Crazy Things Your 'Old School' Instructor Used To Make You Do?

Standard no stirrups/no reins/eyes closed/bareback jumping/standing bolt upright/jockey length stirrups/holding knees in the air in canter/rising trot no stirrups/practice falling off/pairs riding/riding with hands upside down/riding with reins attached to opposite side of bit/neck reining and western-style contact/chase-me-charlies...

Nowadays H&S means you can't do half of this stuff... plus I'm sure kids break easier nowadays.
 
Love said:
I remember riding down jumping lanes with no reins or stirrups, arms out to the side, up above and god knows where else. Also jumping with my eyes shut - it always amazed me that you knew every time when the horse was going to jump! And riding with a matchbox under each knee to improve leg position - they had to still be there by the end!
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The first was supposed to improve balance; jumping with eyes shut improved 'feel' ; the matchbox was preumeably in the days when you were supposed to grip with your knees - you can tell from this I am old!!!!
 
SallyBatty said:
My instructor was an old cavalry man who used to make us take the saddle off while cantering round the school (just dumping it on the floor while still cantering round) and then going straight over a jump before which we had to drop the reins. Wouldn't want to try that now, although I can still take the saddle off while sitting on my horse at a standstill (putting it on the fence rather than dropping it on the floor though).
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Nice to know I'm not the only one who was taught this one - at trot!!
 
When I was learning to ride, about 40 years ago, all of this stuff was just normal and that was how you learnt to ride. I've always been grateful for it as it gave me a great base and while I wouldn't be so keen on the no stirrups (or saddle) or reins, jumping blindfolded stuff now, as a kid it was just an adventure and we just bounced back then. Helmets yes, vests - nope - but we learned how to fall and land too.
 
Love reading all these, I can relate to all of them - I forgot how much stuff we used to do! No wonder I get so frustrated with the younger girls at my yard when they moan about how 'hard' their 30 min lesson was or they won't ride in the rain, if it's too hot or it their too tired. Oh shush - I wish I could take them all back 20 years when I used to have my lessons and see how they felt then! There's no way they'd give my old instructors the back chat they think is accepable to give to their instructors now. :eek:
 
The riding school I went to became obsessed with horseball, we'd tie our stirrups together under the horses bellies with a leadrope so you could hook one leg up and lean over to scoop the ball up. Was so much fun and the ponies loved charging about! Must have been a right sight with loads of coblets charging about with whooping children on board :D
 
I remember cantering around on the lunge with my stirrups really short, I would have to stand up in them with my arms out to the side, then the horse would be sent down a line of jumps (pretty big jumps) & I'd have to stay in the same possition. This was to improve my balance.

It must have worked as I was very hard to get off in those days!
 
Prob as most people have said......jumping with no reins, being lunged with no stirrups and no reins, round the worlds and half scissors. Cavaletti runs/jumping lanes, whatever happened to them?
 
Madam Min said:
Ride with a whip going under my arms and round my back, to make me sit up straight!!!
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I used to teach, this was one of many things I made folk do :)

Other things included:

Riding with reins crossed
Lots and lots of no stirrups in trot and canter
Leaves (I was too poor to risk actual money!) shoved under bums in canter to keep bums in the saddle
Lots of bareback lessons
Made them mount with no hands from both sides (we had saintly ponies!)
Taught a few to vault on bareback
Lots of fun stuff at the end, round the worlds, thread the needles etc
Riding with no reins - particularly doing lateral stuff
Jumping with no reins or saddles
Cantering round with hands on heads
Forward seat lessons which lasted 40mins or more - hell mend anyone gripping on with knees to help!
Double rising trot with no stirrups
Legs away from the saddle in trot/canter with no stirrups
Jumping with eyes shut (only little jumps with very trusted ponies!).

I only stopped teaching 4 years ago :) Anyone fancy a lesson?! mwahahahaha! ;)
 
It was perfectly normal when I had my first riding lessons to ride without stirrups, without reins when you were a bit more advanced, including jumping. I have ridden with very short stirrups in much more recent lessons as well. All designed to improve balance and position. I had some lessons on a mechanical horse only a few years ago, the RI asked me if I was ok to work without stirrups, which made me laugh, we were never asked in the past - just expected to get on with it! Also had some lunge lessons at a RS when my mare was off work after we had an accident on the road I was asked then if I was ok riding without stirrups, not sure I'd have bothered with lunge lessons if I'd intended to keep my stirrups all the way through!
 
Lessons without reins and stirrups were so much fun! I suggested it to the younger girls on my yard last night and they just stared at me like I was mad... They don't know what they're missing and I mean that - they fall off quite a bit and I really do think it's because they never did any of this when they learnt to ride.
 
Cheshire Chestnut said:
Lessons without reins and stirrups were so much fun! I suggested it to the younger girls on my yard last night and they just stared at me like I was mad... They don't know what they're missing and I mean that - they fall off quite a bit and I really do think it's because they never did any of this when they learnt to ride.
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I think you're right!

I am often amazed by the number of people on here who post about falling off when their horses spook. We were taught to develop independent seats and 'stickability'.
 
SallyBatty said:
My instructor was an old cavalry man who used to make us take the saddle off while cantering round the school (just dumping it on the floor while still cantering round) and then going straight over a jump before which we had to drop the reins. Wouldn't want to try that now, although I can still take the saddle off while sitting on my horse at a standstill (putting it on the fence rather than dropping it on the floor though).
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Mine used to do this too - also ex cavalry! (I wonder if it was the same one - Bromley common in the 1960s)

Also we weren't allowed stirrups or reins until we were able to ride without! And if you fell off he shouted "Who gave you permission to dismount!"
 
I'm 22, and I wish I'd experienced what you all have. All I got to do when I was younger was the exercises in the saddle, around the world, half scissors etc. And I think I've jumped without reins once before. I now ask to have a lesson without stirrups once a week, as my seat isn't as good as it should be. But I wish I could do some of the things you have!
 
I did a lot of these things too - and the stuff I was made to jump makes me shudder now! Wheelbarrows, quad bikes, white plastic chairs, traffic cones. The last two, we'd do a chase me charlie type thing where the jumps got narrower rather than higher. A few of us managed the chair fairly easily but my old boy and I were the only ones who managed to jump a single cone first time - we won a packet of lovehearts for the achievement. He ate more of them than me!

I definitely need the whip behind my back - might give that a go tonight!
 
annagain said:
I did a lot of these things too - and the stuff I was made to jump makes me shudder now! Wheelbarrows, quad bikes, white plastic chairs, traffic cones. The last two, we'd do a chase me charlie type thing where the jumps got narrower rather than higher. A few of us managed the chair fairly easily but my old boy and I were the only ones who managed to jump a single cone first time - we won a packet of lovehearts for the achievement. He ate more of them than me!

I definitely need the whip behind my back - might give that a go tonight!
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OMG we used to do this and I forgot all about it! We did the narrow thing, we used upright barrels too, that was hard!

I'm 100% going to make the girls from the yard do all of this stuff in one 1 hour lesson next weekend ;)
 
Elvis said:
I'm 22, and I wish I'd experienced what you all have. All I got to do when I was younger was the exercises in the saddle, around the world, half scissors etc. And I think I've jumped without reins once before. I now ask to have a lesson without stirrups once a week, as my seat isn't as good as it should be. But I wish I could do some of the things you have!
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It really is a shame, I met up with a couple of the girls I used to ride with when we all had ponies when we were younger and we think we have all benefitted for it some way. We started talking about how different it is now and how it was when we were at the yard years ago, that coversation was the idea behind starting this thread.

We used to have an hour 'livery lesson' every Tues and Fri night at 6:30pm, just for the liveries at the yard (it was a livery yard and a riding school). Was £3 each and about 10 of us were in it every time, was crazy. Sometimes we'd do flatwork with no stirrups and reins, sometimes we'd do jumping courses or grid work, or sometimes it was pony agility with an obsticle course (washing line with clothes on, sheet to step over, umbrellas to go between etc) It was great and I miss it all so much now I'm back riding again and there's nothing like it at my yard.

I really do feel as though the teenage girls at my yard who all have their ponies now have really missed out on all this, no that they seem to care!!
 
20m circles in sitting trot on a 17hh gelderlander with no stirrups and my elbows tied together with plaiting cotton...

And lots of light seat in very short stirrups with no reins. Does wonders for your calves!
 
I still do some of these now - I often cross my stirrups for the last 10 minutes or so. I do think our school ponies must have been absolute saints though!

We also used to play Cowboys and Indians when we were really little - it was a bit like 'Tag', the instructor divided us into two teams and we would charge about the indoor school trying to touch someone from the opposite team with our whips. If you got touched you were out. I would LOVE to play this even now!
 
Like most of you most of my Pony Club lessons by default were without stirrups or in a forward seat which you had to hold for so long you would sneakily sit down on your pony behind the instructors back!
I also had to sing the my little pony theme tune whilst jumping a grid in front of all of my mates to encourage regular breathing - it worked but was highly embarrassing!!:rolleyes:
 
We used to be made to sit on an old sponge and if the sponge feel out, you had to run around the school. When you are little, a 40x20 arena seems a very long way
 
Long bouts of no stirrups including rising trot
Vaulting on, scissors, half scissors, round the world & backwards rolls off
Jumping grids with your arms folded or in front of your or reading writing off a bit piece of paper
Stick behind your elbows to make you keep your shoulder back
If you fell off you had to run around the arena on foot before getting back on
Musical rides

Happy days
 
Memories are made of these moments :-)

We were made to go up a jumping lane whilst taking off our saddles, or start off completely bridle less, sometimes we had to go up without either if the instructor was having a really bad day !! We used to go for gallops jockey style, but before we were allowed to head off en masse, we had to pick up a blade of grass from the floor without getting off said horse or pony. Vaulting on - without anyone holding horse/pony.
We had a classical instructor at one of my riding schools that used to make you take your riding boots off and he would place an egg under the ball of your foot - if you broke it you had to ride the rest of the lesson stirrup less.
Can't think of any more at the minute, but oh what lovely memories :-)
 
Gwyntbryn said:
Mine used to do this too - also ex cavalry! (I wonder if it was the same one - Bromley common in the 1960s)

Also we weren't allowed stirrups or reins until we were able to ride without! And if you fell off he shouted "Who gave you permission to dismount!"
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Southborough Lane which is just off Bromley Common and yes in the 60s. Think we must have had the same instructor!
 
puppystitch said:
We also used to play Cowboys and Indians when we were really little - it was a bit like 'Tag', the instructor divided us into two teams and we would charge about the indoor school trying to touch someone from the opposite team with our whips. If you got touched you were out. I would LOVE to play this even now!
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I played Cowboys and Indians in my stage 3 lessons! :D

I remember when pound coins had just replaced pound notes (about 1983 I think), I had an instructor who made me put a pound coin under each knee and if I could keep them there for a set length of time I got to keep them :D
 
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