Problem Lessons?

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Returningrider

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Jul 8, 2016
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Sorry a little long winded...

Second lesson today. I'm a returning rider having ridden weekly for a year in my early teens. I was just learning to jump and was happy in canter when I stopped. I also hack my friend sons pony around the lanes where we live as I'm lightweight.

First lesson we spent working on transitions from walk and trot to halt, trot to walk and had several canters. Established what I needed to work on and made some progress! Was a fab lesson however I had to share the school with 5 other riders all doing their own thing, often cantering past me. Got cut up once! I requested the same horse a 16hh throughbred gelding for next week. He was rather handsome!

So today I arrive to find another rider on requested horse was given a 14.2hh gelding and was told he was spooky and he didn't like hands on his neck/withers, twitches and throws head. I trusted the instructor that she knew my ability and the horse was fine. We had a great lesson working on transitions again and really made some progress. I noticed he wouldn't ride alongside the fence at one end of the school. At the end of the lesson I was trotting at the end he didn't like when a big gust of wind blew a letter sign, it creaked, he spooked and became unbalanced and I came off. It was controlled as far as falling can be and I was unhurt. I had to share the school with one other rider who this time I ended up cutting up!

Since I have spoken to an experienced friend who said that she had come of the same horse who had spoked in the school for her - reared. Previous to this she told me that a trainee had tied him to some metal mounting steps and he had spooked and disappeared with the steps down the lane.

I'd love to know some of your thoughts on my experiences. Also, do you share schools in private lessons?
 
My first thought is if you're paying for a private lesson you should have the school to yourself, even if the other riders are not being given instruction. Group lessons are different - all riders have instruction but pay less than they would for a private lesson. You shouldn't have to worry about other riders in the school and where they are.

Were you given a reason for why you didn't get your requested horse? That's my second thought - that they put you on a horse known to be spooky on only your second lesson there. It's great that you managed him but I would have listened to your request to ride the first one to be honest. I'd have kept you on the original gelding until your balance was better developed; better balance makes it easier to sit spooks and not come off.

Good that you managed the new horse though. Especially that you weren't put off by the fall!
 
Do i share a 20 x 40 school in a private lessons? No as private means exactly that, you and instructor.
If I am sharing with one or two others, I pay less in this space.

How big is the school? The other riders should be able to give you the 20 x 40 lesson space, and that area be marked out.
I've had a lesson in a school where that was the case.
That's what you pay for, your space.
 
Sadly Chev, paying for a private lesson does not ensure you have the school to yourself. Vote with your feet and switch to a school where you have the school to yourself. Unless it is a lunge lesson. I have had to change schools, or tell an RI. I don't want to share the school.
You really need the right horse and the right teacher for what you want to learn.
And that continues even for experienced riders. You are the customer and choose what suits you, just as you might choose clothes.
 
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I have mixed views..not the way I liked to do things but all too common in larger schools. Daughter has even shared a school with a group under seperate tuition while having a private lesson from a very senior trainer. All riders however were experienced so it was similar to riding in a dressage warmup.

Again in larger schools where there may be multiple lessons and instructors teaching at once choice of horse is not always possible, it may be the other rider was less experienced than you and more in need of a steadier horse.

As Skib says you are the customer , if you don't like how one school operates shop around.
 
It's a shame you fell off, but you sound as though you handled it really well. Did you get back on again?

I have private lessons at my current school. Sometimes I have the arena to myself, sometimes not. It is a very busy school and "private" refers to 1-2-1 instruction. The school has nice horses and I like the RI so I accept the occasional additional rider and instructor. Everyone is very hot on school rules, so there are no cutting up incidents.

It may not always be possible to ride the same horse and different horses do have different things to teach. I would expect the RI to be interested in your thoughts on the mount allocated to you and to take these into account in deciding which horse you are allocated to next time. But this would only be one of several factors, including what they were aiming to teach you, practicalities from the school's point of view, the mood of the horse on the day even.

Only you know if you enjoyed it enough to go back or are unsettled enough to look for somewhere else...it's a brilliant hobby!
 
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As long as the arena is big enough to share & do the work you want then I wouldn't expect to have exclusive use for a private lesson unless there was a problem with the horse that made sharing unsafe, & that's not going to be the case with a school horse.

While I'm not sure the horse you were allocated sounds ideal I can understand that you may not be given the horse you requested - he may be a regular ride for the other rider, it may be he was more suitable for the other rider, it could be any number of reasons. To be fair to the horse you were on a big gust of wind blowing a marker about would spook a lot of horses, and misbehaving with your friend is fairly irrelevant because people ride differently & that can have a big impact.
 
I used to prefer the school to myself and the instructor if I was paying for a private lesson. Most of the time it was possible. When we moved to a bigger yard tho we had to share and tbh (this might sound a bit precious on my part) I really didn't enjoy it and felt at times unsafe. I am not the most confident of riders and to have to listen to someone elses RI bawling instructions at their pupil at the other end really put me off. Plus, it irked me that I paid for the yard's official teacher when the other yard teacher was teaching her own pupils as a sideline in the arena that I had booked for a lesson. Might sound petty but it was an expensive yard and it annoyed me that people who didn't even livery there were having lessons and enjoying the arena but not paying to use it!
 
Thanks for your time. Yes I did get back on for a trot. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to go on a 12 mile fun ride on my friends mini cob. His current rider is a bit too young/inexperienced and I'm lightweight. Bricked it at first but a positive experience, lots of canters that felt spot on and a chance consolidate the other things I've learnt. I survived a slight stumble in canter and popped two very small jumps at trot so confidence is restored and an amazing day! Bloody ache today though.

I'm on a deal with current school and have two more lessons left. The reason my horse was swapped was for a holiday rider who used to ride him and wanted to jump. She was also a bit bigger than me so I'm guessing he was a better fit. I'm going to try another school after that has been recommended by some experienced friends - sole use of school, good instructor and slightly cheaper. Just not sure if I should stay on spooky horse for my next lesson or ask for another.
 
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Actually that would annoy me a bit. If I have a block of lessons and I get swapped off a horse for someone passing through.

I do remember booking a day ride with a friend. They then rung up to alter us as they had a group who wanted to ride that day, could we change.
We had organised the day off work etc for that day, so we got dumped.
They have since shut down.
 
Yes I was annoyed and you being dumped for a large group is awful! The saving grace of the school and the reason I took the block booking is my instructor. Although she is very young she is patient and explains things to me using non-horsey language at the right pace so I'm improving so much. I get a feeling that horse allocation maybe beyond her control as it's a big yard and she is junior to other instructors.
 
So glad to read this post - That you have organised things for yourself. I met a lovely lady this week who like OH and me had started riding in her 60s and she sounded to have worked things out so well -just by organising things and knowing what she wanted to learn. Not acting all cowed and helpless and bullied as I was.
 
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To me private is 1-2-1 with my RI not the school to myself. But this is also different from going to a riding school or having lessons at your own yard. At my old yard I had to share the school with the other liveries and could not book the school for a lesson often I would have 3 or 4 other riders in with me but they knew I was having a lesson so kept clear.

I am on a riding school now and I have never seen them have more than one lesson in a school at a time but we do have 4 schools!
 
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