Awful lesson, any tips?

[LittleBlueBird]

I’m really enjoying being back in the saddle and have had some great lessons, I know not all of them will be good but the last two I’ve struggled in canter.

The horse I’m relearning on needs a lot of leg and will plod if given the option! I’m struggling getting him into canter then when I do I can’t seem to sit, I’m bouncing.

On the lunge I’m absolutely fine, I’ve not had to do any work. It must be me because my instructor got on him and went from walk to canter with barely a squeeze.

I’m a bit of a soft touch because I don’t want to be too harsh with him but it’s hard, he drifts into the arena so remembering everything and keeping him going is a bit of a struggle.

Any tips would be great.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

OK so you're feeling a bit discouraged right now. Maybe the problem is with the horse you are riding?? It sounds like a typical riding school "plod" who knows exactly what it can get away with!

I would be inclined to ask for a different horse, something perhaps a bit more off the leg, to give you the chance of getting a good canter.

Perhaps (off the horse) some Pilates or other non-equine sport such as cycling, swimming etc would be of help to you in building up core muscles and stamina. Might be worth thinking about??

Also (oh dear) not being critical of your current instructor but a different pair of eyes will see different things and it just might be helpful for you to go to someone else and have a few lessons with them (on a different horse too!). IMO there's nothing like another set of eyes looking at something as they'll pick up on what someone else might have missed.

Hope this helps.

 

[Antw23uk]

I think you are exactly where you need to be and this horse is teaching you loads. Dont be disheartened, you have learnt a massive amount from this lesson (I can list it if oyu like but you've already written it) and this horse sounds great. He is keeping you safe, making you work hard and will make you a better rider. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress

 

[clinkerbuilt]

I’m really enjoying being back in the saddle and have had some great lessons, I know not all of them will be good but the last two I’ve struggled in canter.

The horse I’m relearning on needs a lot of leg and will plod if given the option! I’m struggling getting him into canter then when I do I can’t seem to sit, I’m bouncing.

On the lunge I’m absolutely fine, I’ve not had to do any work. It must be me because my instructor got on him and went from walk to canter with barely a squeeze.

I’m a bit of a soft touch because I don’t want to be too harsh with him but it’s hard, he drifts into the arena so remembering everything and keeping him going is a bit of a struggle.

Any tips would be great.

Leg strength and balance. Both will come back, but take time. (But also: varying the mounts does help).

 

[Cowpony]

It is hard when you are struggling to get a relatively unknown horse to move off your leg. The instructor should be giving you techniques to help you get him more responsive, like lots of transitions, and also correcting your position, which has a massive effect too. I came back to riding after a 25 year break and it's amazing how your brain knows what to do, but your body doesn't cooperate like it did when you were 10

Regarding the bouncing in canter, that's mainly time in the saddle, lessons and Pilates, but it could also be the saddle and there's not much you can do about that on a riding school horse. I've got my own, compete at affiliated dressage and thought my bum stuck quite well to the saddle in canter. Then I had a saddle fitter out yesterday who supplied a new saddle. It's got a much more open seat than my old one, and my horse went forward in it much better, so I'm getting hit up the bum by her more active hind leg. Suddenly I'm bouncing around all over the place and feel like a beginner all over again! It's a question of getting used to it and learning to use my hips more, which the old saddle prevented as it was extremely deep and "held" me. When you are on riding school horses you don't know how much is you, how much is the horse, and how much is the saddle so you just have to try to improve yourself as much as you can to eliminate one of the 3 variables

 

[smolmaus]

I feel your pain. I've been given the plod a lot in the last few months but the odd time I ride a horse that is forward off the leg is when I appreciate the plod for teaching me how to multi-task more effectively, and the instructor for giving me what I need, not what I want! I am actually learning and improving even when it feels frustrating and you dismount a sweaty aching mess! You don't learn staying in your comfort zone.

 

[teapot]

Cantering horses that aren’t off the leg is one of the hardest things to do imho, and because the horse isn’t moving, it’ll not be as easy to sit the canter either.

If you get him again ask to work on transitions and listening to you, before canter work. Wiley RS horses will take a mile if you give an inch, so transitions will give him something to think about!

 

[Keith_Beef]

I just counted... I have ridden nine different horses in my regular Sunday morning lessons, though usually I get one of four.

Of these four, three will try to get away with as little as possible and for some people are a real nightmare to get going.

Our instructors always tell us to do lots of walk, trot and halt transitions during warm-up before we try canter. Some need a tap behind the leg as a reminder. One of them doesn't even need that; I carry what Decathlon describes as a 110cm dressage crop when I ride him and just moving the stick forwards into his field of view livens him up.

Some horses, I find, have a really bouncy canter, and there is always a difference between canter on the left and on the right. I find I bounce around less now, perhaps because I'm leaning my shoulders backwards a little bit more than previously...

 

[Muddy unicorn]

I started cantering last year after coming back to riding after a break of several decades. At first I was bouncing in the saddle but once I learned to relax, sit deep, not grip with my knees and breathe I suddenly realised I could actually canter again! The other thing that helped was lunge lessons with no stirrups.

It can be very frustrating learning/relearning as an adult because you know what you should be doing on an intellectual level but actually putting it into practice is hard! I’ve found that I don’t always make steady, linear progress and sometimes it feels like I’m going backwards and then something clicks and what I’d been struggling with suddenly seems simple.

If I’m feeling despondent about not being able to do something as well as I’d like to it helps me to look back and see how much improvement I’ve made in the last 3/6/9 months

 

[Shilasdair]

I think you show a lot of self-awareness when you say 'it must be me' as your instructor could do acute transitions on the 'plod' easily.
It sounds to me as though your issue is a fundamental one - the horse is not in front of your leg.
You should not use 'a lot of leg' - as some famous person (I forget whom) once said 'You need to get more from the leg you use'. So back up your leg aid with the whip if needed. I think you'll find it easier if you work on transitions - to get the horse sharp and listening, then aim for say, three strides of balanced canter only. Quality beats quantity.
A good exercise is to pop a horse on a 20m circle, and do transitions - halt to walk, then halt to trot, walk to canter, but only for a few strides of each.

 

[Leandy]

Actually this sounds normal for your stage. I don't agree with those who are saying ask for another horse. This horse can clearly do what is being asked because you saw that happen with the instructor. You also know largely what is going wrong. You are not ensuring that the horse is on the aids sufficiently. That is not just a canter issue as you say the horse is falling in also and I would suspect is not going properly forward for you off your aids in any pace or you wouldn't be having particular trouble getting into canter. I agree that you need more time in the saddle to regain your riding strength and suppleness, balance, timing and muscle memory. Those will come back and you will progress. Riding is not easy though and needs to be worked at. You need to concentrate on getting some sort of tune out of every horse you ride, whether or not it is a horse you like, as every horse will teach you something whether you know it or not at the time. So top tips. First of all have a good dialogue going with your instructor so you get the best value from the lesson. You are identifying well what is going wrong, so ask the instructor how to go about ensuring the horse is more on the aids so that the canter comes more easily. Don't be a soft touch! Horses (and riding school ones in particular) will spot you instantly and do as little as possible. That doesn't mean you have to beat the horse up to make it do what you want. In fact, the more you try to force it, the more reluctant it is likely to get. You can't ride a horse by strength, they are always going to be stronger than you. You need to use your brain as you are the brains in the partnership. Riding is much more about timing than strength, and it may be that actually doing less, but ensuring your aids are clear and well timed, so you can both relax and the horse is in a more compliant mindset is what you should be aiming for. Then you will also find it easier to sit to the canter, because relaxation is also the key to a supple seat. In your head though, you need to be confident that what you are doing is the right thing. Be clear and firm in your aids and if you sit more quietly you will be able to stay in better balance also and allow the horse to move forward when the horse reacts to you. It is important to reward the horse when he has done what you asked for, so a giving rein to allow him forward when he moves off your leg, a few moments sitting quietly before asking again, or for more, a kind word, a pat at a suitable time all tell the horse that what he did was the right response and help get him on side. Do check that you are rewarding a good response, even if it is less than you hoped for, rather than discouraging or punishing it - even if inadvertently. None of that means letting him get away with not responding to you, but what you do when he does respond is just as important, if not more so, as what you do when he doesn't. Think it through, if you were the horse and you had an unbalanced, tense and frustrated rider trying to kick you into canter and then when you oblige the reward they give you is to bounce about on your back and quite possibly clutch at the rein contact and tense up, would you be inclined to canter? The reward for a good response needs to be a quiet rider who allows the horse to move and goes with it. Ask your instructor if you can spend a couple of sessions just working on response to the aids and transitions as others have said above. You don't need to canter to make progress at this point. Once the transitions are reliable and obedient in halt, walk and trot and you can sit quietly and balanced through them, then try the canter again. You may well be surprised how much easier it seems. Learning to ride is not all about going faster and jumping higher.

 

[LittleBlueBird]

This is all such good advice thank you so much, thinking about it some more I feel the fundamental issue is I’m in my head too much.

With my own horse who’s a non ridden I practice natural horsemanship, she has an opinion and I’ve learnt to listen to her, I don’t have to ‘show her who’s boss’ as we have a good cooperative relationship now after spending many hours together learning.

obviously with a riding school horse they are taught a certain way and in turn so is the rider. I worry about using the whip or using too much leg because of my preferences with my own horse which again is completely different as she’s not ridden.

So a part of me feels that I need to get on with it and give the horse some energy and get going. I’m told 1 kick then a tap with the whip. But I feel cruel (I know I know) so I’m at odds with myself. I can get him to walk and halt with ease. Getting him into trot isn’t easy and keeping him in trot less so. We do a lot of transitions and last lesson was in trot the last few minutes is putting him into canter.
he either drifts or takes off my knee cap in the side! I wonder if I am confusing him horribly because my aid says go yet my body becomes tense because I’m frightened of falling off.

I can sit in trot with and without stirrups easily and I’m told my trot is good, good posture etc. when on the lunge my canter is good easy I’m relaxed I can breathe easily but when I have to do it myself I tense up.

I think concentrating on transitions and trot for now might be a better way until I feel more confident. He is such a lovely boy and I give him lots of praise and scratches. He’s seen me coming, knows I’m a soft touch and won’t force him!

 

[ester]

It’s very easy to grip on a horse that isn’t going forwards (as you are trying to get it to go forward), and then you end up bouncing, and gripping means you are also stopping the forwards motion.

which is also why you are better on the lunge and relaxed.

to me it would make sense to try a halfway house between lunging and not so that the instructor can aid you in keeping the horse forwards with voice/lunge whip so you can concentrate on not tensing and then your aids will improve

 

[sbloom]

Aiming for just 2-3 strides of canter can help if you're nervous, then you know the horse won't have time to get away from you and bounce you off. Drifting to one side is common, does your instructor work on you and your position, seeing if you're functionally straight?

Most of us aren't; as an example, one very good rider customer of mine shortens her ribcage on the left and on her young horse they drift to the inside on the right rein because she has so much weight on her left seatbone. If you ask your instructor to work on you at least as much as the horse, progress may not be any faster some of the time but other times it will really help you, you can take the gains onto other horses and ultimately help keep any horse you ride straighter and, in the long term, sounder. Think how difficult it is to carry a toddler on your shoulders if they wriggle or lean in one direction...

 

[stangs]

A RS horse drifting to the inside of an arena is almost 100% because they know that the centre line is where they get to relax and where the rider dismounts. A RS horse drifting to the outside, trapping your leg, is either doing it because you're using too much inside leg, or because it's fed up of your leg aids (they do learn that if they can get your leg stuck and make the stirrup come off, a novice rider will bring them back to walk to get the stirrup back).

You may be bouncing because you're gripping with the lower leg to try keep him going. Remember, part of using the leg effectively is the release as well as the pressure: squeeze, get a response, then keep leg off horse's side. Focus on having your weight in your foot, to encourage you to stop gripping with the knee. Carrying a stick may also help; loath as I am to encourage their use, many RS horses move more off the leg when their rider's carrying one. Some horses will also respond to the sound of the stick if you hit your leg with it.

Does your RS have access to hacking? Might help pony perk up a bit in the canter if he's out of the arena.

 

[queenarmadillo]

You're right that its you, but the thing you are doing 'wrong' might be lacking years of experience riding those kinds of horses, rather than something particularly not right about the way you are applying the specific canter aids IYSWIM. Whilst I was in riding schools I got pretty good at the lazy horses, but I could at best explain 50% of *how* I was good at it. So much of the rest is the experience of anticipating what the horse needs so you can use your energy to add more energy, rather than going in too hard or with the wrong timing and disrupting the rhythm.
The bits I can explain though are that you are never going to win with those horses if you cant maintain complete confidence that you are going to get the response you want out of the horse. That might be being willing to nag until you get it, or escalating aids, or using your stick. Most people (and certainly not with my level of fitness) don't have enough stamina to actually have to go through that much effort all the time, but honestly if you win the first couple of battles decisively, the horse will suddenly become a much easier ride. Another top tip is that the first couple of things you win don't need to be big ones - if the horse starts to veer slightly inwards and you fix it straight away rather than waiting until both front feet are off the track, the aid is much more subtle. Similarly, if you can get a tiny bit more impulsion in your walk straight away, you are likely to find that the horse will trot off a 'normal' aid rather than needing a lot of work. Finally, I always carry a schooling whip, but very rarely touch the horse with it. Horses naturally move away from motion, and waving the whip in the air (sort of generally, not like youre gearing up to hit the horse which may make them tense up instead) can be a very effective way of generating some forwards energy, and doesnt require you to give up your rhythm or balance in the way a strong leg or seat aid might.

I'd give it a couple more goes on this horse if youre otherwise learning well in the lesson, but ultimately lazy horses arent always the fastest way of learning - if youre giving up your balance to getting the horse going, its hard to practice sitting in balance and moving with the motion. Its also hard to build timing and confidence in your aids. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with telling your instructor youre struggling with the horse, and asking if you can try something more forward for a bit to get some different experience; ideally I would hope a good riding school is planning to teach you on a number of different horses anyway. The important thing though is to make sure you keep coming back to the horses you struggle with, even if theoretically they are seen as the "safe" beginner horses, until you can ride them as well as the ones that listen first time.

 

[mariew]

You also have to deal with other people riding the same horse between your lessons, riding school horses get very good at adapting and only giving what is required. I can feel if some of the cheeky ones have got away with murder since last time I rode them, or if someone has ridden with really strong contact.

They all teach you something but I do find I don't enjoy the ones I have to keep chasing as it means bigger aids and I often build up tension that way and don't focus so much on me, rather just to get the horse to move and listen. I am still very guilty of gripping with my thighs in canter which makes for a bouncy canter and a horse that feels they can't move their shoulders. It's work in progress! Horses put up with a lot.

 

[LittleBlueBird]

I took on board all your advice and my last lesson was great. No issues getting him going or keeping him going. We broke it down so I could put everything together and it all felt so much better!