Anyone Else Not That Fussed About Having Lessons?

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Mithras

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Am I on my own here in that I'm not that keen on having lessons on my horses? I compete (BSJA or BS as it is now and county level working hunter) and I really dislike having a weekly or fortnightly lesson. I only have a lesson if I identify a particular problem that would benefit from outside help to work on, or the occasional tips if I have got into bad habits. But what I really like doing, and what works best for me, is simply grafting away with my own schooling, thinking about what I'm doing, why the horse is doing what he is or isn't and thinking up solutions.

I just don't want to drag my horse off in the box every week for lessons (they go away often enough to compete as it is). I also don't like the sort of trainer who feels they have to tell you you are doing everything wrong in order for you to get your money's worth. Theres only a few things I can actually remember and work on in a lesson, and I benefit from having a longish time period to implement it. Theres also only a few people I would have lessons from, mainly people who have competed to a higher level than me in my disciplines and who I have a rapport with.

I would say I have a lesson about twice or three times a year.
 
Noone is too good to learn. Think where you could be with lessons from a more experienced person to guide you... Also schooling with an instructor present is much more structured than schooling alone - we sometimes think we are being structured when in fact we are skipping over some issues and sometimes concentrating on non-issues.
 
I really enjoy having lessons. I am not a very structured person with my training, so to have a 45 min lesson of straight, uninterrupted supervised work is great for my horse and I. It's good to achieve something I wouldn't have done at home.

I really feel we get a lot out of it.

It's so important that you and your Instructor are suited though.
 
Well I am an instructor, but don't have lessons myself every week! I prefer to have lessons from an instructor who I have to box out too,isn't cheap, he also only goes there 2 once a month for 2 days, so aim to go every month, but often miss a month because I'm busy on the clinic days etc. I like having time to practise what he says too. I do REALLY enjoy my lessons.

I think it depends where you're at with your riding and what you're trying to achieve.... Some people stop when they get to the stage where they're not really falling off, which is fine until they want to start riding their horse rounder etc and then resort to training aidds, because they really don't know what they're doing.... That irritates me, but other than that people should do what makes them happy!
 
Have to say I’m completely the opposite and really look forward to my weekly riding lesson. My instructor always has a new thing for us to work on, a new exercise or something to test me and Bodey. I really find them fun, if not quite knackering sometimes. I really don’t feel I would have done anywhere near as well with out them.

I really do think it’s about finding the right person to teach you.
 
The trouble with not having lessons is how easy it is to get into bad habits without realising. I think this is even more the case if you keep your horses at home, so a group of us will ride together, hire a local arena and give each other lessons, makes it fun and nips problems in the bud. I am also fortunate in that my sister will give me a lesson and me her. It means that you can concentrate on your riding, while the person on the ground suggests the movements.
 
Inky_and_Sunny said:
Noone is too good to learn. Think where you could be with lessons from a more experienced person to guide you... Also schooling with an instructor present is much more structured than schooling alone - we sometimes think we are being structured when in fact we are skipping over some issues and sometimes concentrating on non-issues.
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Hmmn, the last two lessons I had (which were actually from two of the very few trainers I rate), they suggested I sold the horses (two different ones!) as they thought they were too difficult and didn't have the potential to go very far! Instead I grafted away and am getting good results, although I agree with them in the sense that I think these horses will hit their ceiling, achievement wise, quite quickly. But in the meantime I'm learning more from the horses and from listening to them than I could in weekly lessons concentrating on the minutae of my hand position.

I'm not for one moment saying that I'm too good to learn! What I'm saying is that I think I can achieve (and learn) more in half an hour 3 times a week schooling my horse on my own than I can boxing him somewhere for a lesson every single week and doing little or no schooling on my own. I think horsy people sometimes have an obsession with lessons and trainers, its almost as if they are afraid to do anything on their own, and theres no reason why you can't school your horse on your own.

You can also learn a lot from competing. Its like a test of how successful your riding and schooling has been, and tends to bring out a lot of faults that are hidden in the controlled home or lesson environment.

I do like an occasional lesson, from someone very, very good, particularly if a problem arises that I cannot solve myself. There are a lot of trainers I don't rate, they speak too much and some of it I disagree with and can see why it would be wrong for me and my horse.
 
I hate lessons. I try them occasionally and usually manage about three or four before I'm riding around thinking (and dying to say) "Oh just feck off". Consequently what I am able to get out of a horse hasn't come on much over the last twenty or so years. :D

I used to enjoy group lessons at college and at the riding school on other horses, and I've since enjoyed the couple of Ride with Your Mind lessons I've had on my horses, but the training type lessons that most people enjoy, I hate. I think I'm just happy to have my horses tootling round sweetly and don't enjoy upping the pressure that is required to progress.

I'm dying to get myself seriously into endurance and never bother with lessons again, bar the occasional b0ll0cking for tipping forwards, dropping hands, etc, etc. :cool:
 
Mithras said:
What I'm saying is that I think I can achieve (and learn) more in half an hour 3 times a week schooling my horse on my own than I can boxing him somewhere for a lesson every single week and doing little or no schooling on my own. of it I disagree with and can see why it would be wrong for me and my horse.
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But who does that? It is important to consolidate what has been learned in lessons.

And the minutiae of hand position is important. It lowers and raises the position of the bit in the horses' mouth and affects their way of going. In some cases can completely negate the effect of the bit...

If my instructor tells me I am moving my hands too much (even if the aim of the lesson is to do something more 'advanced') then I will work on it. There's no point in bringing our horses on to another level if they are going to hit a ceiling because of something we are doing.

I understand what you are saying about selling the horses though. We all have horses for different reasons and I too have a youngster that sounds the same as yours in the ceiling sense. I have been told he is never going to be sharp enough to event but I have basically changed my plans for him. I am learning from him as he is a stubborn little swine so I have to adapt my training but he is going to be my project to sell as a teen ride. He's incredibly bomb proof and takes everything in his stride. Allthough he will never be good enough for a lightweight adult to compete he will be worth his weight in gold for a competitive child coming off 13h ponies (my boy won't make more than 15h).

Basically he isn't ever going to better my riding but he is bettering my training skills. My riding skills are continued being improved on a schoolmaster. If I didn't have the option to ride a schoolmaster I would sell my boy as I don't like to stagnate. I set myself goals each year and with the push from a good instructor, I progress far quicker than I would left to my own devices ;)
 
I enjoy my weekly lessons, I have been going to the same instrctor for just over a year and she has helped me alot with riding and confidence to go out and do shows :) also she is only a 15min walk away so its a good warm up and cool down getting there and back.
 
Inky_and_Sunny said:
But who does that? It is important to consolidate what has been learned in lessons.

I set myself goals each year and with the push from a good instructor, I progress far quicker than I would left to my own devices ;)
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Err, I do! If my horses need schooling, I school them! I spend a lot of time going over the basics and in between I think about what I will do to work through any problems or issues they might have, and what specific exercise I can use, etc.. I can see how effective I'm being from my results in competition. I know perfectly well where my hands should be and what they do and I don't need a weekly lesson to tell me - a refresher occasionally is far more beneficial.

I don't need an instructor to push or motivate me either. OK, more detail, two instructors both told me to let my very forward going new horse jump at the speed he wanted (ie flat out) and not interfere with him. I disagree, the horse should go in a rhythm, but not necessarily his own but the most suitable one for jumping from. He should learn to listen to the rider, go at the speed I choose and not do what he wants all the time. Most importantly, he was going too fast because that was what he has been allowed to do all his life (and previous owner is a show jumping instructor), was on his forehand, was becoming unbalanced and hence going faster to keep his balance. He needed to learn to collect and shorten where necessary and listen to the rider instead of sticking his head in the air to evade the rider's controls. If I had continued to do as instructed, he would still be hurtling dangerously around the arena, missing jumps because he was going too fast and crashing into things. Instead he got a second place in his first affiliated show the other night. And he is 13. OK it is only British Novice but he's so much better than he was before, and no lessons!

I'm not saying lessons are a bad thing, just that some riders seem to substitute them for the ability to think for themselves and actually spend time schooling their horses.
 
I can't remember the last lesson I had as it's so long ago!

I qualified as a BHSAI many moons ago and had lessons everyday, since then it has been schooling horses on my own with occasional lessons, but now I am doing my own thing with my horse and no lessons and we are both quite happy with that. I'm not competetive though so maybe that makes a difference?

I am not in the least bit bothered about not having lessons and providing I ride effectively, sympathetically and in balance I don't really see the need to have them for what I'm doing.
 
OP It sounds to me like you've never really found a trainer who you gel with 100%.

I love having lessons, my horse is working towards PSG & if i could i would have a lesson nearly ever week. However in reality im lucky if i get a lesson every month.
All the people i train with all work the same way so it makes it easy to train with them & every time i come away with another new tool, i love training more than competing. It's just not easy for me to train with them as one lives in Dubai & the other in Germany.
I do agree going out competing is a good bench mark for how your training is going. ATM im not competing much as i qualified very early for regionals so im in a position where i can just get on with training.:D

Even if i didnt compete i would want to train my horse to as higher level as we possible could, i would hate not to learn more from seriously experienced people. Oh & im an instructor also.
 
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Mithras I believe what Inky and Sunny was saying is that she has lessons AND schools 2 -3 times a week to consolidate!

Not that she boxes to a lesson and does nothing else at home!

That's how I read it anyway :p
 
Each to their own I think, if you don't really enjoy lessons then don't have them!
I usually enjoy my lessons when I have them (by no means on a regular basis) but I think the thought of them is often worse than actually participating!
It's nothing to do with the instructor, he's fab & we've learned a lot from him, I just don't really enjoy schooling & neither does my horse it would seem! I am aware that my feelings towards schooling probably transfer to him so I really only school when I'm feeling up for it & positive.
You could try a different instructor but I think if you still don't really enjoy them then it's a waste of time & money and horses are supposed to be fun afterall so why waste time doing something you're not up for? As long as your horse is happy & healthy & able to do the work you're asking him to do that's the main thing.
 
I enjoy lessons if I find an instructor that I get on with. Where I used to live I had a super lady who I had huge respect for and who I worked well with. I really liked lessons with her.
I am not even slightly competetive and am practically geriatric and have ridden all my lfe so know my own strengths and limitations pretty well. I have areas I like to work on as I still have hopes of improving them and areas that I know are not going to change after all this time! I also like lessons to be a conversation with input from both me and my instructor. I hate instructors that just want to tell you what to do and don't listen to what you say.
Where we live now I haven't found anyone who is interested in teaching someone like me. One particular young lady so clearly couldn't be bothered I stopped the lesson half way through and got off.
If I come across an instructor I want to work with who is interested in teaching a non-competitive rider who talks back then I would have lessons again. Otherwise, I'm happy to go it alone.
 
God no! I hate lessons and haven't had one in years. I do however pay for the girls who ride for me to have lessons on my horses and I love to watch them work through stuff. I find that I can see what the horse is doing wrong and how to correct it much better from the ground than from up top and I have learned so much from watching. Lessons turn me cold - but then so does riding in the school. I will, if I think there is something to tackle, go and work down in the school on my own, but god help anyone who comes to watch. My riding is probably stuck in the dark ages, but I ride my horse effectively and sympathetically and we get on just fine. If I had to move my goal posts then I guess I'd have to bite the bullet and get help but in the meantime I pootle on just fine.
 
No I'm with you quite a lot! We jump BSJA/BE lower end stuff. Even really fabulous trainers can feel duty bound to teach you how you should be going in the ideal world...but it might not work for your horse. Nothing beats hours in the saddle and competing and feeling what works and what doesn't. But you need to be mentally engaged.....and a videoing now and then is really helpful.
 
anguscat said:
No I'm with you quite a lot! We jump BSJA/BE lower end stuff. Even really fabulous trainers can feel duty bound to teach you how you should be going in the ideal world...but it might not work for your horse.
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I've been lucky and have had a couple of brilliant instructors over the years who have focussed on getting the best out of the horse (and me) rather than going by the book. My horse is quite quirky and hasn't read the text book (even if he had I'm sure he would argue with just about everything in it!) so this is important to me.

I enjoy my lessons as they give me a plan to work on between lessons and ideas to make my schooling more interesting. I tend to get bored schooling, especially in winter when I can't get out hacking as often so its good to have some ideas to add variety.
 
I love them, providing they are with the right instructor! At the moment i have 2 lessons a week, 1/2 hour each as that is easier to fit in with work, babysitter etc and i always get off at the end feeling like i have achieved something, with some excercises to work on in between. I think me and Milly have come on leaps and bounds as a partnership since our lessons and i will definately be keeping them up.
 
i actually think that its quite arrogant to not have lessons :eek: i'm not saying that everybody needs to have lessons every week...i certainly don't (although if i had the money i would) but if you find the right instructor you will make constant improvements over a shorter period of time than working on things on your own... my sj trainer, for e.g., is awesome. i've had lessons with her for about 4 years and i have never had the same lesson twice. i now have so many ideas of how to approach jumping and dealing with problems, stuff i would never have thought of myself. To me, OP, it sounds like you haven't found the right instructor yet. i've had loads of lessons with people where i have ridden round and thought "shut the **** up" and i have disagreed with their advice. so i haven't gone back. i am now lucky that i have two wonderful trainers who i do agree with and who have improved both my riding and my horses' way of going no end... :)
 
everyone needs some help/eyes on the ground even if its not a structured lesson as such....even the top riders in the world have a trusted OH/business partner/friend that watches them train several times a week and is there to bounce ideas around with.

i totally agree that people need to learn to experiment and think for themselves, but i think that works best in conjunction with semi regular lessons or just a session with a trusted friend watching and pointing out what could be better as sometimes it feels so different to how it looks.

i, myself, am a trainer, but i still have regular sessions with MY trainer! twice a month max mostly as im experienced enough to know if im on the right track, but i feel i need extra help one month im not too proud to ask for it. some of my pupils work best with weekly help, some with monthly, some only want input every other month, but i have yet to come across anyone who works best with no help at all.

my helper/friend who keeps her daughter's pony at mine is a fabulous set of eyes on the ground and always tells me exactly like it is, and its ever so useful to be able to ask her to "just watch this for 5 mins and tell me what you think/if its better/if its worse etc".
 
i agree with PrincessSparkle. It is invaluable to have good eyes on the ground, because it can feel very different to the way it looks. Also, small faults can creep in without the rider realising - rider crookedness, compensation, etc. I want someone on the floor to check up on me occasionally.
If you find the right trainer, you will get a lot out of every session and really look forward to them, imho. It can be difficult to find someone who trains the way you as an individual need to be trained though, this varies for all of us.
 
fireflymac said:
I enjoy lessons if I find an instructor that I get on with. Where I used to live I had a super lady who I had huge respect for and who I worked well with. I really liked lessons with her.
I am not even slightly competetive and am practically geriatric and have ridden all my lfe so know my own strengths and limitations pretty well. I have areas I like to work on as I still have hopes of improving them and areas that I know are not going to change after all this time! I also like lessons to be a conversation with input from both me and my instructor. I hate instructors that just want to tell you what to do and don't listen to what you say.
Where we live now I haven't found anyone who is interested in teaching someone like me. One particular young lady so clearly couldn't be bothered I stopped the lesson half way through and got off.
If I come across an instructor I want to work with who is interested in teaching a non-competitive rider who talks back then I would have lessons again. Otherwise, I'm happy to go it alone.
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Where abouts in Scotland are you? We have a fabulous instructor who comes to the yard and is happy to teach anyone from competition riders to kids on hairy ponies. She gives everyone an individual lesson and will push you out of your comfort zone (but not too far). She also is 'mature' so does not have unrealistic expectations of what the aging female body can cope with! And she's got a good sense of humour. She freelances in the central scotland/lanarkshire area.
I'm mainly a happy hacker but love my lessons and would recommend my instructor to anyone.
 
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