Catch-22, how do you tell a good Trainer if you're not experienced yet..?

kerilli

kerilli

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This came up in another thread and got me thinking (Oh no...) I bet i'm not the only slightly-oldie (!) on here who has wasted many hours, £££s, much effort and, in some ways, some good horses (not getting the best out of them) because I spent time with the wrong trainers... so, what do you think might flag up a less-than-ideal trainer, for each of the 3 disciplines?
[Disclaimer - I believe that there has to be real self-analysis first, especially in working out what kind of trainer one needs as an individual... do you need brief word descriptions, detailed explanations, or for the trainer to get on so you can see and then feel it?
do you need yelling at to motivate you, or cajoling/reassuring? Are you better if it's all serious, or if you can have a joke to dissipate the tension? Do you need daring on, or holding back? Is your natural instinct to launch a horse to a fence, or to wait (and hold perhaps?) - i'd argue that most people need a trainer who will encourage them to do the opposite, to get overall balance and adjustability, but without destroying confidence or natural flair... a very tricky balance.]
Overall, I can't stand trainers who seem to hate horses (possibly resentment because they haven't attained their dreams?) If they hate YOUR horse, move on! Unless he's a hairy shetland you're trying to get to GP or round Badminton on, he can probably do something pretty close to what you want to do, and I hate hearing of trainers who detest x horse and are always horrible about him/her... not the horse's fault, s/he'd prob rather be stuffing their face in a field anyway!
Uninterested/unenthusiastic trainers. If they'd rather spend part of the lesson on their mobile phone, or are bored, seem resigned or not paying attention.
Trainers who can't/won't answer your question if you ask "Why... " Don't they know their stuff?
for Dr: I'd avoid - anyone who says "More leg more leg more leg" when you're already using all you've got to get a working trot!
anyone who advocates sawing with the hands... or draw reins. sorry, that's just me perhaps!
for Sj: Anyone who crucifies you for a slight inaccuracy, esp to a small fence. Different if you're trying to be a Pro SJer obv...
for Xc: as in my bit about your natural instinct... if you're naturally gung-ho then prob someone who tempers that a bit, and vice-versa. someone realistic about your horse's capabilities and yours.
This should really be - Pet Hates when being taught, I guess...

Any others to add to the list pls? (beverage and biccie of your choice from my phenomenal virtual selection if you got this far...)
 
I had a trainer who hated every horse I had (it really upset me at the time- now I know she was just a bad trainer), the other thing she did was never give me or the horse consitantcy - ie she showed me something then gave it one lesson and if it didnt have instant results we tried something else god me and the horse got very confar to used, my trainer now shows me the way things are done and sometimes we tweke it but, the principles remain the same. He also dares me a little and seems to know exactley how far to push me, when jumping!!! and we have a laugh, which is nice as sometime madam stresses me out slightly!!!
 
Can identify with the wasted time and money aspect - so many trainers simply keep repeating instructions without actually trying to work out why asking the same thing over and over again isn't working!

My only really strong pet peeve is trainers who insist on concentrating solely on how the horse is working without actually trying to correct any positional faults in the rider that may be causing the problem - especially if the trainer is of the "get its head in" school of teaching!!
 
For me its,

Someone I gel with and who I believe helps me with recognisable progress,
Someone who doesn't mess me around ie making me wait ages for a lesson when I've booked for a certain time, its a respect thing.
I want someone a balance between fun / learning ( as i'm a hobby rider )
I don't want them using a mobile phone when i'm paying for a lesson

Someone who works with whats in front of them - i'm very suspicious of trainer / dealers, the ' you're horse is **** buy one of mine brigade '.

Sounds like a right shopping list but basically I want someone genuine who wants me and my horse to progress.
 
Oh gosh yes, some great points here.
Esp the "ignoring the rider (who might well be riding so badly that nothing COULD go well!) and concentrating totally on the horse" point. As far as i'm concerned, get me riding like Mark Todd please, and my horses will go brilliantly!
Ditto the "as long as its neck is arched and its face is vertical, it's a dressage horse going brilliantly" type.
 
As a young rider, I'd add in someone with realistic aims.. not in a bad way but someone who isnt afraid to say "yes, well done this is going well but I think you need to work on this before moving up a level."
I had a trainer who was all for budging me up the grades, telling my parents I was ready for *, IN when I didn't feel it at all, I was 16 and fell doing said level and broke an arm and a collar bone. I don't think I would have done the class now, but as a younger person I was easily pushed into it.

I've got a new trainer, she's equally understandable of my nerves but refuses to let me panic, making sure I'm always being pushed but just enough (she's hot on safety and I think quite into the BE safety meetings etc) and would much rather I have a ride round at a PN or novice than push me to go to high.. and from it I'm much happier, and I think, a better rider as she gets me to concentrate on the small things rather than just what shows up on the score board at the end of the day!


sorry Mission to explain that!
 
I reckon I fall into the category of not all that experience yet :)

For my flatwork, I like someone who can tell me why. I can't abide instructors who say "just because" or who can't explain why something is wrong, or why it is right, or how to do it differently if I'm doing it incorrectly. I've gone to a few different flatwork instructors and never really been satisfied with any until I started going to a classical instructor (though she much prefers "trainer"!) last autumn and suddenly everything just fits into place. I don't get on with a flatwork instructor who shouts or barks instructions. I am a scientific person (got a sciencey PhD) so I like to know why, why not, how something affects the horse, how if I change X, it has this impact. On the flat, for me, a good trainer is someone who can answer these questions. I know enough about physiology and biomechanics to know if someone is bullsh**ting.

For jumping, I prefer someone who shouts a bit more! I can be quite nervous, though getting much better, and I need someone to gee me up and remind me to keep riding. Someone who gets overexcited when it goes well but isn't afraid to tell me off when I've messed it up. Again, I like to have things explained to me but less so than with the flatwork. My YO teaches me for jumping (SJ and XC) but have my first lesson with a "proper" SJer tomorrow night (arranged by YO as he's starting monthly sessions at the yard) and not sure what to expect at all. I guess in that situation for me, there are the usual Qs such as did he spend all lesson on his phone? Yes he rides well but can he translate that into every day language I can understand? Did he make me feel confident and push me without pushing too far? Is he honest about what he thinks me and my horse can do together (this comes from someone I've been to for flatwork in the past who tells every client everything is fabulous when you know it's not, and who refuses to give any form of criticism... just as bad as always being critical IMHO)?

So I guess one of my pet hates, as well as those you've already listed, are instructors who don't give you accurate or constructive criticism. Yes it's nice to be told what you've done well but if you really want to improve, you need to know what you're doing wrong too, and how to correct it.
 
Dr - someone who sits on their bum outside of the arena and shouts instructions. My current instructor (who I don't see that often) is brilliant, will ride my horse, and is very active - acting out what she wants me to do across the arena maybe not for everyone but it works for me. She was recommended by a friend - which does not always work - but my friend knows I need someone to inspire me with confidence, not tell me I'm sh*t to my face. Something that two PC instructors did - with no guidance on how I could be less sh*t! :rolleyes:

SJ - someone who puts the fences up and tells you to go round again, with not much further input - what am I paying them for - my mum can do that! :p Good sj instructors for me, need to make me more confident in attacking fences, my horse is very honest and doesn't really have any hang ups, but I still treat him like the 4yo I bought him as (he's now 10)

XC - never had too much instruction (I'll slap my own wrists ;) ) but people who make you join fences together are always good, and ones who can tell you if you're going at the right pace. Ones who bring their own horse to 'teach' from and have a good jolly at the same time are not always welcome :)

I don't mind if people smoke etc in lessons, I've prob had more sj lessons than anything else, and you might find it hard to find a sjer that doesn't smoke! I just want them to be active, pleasant, and if they have a sense of humour and don't take themselves too seriously thats all good. I think good instructors have a variety of methods for overcoming issues, poor instructors only have one method, and when that doesn't work - blames the horse for being stupid, or the rider for being ineffective :o
 
chestnut cob said:
I am a scientific person (got a sciencey PhD) so I like to know why, why not, how something affects the horse, how if I change X, it has this impact. On the flat, for me, a good trainer is someone who can answer these questions. .
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This as well, I had a dressage clinic recently with someone, just to experience a different way of teaching, I asked her how a certain exercise we did worked, to see if it's something I'd try at home, she proceeded to tell me I didn't need to know if it got me higher marks..

I like to logically think through my riding.. I know it doesn't always work like this.. but it works for me :D
 
Was having this very discussion this morning on the yard! We have 2 or 3 regular 'trainers' on the yard who different people use. Slightly off topic, but thought I'd share the Story I heard this morning about one of the instructors (not the one I use) left me a bit opened mouthed..... went like this

Mother of teenager eventer was showing instructor video of daughters last dressage test and says to instructor 'she's always a bid handy' meaning that daughters hands move a lot in particular the inside one pulling back on rein very noticabley. Instructor says "oh, so she does, look she's doing it now" Then asks (this is my:eek: bit) "What do we do about that then?" to the mother.:eek: This man is a "Training the Teachers of Tomorrow" senior instructor and charges £40 a lesson!! Daughter is doing quite well at eventing and has had lessons with this man for a few years. My questions firstly, why did he not notice she does this before now and fix the problem, and secondly, surely he must know the answer to the problem, or why on earth is he being paid??? I also heard with another lesson he was saying "excellent, well done" to one person whilst pulling faces in a "oh my god, what she's doing" type of way to the folks who were watching!!

To get back on topic, I'm a great believer in having an instructor you click with, and sadly I think it does come with experience, but also trust your gut instinct. If you are not learning, find someone else "just to see". I think it does good to have occassional lessons with others even if you are happy with your main instructor to get a different perspective. (I say 'you' in a general sense, not directed as OP!).

I've had the disinterested/easily distracted type, the just rack up the jumps and say get on with it type, the shouty type (3 different instrutors by the way;)). The ones I've gelled with and learnt most from are those who explain things, the "we do this to get this reaction" type or explain the physiology behind movements etc, who encourage but tell you when things are wrong but will yell a little when it's needed.

Sorry, that went on a bit!!
 
eishi said:
This as well, I had a dressage clinic recently with someone, just to experience a different way of teaching, I asked her how a certain exercise we did worked, to see if it's something I'd try at home, she proceeded to tell me I didn't need to know if it got me higher marks..

I like to logically think through my riding.. I know it doesn't always work like this.. but it works for me :D
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You sound just like me. I had a lesson last year from someone, a one off (I won't give anymore details as if anyone knows me, it will be easy enough to work it out), which was shocking. She was a real "kick, pull, more leg, no KICK IT". I questioned her several times about how she expected me to get my horse any more forwards when she was insisting on having my reins so short I was practically holding the bit. She said "because I told you to, because I have been riding for 30 years and because I know more than you". I was disgusted.
 
kerilli said:
Oh gosh yes, some great points here.
Esp the "ignoring the rider (who might well be riding so badly that nothing COULD go well!) and concentrating totally on the horse" point. As far as i'm concerned, get me riding like Mark Todd please, and my horses will go brilliantly!
Ditto the "as long as its neck is arched and its face is vertical, it's a dressage horse going brilliantly" type.
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Sadly, I've had this experience several times at very highly regarded establishments. Current lovely trainer is great but I have been very disillusioned by experiences at places that really should know and teach better!

BTW - if anyone can make me ride like Mark Todd I shall die happy!!
 
I'm glad i'm not the only one who wants the explanations, wants to know Why... because if you don't know, how can you work out when to do certain things if the trainer isn't there to advise?
i went to someone well known years ago, was told to do something a certain way, and pulled up and asked Why... because i'd been told the opposite by more than a few people. her answer was "Did you come her to learn or to ask questions... get on with it."
Unimpressed. Didn't go back.
Yes, flatterers who won't tell you when it's going badly, or help you to improve it.
As for the TTT trainer... speechless. please tell me who that was, in a pm! That's unbelievable, the mother must have been shocked to the core!
 
Someone who says good all the time - I have seen loads in action. Even if it is good they should be more constructive or pushing you in a different direction.

Someone who never works on the rider just purely on the way the horse is going.

Where you just feel like the trainer has no plan for you or direction. I wasted 6 months with one of these and learnt the painful way! I went to a new trainer who had a plan every lesson.

A trainer who has no tools in the box. Something has not worked which they suggested and they keep persisiting in that idea as they do not have the depth or ability to try something new.
 
A subject dear to my heart as I'm spending so much time in lessons! Though at a much lower level than you guys!

I've also wasted years of my life and £££££ on lessons with instructors who weren't progressing me and it pains me to think how much further on I could be if I hadn't spent my teens marking time.

Personally I think a really great trainer can adapt to whoever they are teaching, can assess the pupils learning style and teach accordingly. They should also be able to teach whatever standard of horse or rider is put in front of them. Communication is probably the greatest skill as they have to be able to communicate at a level and in a way that the pupil understands and responds to.

I've been lucky to have some very good instructors recently including one who came second in the BHS young instructor of the year competition. And these things are what really mark them out, competative experience is worth nothing if you can't communicate it and can't assess the combination in front of you and pitch your knowledge and training at their level. In fact some big names really fall down on this. One top eventer taught a lesson at our yard and expected an inexperienced riding school cob to be able to warm up over 90cms, and then be able to put the fences up. Equally I've had a lesson with a pupil of an olympic level dressage rider and she instantly dismissed anything that didn't look like a dressage horse despite the fact that she was teaching people competing at unaff novice and one of the "old stiff riding school plods" that she had just dismissed had points at BD Elementary.

I suppose my point is that just being able to "do" to a high level doesn't mean that you can teach others how you do it, and that often teaching skills are more important than riding skills.

I do think it is very difficult for novices to find good instructors and to know which ones are good. I wonder whether there is an arguement for instructors to be able to get themselves onto "specialist lists" of instructors for different levels and disciplines, or to have a "recommended for" entry on the BHS register of instructors.

I think that it is really important though for the BHS to ensure that there is plenty of focus on teaching/coaching skills in all of the qualifications and the continual professional development focusses on teaching skills too.
 
DR - i don't get on with someone who can't tell me why i should be doing something, and then gets cross with me like i am causing trouble or back chatting by asking the 'why' question - i used to get this a lot in PC!! I also really don't like the 'hold the front end and kick up the back end' type of approach either

SJ - i don't get on with the trainers that keep the fences small and insist you and the horse jumps it perfectly before moving it up a notch...some horses and riders need a decent fence before they can start learning any decent lessons! I had one trainer that told me if my horse couldn't trot perfectly over trotting poles without getting excited then i was not to jump a fence....said horse had been jumping Fox quite happily up til that point, and he did a fab job in the lesson of winding the pair of us up!!

XC - a trainer that can't help a problem unravel before their eyes....or can't offer a solution to a problem and tells you just to go round again. I had one training session on my baby horse where he kept jinking out of a step up, trainer told me to look at the horizon and focus on a tree and he would stay straight, which i did....again and again and again, and after the horse had run out numerous times i pulled up and said to him if he couldn't give me something else to help out then i might as well school on my own, as i bl00dy well was looking at the flipping tree!!!

In general, any trainer who is on the phone during the session, doesn't ask your or your horses name and background at the start of a session, generally seems disinterested, or seems to forget what your aims or goals are and just goes off on their own agenda won't stay my trainers for very long.
 
I only do dressage so will limit this to flatwork: I don't like trainers who say something general like "more engagement' with no more info. OK, I can feel that the horse is not particularly engaged but if I could fix it myself then I wouldn't be paying you!

I quite like a step by step guide that includes pointers on my position, e.g. sit up more, use your lower leg in the corner as if you were riding a 10m circle and come into the short side with more engagement.

I also quite like trainers who have a lot of different ideas and exercises up their sleeve. I don't mind someone who says "Let's try this, I am not sure it will work, but it's worth a go".
 
Katt said:
me to think how much further on I could be if I hadn't spent my teens marking time.




I suppose my point is that just being able to "do" to a high level doesn't mean that you can teach others how you do it, and that often teaching skills are more important than riding skills.

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Very, very true - it is a rare person who can compete at the highest level and teach well.
 
camilla4 said:
Very, very true - it is a rare person who can compete at the highest level and teach well.
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Yes, especially if they are such a natural that they cannot understand why or how you are having difficulties. imho some of the best trainers weren't the most natural themselves initially, they got there by learning and by hard graft and can remember how.
 
kerilli said:
Yes, especially if they are such a natural that they cannot understand why or how you are having difficulties. imho some of the best trainers weren't the most natural themselves initially, they got there by learning and by hard graft and can remember how.
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Very good point - I guess if it comes naturally and you've never had to work it out or had to have it explained, it means that teachng probably won't be your strong point! Having said that, there are truly great riders who also teach incredibly well - Lucinda Green for example.
 
I dislike instructors who don't listen to what my horse needs. After 4 years I am very aware of his limitations, and mine, and I know that some things just won't happen. He doesn't ever overtrack, or jump big spreads, or jump bounces very well. He CAN'T, not won't. So don't make a big issue of it and move on- we'll learn more then.
 
Lots of good points already made.

General pet hates - an instructor who is always late or doesn't turn up, one who stands shouting 'Leg' - which leg and what am I supposed to be doing with it?, an instructor who says 'Hit it' and they mean your horse, an instructor who sits on a chair in the corner of the school on their mobile constantly though your lesson.......:mad::mad::mad:

Good instructor - one who wants to know about your abillity and aims and some background about your horse, any areas you are struggling with that need work, taking the time to explain how to carry out a new aid etc, an instructor that has several ways of achieving the same thing - we all learn differently and one who checks at the end of the lesson that you have understood everything and give you 'homework' to work on
before your next lesson.:):):)
 
Saratoga said:
I had one trainer that told me if my horse couldn't trot perfectly over trotting poles without getting excited then i was not to jump a fence....said horse had been jumping Fox quite happily up til that point, and he did a fab job in the lesson of winding the pair of us up!!
Oh gosh yes, there has to be some flexibility re: a particular horse, esp an experienced one. My good grey could not abide poles on the ground - as far as she was concerned, they were an added problem, they stopped her from focussing on the fence, they made life much harder, and she got ridiculous about them. Since she was jumping good clears round advanced tracks, i humoured her, and had to make sure trainers did too, she wasn't going to change her mindset about them so there was no point stressing her and risking her injuring herself trying to avoid them (some rather spectacular things happened to convince me...!)

i'll also add, trainers who put up a ridiculous exercise and want you to do it repeatedly till it's perfect. i tried someone (who always got horses stopping, actually, not surprising in retrospect) who put up a ridiculous grid with a very short bounce at the start, my good mare (proper little athlete) only just managed it and then he wanted me to do it again... no way, i made him open it up to 3.5 yards (!!!) because i knew she wouldn't have it again, she'd struggled the first time and i knew her well enough by then...!

so, trainers have to listen to the rider and the horse too, imho.
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For me, i have to want to go to a lesson. A while back i was being taught by a guy that had riden to a high level and i really thougt he new what he was doing. I used to wonder what mood he was in each time i went. He got so nasty some days that i used to take somebody (anybody) with me as he was never so nasty when i had company.
He put my 5yr old ex-race in draw reins and told me i was not allowed on his back without them for 3 months. I used to feel sick going there for my lessons, but kept telling myself he had riden at a really good level (reached 4*) and new what he was doing.

The final straw was when i had a lesson booked, 2 days before my lesson was due i was made redundant (spell??), i couldn't afford the lesson so i rung him, no answer so i left a message as i thought it was better he new asap and said i would ring him back to discuss in person. He rung me an hour later, screaming down the phone that i had no right wasting his time, i had taken up his time worth £75 and at such a late time he had no chance of filling in the space. That was it, i finally woke up and told him to go away, he still insists in yelling abuse about my riding when he sees me out in public. Last time i just replied ''would you like to jump on and show me then?'' he walked off!

the second was a BD accreditated trainer who new me and my horse and had been teaching us for some weeks, i hadn't had chance to ride my gelding all week due to family dilemas, and not wanted to cancel a lesson and be accused of 'messing' her around i went ahead with my lesson. Unsurprisingly, he was fresh and didn't really want to play. But i know him and i know give him ten minutes trotting around and he settles.
This was not good enough for her, she kept shouting to 'pull his head in'.this horse is a 17.2hh warmblood! i told her i thought it would be better if i just left him to settle and she said no, stop being so soft and stop avoiding arrguments. she said he had to learn to behave!
This horse is an absolute gem and really didn't deserve her teaching methods. It took her 6 weeks before she stopped texting me to ask if i wanted another lesson.

So anyway, now, i have an instructor who listens to me. She asks how my horses have been, what work i have done with them,if i have had any problems. Then, we have a laugh,i enjoy my lessons. She is open to new ideas and if something is not working she tells me and then we have a go a different way. As she lives in a different country, i have her home phone number and if i have problems with them when she's away i ring her and we disguss it over the phone.

Thank god there are some great instructors out there!!! (oh and she is half the price of the others!!!)
 
My pet hate is trainers who dislike my horse. I think it's the mark of a bad trainer. My last horse was a tricky dicky, she was very inconsistent in the contact and not an easy ride. I would get frustrated in lessons by my lack of progress and it was obvious that my trainers didn't rate my horse.
I got a new trainer and the first thing she did was point out all the positives my horse had. She then told me how I could improve things. She didn't try and change me in one go but made subtle changes over a period of weeks and months, the results were almost immediate. She took myself and my horse right back to basics and the achievements we made gave myself and my horse great confidence. Suddenly we were winning and consistently so. My horse felt like she was singing when I was riding her and we felt like a smooth, slick team.
We recieved compliments from onlookers but anyone who I let ride my horse realised that she looked a lot easier than she was! My trainer never rode my horse she didn't need too, she could see it all from the ground.
That is my dressage trainer. Iv just started using a jump trainer who is fab too! Very straight down the line and best of all she doesn't try and change me. She said to ride as I am and that my instinct is what I should be listening too. She helps me with exercises and makes points that help myself and my young horse to improve. She doesn't overcomplicate things.
For me I know a good trainer becuase I finish the lesson with a huge smile on my face! I can feel the results and that gives me confidence. I will never keep a trainer again where I feel frustrated, Demotivated and like I am going round in circles. Even the most novice rider will know when they are having fun and improving!
 
I have to add an old trainer said 'your horse is the reason why mares never make it to top level competition, they just don't try'. As you can imagine I was less than impressed by that comment!! Especially when the horse in question had the biggest heart of all. I later found out she was struggling because of terrible pain and that i was lucky she even let me on her back let alone try and jump massive grids ( trainer was wondering why she was reluctant to stretch over fences and so built them bigger and bigger and wider and wider to MAKE Her stretch) :( :( :(
 
Actually sometimes I don't think you have to even know about horses to spot a good instructor. It doesn't work all the time but a few months ago I was watching my nephew having a lesson on the lead rein and my dad (who knows so little about horses that he isn't dead sure which end bites and which end kicks) observed how well one of the instructors explained things. He also commented about the way another was just randomly yelling instructions in what sounded like double dutch ("lead file forwards to halt at x whole ride following on" - cue my dad asking how you go forward to halt and where the bloody hell x is).

What was interesting was that although these were all kids of primary school age being taught, either on the lead rein or just off the lead rein, the instructor who explained it all in an easy to understand way and made things interesting was the one I would have chosen to have a dressage lesson with, and is excellent with more advanced riders too. She isn't my regular instructor but one I would certainly be happy to have a lesson with as an alternative and is good at explaining things in a slightly different way.
 
A good flatwork trainer to me: Someones lesson who you walk away from, thinking i really understood all of that, and i have lots to work on before my next lesson. Im not too particular about thier personality etc, aslong as i feel ive learnt something. I couldn't really care less if we didnt stand there for 20mins after and have a good chat... one of the best trainers ive ever had, was cirtainly not a people person, but knew horses inside out, and was amazing...

For jumping, i think the trainers charecter is slightly more important, as its only human nature for us to get a dodgey stride every so often, and as long as ive realised it wasnt a good jump/approach etc, then i dont need my head bitten off. I like coming away feeling that ive really achieved something, (not necissarily because its been wacked up to 1.30 at the end, but more so that we've done some really tricky gymnastic exercises, or have jumped a fence that is taller than it is wide! etc...)

For XC, all i look for, is someone who will teach me HOW to ride the fence, and someone who will keep me and the horse both in 'positive mode'.
 
firewell said:
For me I know a good trainer becuase I finish the lesson with a huge smile on my face! I can feel the results and that gives me confidence.
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That, basically. I like to feel that I've achieved something - it doesn't matter whether it's that we managed to jump a course clear, or did some really nice transitions, or worked on getting my lop-sidedness fixed. As long as there's some improvement, then I'm happy.
Patience is also very important, and an understanding of WHY a horse is doing what it's doing - the lady who does SJ rallies was always brilliant with Bronson, and accepted that he was just plain excitable and not naughty.

I've been lucky enough to only have used one instructor who I really did not like since I've had my own horses. He teaches/d for my PC, and I took Physco-Cob to one of the rallies. He insisted on doing pointless exercises such as riding with one stirrup(Why I don't know, if I lose one I'll kick out the other) which is not really what you want to be doing on a horse that's about to explode. She was not listening to me at all when jumping as I wasn't allowed to keep her 'ticking over' whilst the others jumped (I HAD to stand her still), he made absolutely no suggestions as to how to get her back to me, and as a result I ended up coming off twice when she did some rather spectacular stops and freaking out afterwards (she had a tendency to do this)
The final straw came at the end when he said: "She's a very honest pony" - not my idea of honest at all!
 
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