I feel like there's no lesson plan in my lessons

[heelsdownheadhigh]

Hi everyone, this is my first time on here but I really wanted some opinions on this!

So I have just started riding 3 months ago after a year of volunteering at my local yard (I was overweight and too heavy to start riding so I used the year to lose some weight and even passed my BHS Stage 1 Care). I became so determined to get into the saddle that I was spending every spare moment at my yard for the weight loss and to be close to the horses.

You can imagine then, just how ecstatic I was when the yard manager came up to me three months ago and said "You look really good! I think you're ready to have a little sit on Tilly!". Since then I've been having 2-3 lessons (30 mins each) a week and these have all been free due to how much volunteering I do. I love my RI but I do think that because they are free that I am not getting proper teaching...

I have been going in between sitting trot, rising trot and poles for the last 3 months and not learning much about leg aids/what to do with my hands. It was after my first fall last week (horse spooked and bolted in the arena, I was unbalanced and fell off) that I realised I really need to know more than just trotting. Is this normal for 3 months of 3 lessons a week? I have no clue how to actually USE my body but rather depending on voice commands/whip. Any advice is welcome!

 

[Jessey]

It’s probably not ideal but it’s often how things are done, one reason is because there is quite a period of physical adjustment to get riding-fit which is different than any other kind of fit.
I’d have a chat with your RI and start asking those sorts of questions so she knows you’re ready and keen to learn more.

 

[Mary Poppins]

I think that the quality of teaching varies hugely and it is often a case of paying for what you get. I’m between horses right now after sadly losing my boy last summer, several people suggested having some lessons at a riding school. I am very reluctant to do this because the quality of teaching is generally so low among riding school staff that I know. After riding for 40 years I don’t want to be taught by a newly qualified 18 year old and neither do I want to ride a horse that spends his life going round in circles. In my experience, to get the really good tuition you need to seek out a private instructor which generally means having your own horse.

With so many riding schools closing it is becoming so much more difficult to learn to ride properly. All I can suggest is that you try out different riding schools and instructors until you find something that suits you. And trust your instincts, if you don’t think your instructor is very good it probably means you are right.

 

[Skib]

That is not my experience. I have had excellent RS teachers at several BHS recognised schools. When my Aunt was seriously ill we drove quite a way to visit her each week and passed a BHS rding school on the way. I took some lessons there. I was given a 15 hands horse that actually fitted me and was taught by an RI who evented. I had the small indoor school to myself.
She made me make riding very precise and I still remember so much of what she taught me. What I wanted was to be able to take a WTC assesment and sure she left me able to do that.
On my last lesson when my horse and the school were needed (I think for exams) she taught me outdoors on a 6 year old cob. A whole new experience for me to be on a young horse and to feel what it was like to help him go straight and not to spook at the hedge.
On the same visits to Kent I took the opportnity to go to a heavy horse centre and had my first lesson in tacking up a cart and learning to drive it.
Even at my local school I had some brilliant dressage lessons. I told the RI, that I wanted to ride a flying change and by the end of the winter I did.

However, I have never ever felt a single lesson needed to actaully teach me anything new. We talked of it as saddle time. If one had 6 lessons with another rider teaching one, one is bound to discover somethng which one did not know before.

I have also at least three ties gone for a lesson which has indeed been useless and I simply didnt go back. The student is after all the paying customer.

 

[newforest]

The first thing that stands out is half hour. You can't really do an awful lot in that time, unless you are working on something specific.
Could you drop a lesson and change to an hour.
Three months is no time at all, we never really stop learning.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

I think you're doing well, but it's a great idea to give yourself some goals, and the things you are curious about - hands, leg aids, position - are all really important. How about making yourself a list of goals, like:

* correct riding position (head heel and hip in alignment, straight line from bit to elbow, etc)
* start, steer, control pace and stop without voice aids, whip or intervention from the ground
* balance at walk and trot sufficient to ride serpentines (S shapes) and 10m circles
* starting canter transitions

I'm not quite sure what your yard manager is dong while you have your lesson. Does she join you in the school and give you instruction, or just start you off and leave you to get on with it? Either way, you could ask her to help you achieve your goals. That might mean her spending 5 or 10 minutes with you on the horse at standstill, correcting your position, and then watching you ride or even lungeing the horse while you ride to make sure your body learns the position. Lungeing will also help you improve your balance. Or she might explain the hand and leg aids to you and then leave you to it to practice.

I hope you find a way to get the learning you are looking for.

 

[Skib]

* correct riding position (head heel and hip in alignment, straight line from bit to elbow, etc)

To my mind this mantra is fine in theory but in practice is an obstacle to supple, sensitive riding. Yes, the rider must be balanced but the weight should be on your seat bones and your legs fall relaxed.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Yes, the rider must be balanced but the weight should be on your seat bones and your legs fall relaxed

Yes, that's absolutely true, but for me the head-hip-heel helps with position and always has. It prevents one from sagging into a chair seat, and in my case helps me remember to sit straight up rather than leaning forward. I still think it's useful for a beginner.

 

[Janey99]

Well done you for getting fitter first of all! I think it's all about mileage...lots of time in the saddle and perfect your position at walk and trot before tackling canter and trot poles.
Have you hacked out at all? Sometimes relaxing on a quiet slow hack helps you to focus on position without putting pressure on yourself.
What do you think you need to work on? Rising trot can be difficult depending on your seat and ability to go with the movement. Horses can spook at any moment regardless of where you are, but to feel confident in your seat takes time.
Is there any possibility of a lunge lesson....Great for letting you focus on you and your position..
Wishing you the very best of luck with your journey...and it IS a journey