Cast your mind way back- worried! :-(

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merlin84

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Hi there,

Just wondered if anyone could give me a bit if advice. I have been taking riding lessons for a year (restarting as an adult) and have concerns about my riding school.

I really want to learn to ride 'well', not just push and pull a horse about as my (long-term :o) aim is to own a horse and maybe do a little low-level competing.

At my riding school we get asked to 'do an extended trot to the rear of the ride' and through my own reading and watching the Olympics dressage (!) I have realised that what we actually always do is a really fast trot to the rear- rising v fast but not actually extending.

I'm sure this is because I do not yet have the ability to extend/collect paces but I am confused as to why they would then call this an extended trot? When you were learning to ride, did you encounter similar problems?

I also feel like everything is very much 'legs on' but I get very little instruction about my seat, position etc. When I went on a riding holiday recently, they immediately identified that I have some issues with my posture/back which has never been commented on during my riding lesson... :confused::confused::confused:
 
Hi Merlin84,

It doesn't need to be like that - but you will probably have to go somewhere smaller / more specialized to get more one-on-one attention with regard to your posture, etc.

Which area of London are you in? Might be worth exploring lessons with Minette Rice-Edwards if you're in SW London.

AzH x
 
Yeah, all my riding lessons were like that too, it might be better to invest in some likely more expensive but less frequent lessons with someone who actually rides professionally to some degree, there should be quite a few of them about and probably smaller setups. Do you usually ride the same horse? The joy of being an adult is you are able to see when something isn't right and move on, not carry on learning nothing for years to come :-)
 
Merlin, if you really want to ride well, then I strongly recommend that you:
a) find somewhere different to ride and
b) have private lessons rather than group. I know they are more expensive but honestly, you will gain ten times more from each lesson!

Well done for getting back in the saddle and the very best of luck with finding somewhere and with your future riding career :)
 
arizonahoney said:
Hi Merlin84,

It doesn't need to be like that - but you will probably have to go somewhere smaller / more specialized to get more one-on-one attention with regard to your posture, etc.

Which area of London are you in? Might be worth exploring lessons with Minette Rice-Edwards if you're in SW London.

AzH x
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Blimey- thats a blast from the past! I used to have lessons with Minette in her menage in Ham must have been over 20 yrs ago now when i was manager ofManor Farm livery for Lilo Blum behind Ham Polo club next door!

She was excellent and a lovely rider. So glad to hear her name again. :)
 
mandwhy said:
The joy of being an adult is you are able to see when something isn't right and move on, not carry on learning nothing for years to come :-)
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Yes that is the issue really- I feel that I have been having a lesson week in week out for a year and reading all I can as well and although I walk/trot/canter/gallop on different horses, it's just 'speed' and I really don't feel like I am doing any of it with the finesse and subtlety required. I haven't even heard anyone mention me learning to half halt and when I went on the riding holiday and was instructed to just 'half halt him if X happens,' I felt embarrassed to have to admit that that had never come up in my lessons. :o

Was thinking of switching to private lessons anyway so will do some research (looked at Minette's site and it didn't mention lessons so will email her:)).

Do you think a private lesson a fortnight would be more effective than an hour a week then- financially it's fairly similar that way but wasn't sure about whether frequency was more important...
 
A part-share is my dream! A v kind H&H forumite is letting me come and help with her pony so that I can gain a bit more experience with horse care as although I volunteered at a stable when I was young and in to horses, it was sooo many years ago that I do not feel confident.

Also I wouldn't want to ruin someone's horse with my poor riding! Hopefully the private lessons will give me more confidence with that as well...
 
Are you having group lessons?
Individual are much better, It will be concentrated on just you and you will improve quicker.
Failing that give to a different riding school that will teach you correctly!
 
Thanks Karran- will dig out some relaxing music for the scary drive ;-)

Yes am having group lessons- the RS told me group lessons were much better when I enquired about group v private as you have to control your horse around others etc but sadly it seems like that was a bit of a ruse as they don't have much availability for private lessons and probably knew I would be learning with them for much longer that way.

Also it felt like I could measure my progress in some way by moving up the groups as it were but what's the point of that if I'm missing out vital information along the way!!!
 
Your experiences sound very much like mine when I was learning to ride as a kid. Probably a big part of why I gave up - lack of progress in becoming a proper rider. Good luck with finding somewhere better.
 
While watching my daughter have lessons at two different riding schools - one very large BHS centre that runs a lot of affiliated comps and one very small I saw extremes of good and bad teaching at both. I ended up buying a pony and teaching her myself and getting a free lance instructor in.

Are all the instructors where you are riding the same? Is it worth trying a different instructor where you are? Or if you could find a share getting lessons on it.

Good luck
 
Well the issue is that the people who take the lessons are all abt 16 years old and trainees.

I dealt with this originally as I didn't want to be snobby because of their age if they were actually really good but 2 things have made me change my mind:
1) seeing the 'instructors' compete in their RS show and realising they were not sooo many levels ahead of me
2) having more time over the summer to read/watch more abt riding, went riding elsewhere and have realised how much they aren't teaching me!

I don't think they would take kindly to me asking for a 'qualified' instructor :-(
 
merlin84 said:
A part-share is my dream! A v kind H&H forumite is letting me come and help with her pony so that I can gain a bit more experience with horse care as although I volunteered at a stable when I was young and in to horses, it was sooo many years ago that I do not feel confident.

Also I wouldn't want to ruin someone's horse with my poor riding! Hopefully the private lessons will give me more confidence with that as well...
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So much I can identify with here. I started riding over a year ago but ive always had individual private lessons , initially once weekly and then twice as I do not have my own horse and needed more practice to get better. I also went through the disillusioned phase as there was too much push and pull going on so I did some research and started taking lessons in French classical riding with emphasis on light hands. I'm still with my original school as well but I try to take what I want from the lessons. I've also now got my friends' horses to hack out on so this helps. I did a group lesson once and I don't know how anyone learns anything in them. Best of luck and I bet you make great progress once you have some individual attention.
 
Sounds like you'll be finding somewhere better soon! Defo go for somewhere with more emphasis on classical or an actual dressage rider/instructor might be good if you are happy with flatwork - is that what you prefer or has the riding school just not let you jump yet? Definitely know how that feels!

I wouldn't worry too much about ruining other people's horses, if you can find one to hack out on then you can practise a few things and concentrate on your position etc in between lessons, I had a share and couldn't really afford lessons on top of it so mostly just read stuff to refresh my memory and tried to implement it on hacks! It seemed to help a bit and in that case the horse didn't have any schooling to be 'undone' anyway!

I think quality not quantity in this case although you would probably prefer to ride every week :-)
 
mandwhy said:
I think quality not quantity in this case although you would probably prefer to ride every week :-)
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Very true- am in the middle of full-blown horse obsession and would ride every minute if I could (ouch sore!) which is why I am so frustrated at my lack of ability! My husband thinks it's all very amusing- little does he know that I was like this throughout my childhood! :D

No they won't let me jump- I kind of assumed that you had to be perfect at everything else first! :rolleyes: I want to become competent at both dressage and jumping but imagine I will need a lot of flatwork to sort out my position etc.

TrasaM- worrying isn't it how so many people relate to this! How on earth are you supposed to learn!?
 
I guess I always assumed you needed to be pretty amazing before anyone would consider you for a horse share so thought I'd best have years of lessons first! :o

Angel Farm Club sounds amazing if only there was something like that in Kent- sadly would take me about 90mins each way to get there!
 
merlin84 said:
Very true- am in the middle of full-blown horse obsession and would ride every minute if I could (ouch sore!) which is why I am so frustrated at my lack of ability! My husband thinks it's all very amusing- little does he know that I was like this throughout my childhood! :D

No they won't let me jump- I kind of assumed that you had to be perfect at everything else first! :rolleyes: I want to become competent at both dressage and jumping but imagine I will need a lot of flatwork to sort out my position etc.

TrasaM- worrying isn't it how so many people relate to this! How on earth are you supposed to learn!?
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Merlin84. I think my first post on here was about the frustration of wanting to get better but being unhappy about how I was being taught. I think my instincts about animals and horses are good so I'm trying to stick to my guns on that front. I also hate seeing horses being ridden badly or inconsiderately ..just as you said about some of those teaching you to ride. I suspect that a lot of younger riders accept what they are taught as gospel and then go on to perpetuate the same myths and misunderstandings , closing their minds to anything else because it's easier not to question. From what I've seen there does not seem to be a definitive 'best' way to ride a horse but there are kinder ways and some great coaches about. I used to refer to sue morris..classical dressage blog when I needed something explained also Mary wanless is interesting. I finally ended up firmly in the Philippe Karl school of thought and when I finally get a horse that is how it'll be trained and hopefully ridden. Happily my hubby is also happy to support my little obsession even though I've just had to have my collar bone pinned after the pony I was riding a dressage test on tripped and fell whilst trotting !! Ouch. Ouch.
 
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