Hi Nelsonsmum: We all have our bad days and sometimes we have a few in a row, then you have 1 good one and it all seems worth it. You will have various epiphanies through your lessons, try and draw from those instead of letting the negative overcome all the positive things you have done and are yet to do.
Rather wait until you are confident in your riding before acquiring a horse. I have come back into riding after many years of not riding and in hindsight, I should have waited. Owning a horse has a whole lot of other stresses. Right now, you need to concentrate on you.
I know this sounds odd but wear your favourite perfume when you go for a lesson, it gives you a boost of confidence because you feel good about yourself.
Hi Suzanne2,
You should never be shouted at, that's not the way to teach and it will be difficult for you to learn because all you are concentrating on is not being shouted at. I had an instructor once that I am sure was a Banshee in disguise - I had some of the worst lessons in my life and felt constantly anxious. I then moved to another instructor - wow, what a difference! He was calm and thought about things. If one thing did not work, he would try something else - even to the point of climbing on the horse and demonstrating. I learned so much from him! Find someone that makes you feel confident.
Had a rubbish lesson today, I was behind the movement in trot. Kept tipping forwards and then trying to compensate by leaning too far back when asking for downward transitions. Generally just felt like I had learned nothing at all. Spent most of lesson walking around feeling like a complete loser. My RI says I am trying too hard and did say the horse made her work really hard but I still feel like I am just kidding myself that I will ever be good enough to own my own horse. Has anyone else had this issue? How did you solve it? Is it just a practice thing?
