal RI told me to let go of her head, ride her on a long rein and focus on forward. Immediately she was straighter but still flexing to the outside. She said horses naturally look to the outside, so Cally was not doing anything 'wrong' but was just doing what felt natural to her. So she put some poles just inside the corners and said I should trot round and at each pole just give a little feel down the inside rein to encourage her to look at the pole. She became very curious about these poles and suddenly I had a pony who was trotting straight then glancing to the inside to nosy at the pole. From that glance we could build on getting some inside bend.
By the end of the lesson we were doing trot/canter transitions all the way round the arena with correct bend.
My RI said 'it's always better if you can find a way to make doing the right thing the horse's idea!' That totally sums up how I want to ride, but I don;t know if it is always possible? Can you train a young horse without ever 'fighting'? And what do I do if I have the new RI again? You can select your RI for privates but if you join a group lesson - as I do every Sunday - you just get whoever is on the rota so I may not be able to avoid the new RI again.
Should I just tell her I don't want to pull on Cally anymore as it does not suit her or me? I would worry she thinks I'm criticising her but Cally is my pony so I should be able to ride in a style that I like and I don't want another lesson like that again.
The lesson felt awful. The RI said she was being 'lazy' and relying on me holding her up. She got me keeping the inside rein very short and down by her wither, and pulling the outside rein out wide and using loads of leg, and keeping lots of pressure on the inside hand until Cally softened, and then to soften to her. Cally was head tossing, snorting. My arms were aching! It felt very adversarial and not how I like to ride but the RI said sometimes with young horses you just had to 'get through' these little paddies and she would learn.
Things weren't a lot better by the end of the lesson and I just felt really unhappy, not just that Cally was not staying straight but that we had fought each other.
Today I had a private lesson with my usual RI and it was 1000X better. Cally was bending to the outside and falling in again so I started doing what the other RI had suggested, but my normal RI told me to let go of her head, ride her on a long rein and focus on forward. Immediately she was straighter but still flexing to the outside. She said horses naturally look to the outside, so Cally was not doing anything 'wrong' but was just doing what felt natural to her. So she put some poles just inside the corners and said I should trot round and at each pole just give a little feel down the inside rein to encourage her to look at the pole. She became very curious about these poles and suddenly I had a pony who was trotting straight then glancing to the inside to nosy at the pole. From that glance we could build on getting some inside bend.
By the end of the lesson we were doing trot/canter transitions all the way round the arena with correct bend.
My RI said 'it's always better if you can find a way to make doing the right thing the horse's idea!' That totally sums up how I want to ride, but I don;t know if it is always possible? Can you train a young horse without ever 'fighting'? And what do I do if I have the new RI again? You can select your RI for privates but if you join a group lesson - as I do every Sunday - you just get whoever is on the rota so I may not be able to avoid the new RI again.
Should I just tell her I don't want to pull on Cally anymore as it does not suit her or me? I would worry she thinks I'm criticising her but Cally is my pony so I should be able to ride in a style that I like and I don't want another lesson like that again.