Do I have the right dressage instructor

Mule

Mule

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Hello, this is a bit of an essay but I really need some advice.

I started taking dressage lessons last year. The person who is teaching me competes at grand prix. She is also very exacting, which I find really important because I'm a bit of a perfectionist myself. Although I find an exacting instructor important, I also learn better when an instructor is encouraging as I tend to set high standards for myself. And I can get easily discouraged.

She has also had me develop feel in general and the ability to feel when the horse is straight whereas a lot of instructors seem to teach the lateral movements before the rider knows whether the horse is straight or not. I've learned how to feel all these things.
I like that she focusses on taking time to get the basics right.

I am getting very good dressage scores. I have also been told how good she is by someone I know well, who has had a few different instructors.

However, I think she is one of those riders who are very skilled at riding but not teaching. When I ask her what the aids are to do something she can't explain it well, especially if I don't understand or I'm making mistakes.

She also doesn't have any teaching qualifications. Whereas when I ask the bhs instructor in the local riding school she can explain things clearly. The bhs instructor also seem to be much better at helping me develop spatial awareness. I lose marks in tests because I find this difficult. However the bhs instructor I'm referring to doesn't score any better than I do when she competes. How important is this?

I've done a bit of research and it seems that most of the dressage instructors near me who are successful riders don't have any teaching qualifications.

Dressage isn't big where I live so there aren't a lot of instructors who also compete above elementary. I also want to go up the levels so I think I need an instructor who has ridden at higher levels. Otherwise I wouldn't be bothered about whether the instructor competes or not.

My instructor is also someone I've known for years and because the dressage community is so small it would be awkward switching to another instructor. Especially as my instructor has just started to teach professionally and only has a few clients.All the dressage instructors around here know each other very well.

My question is, should I stick with her or get an instructor who's qualified to teach and will be able to coach me through the lower levels and then find someone more experienced later on? I really don't know what to do. :confused: Can anyone give me some advice?
 
Without spending ages giving a full response to all of your thoughts my initial reply would be to have lessons with both, the rider who will help you develop feel and has improved your marks has her merits, the BHS instructor to help you learn how to use the feel in a more clear way and get you understanding the aids, often you can benefit from two slightly different approaches as long as the basic way is the same you can learn from both and take what you require.

I don't think a good trainer has to compete above your level but it can help with certain points, at the lower levels being able to get the rider understanding the fundamentals is so important as they remain as you move up, if they are not in place you will struggle so now is the time to get everything correct and develop your skills.
 
be positive said:
Without spending ages giving a full response to all of your thoughts my initial reply would be to have lessons with both, the rider who will help you develop feel and has improved your marks has her merits, the BHS instructor to help you learn how to use the feel in a more clear way and get you understanding the aids, often you can benefit from two slightly different approaches as long as the basic way is the same you can learn from both and take what you require.

I don't think a good trainer has to compete above your level but it can help with certain points, at the lower levels being able to get the rider understanding the fundamentals is so important as they remain as you move up, if they are not in place you will struggle so now is the time to get everything correct and develop your skills.
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^^^ This. Have both. Each has something to give.
 
This is a really good question and something I am struggling with myself. My automatic response was to think that teaching and doing are different skills so you don't need to be a good competitive rider to be a great teacher, and being a great rider is certainly no guarantee of being any good at teaching.

But I've started questioning that recently..... I have had any number of lessons with good qualified teachers and not really got anywhere but have had single lessons with trainers who compete themselves and they have been amazing. (Sadly my 2 favourite sessions were with trainers on camp who live nowhere near me). I do think there is something about experience at the 'sharp end' that makes you better at knowing what an individual horse might need and being able to tailor a lesson to the horse in front of you. MY BHS lessons - and a few others who teach a certain style (Centred Riding, EE or whatever) seem to teach how they teach regardless. Whereas a good competition rider will have had to figure out what makes individual horses tick to be successful and that is a very useful skill imo.

If your scores are improving, you are learning to feel your own horse and you are getting the basics correct that will be a fantastic foundation to build on. So I'd personally stick with her and just keep asking lots of questions when you are unsure. Sometimes tricky or 'felt' concepts can't be immediately grasped anyway, but spending time with it, on the edge of understanding, can make the understanding when it does come, much deeper. If that doesn't sound too airy fairy!
 
Good question and something I struggled with myself! I started with a fab instructor and she made vast improvements for me and Topaz, however I felt I started to hit a rut and then she didn't seem completely suited to Skylla so I got a little more stuck, and she had by this point become a friend so I felt really really stuck.

I was then encouraged to go to a clinic my saddle fitter arranged, and I thought why not. Upshot was that the new instructor is amazing! Now I am still massively grateful for the start I had for my dressage journey but for here and now, Di Breeze has made a huge difference to us :).

Be brave and try new people until you find the 'one' as it were ;).

Also Di Breeze has gone through the UKCC Coaching qualification and is also a Listed BD Judge, and I actually think both of these potentially make a big difference. The coaching qualification for being able to explain things out well, and the judging so that you have that perspective of what the judges are looking for.
 
I agree with others - take lessons with both if you can afford the time and money. People who are successful in any sport have rarely got there with the influence of just one coach.

Also I would say that while having someone who is similar to you has its benefits, it can also cause you to get a bit stuck in a rut at times. I am a terrible perfectionist, in everything I do, and I benefit hugely from having people around me who are more of the JFDI mindset because otherwise I can get to the point where I won't do things because i can't get a complete picture in my head of how I'm going to do it perfectly. In fact my horse is also a terrible perfectionist who panics at a new question for fear of getting it wrong - so we'd get very stuck very quickly without someone telling me to get over myself and get on with it once in a while :D
 
DabDab said:
I agree with others - take lessons with both if you can afford the time and money. People who are successful in any sport have rarely got there with the influence of just one coach.

Also I would say that while having someone who is similar to you has its benefits, it can also cause you to get a bit stuck in a rut at times. I am a terrible perfectionist, in everything I do, and I benefit hugely from having people around me who are more of the JFDI mindset because otherwise I can get to the point where I won't do things because i can't get a complete picture in my head of how I'm going to do it perfectly. In fact my horse is also a terrible perfectionist who panics at a new question for fear of getting it wrong - so we'd get very stuck very quickly without someone telling me to get over myself and get on with it once in a while :D
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^^ definitely agree with this.

I got completely trapped for a while, I trained with a very experienced person who was also a list 1 judge, but I got paralysed by the intense detail and eventually got almost too afraid to start a session in the school because I no longer had any confidence to trust my body to do the right thing.
Had one awesome session with someone much more of the JFDI mindset (who judging by their success must also have phenomenal attention to detail - so the 2 approaches are not opposed to each other by any means) and it set me back on track - I then swapped my regular training for someone who pushed me a bit more in that way and we never looked back.

What does your gut tell you, OP? Personally I choose training from people who have ridden at the level I want to get to, and/or trained others to do so - I do think having input from someone with the experience of that is important because competition riding/goal setting/test strategy etc is all important stuff to learn and have help with, as well as the basic skill of riding and training a horse. In addition, if you aspire to more advanced levels I think it helps to have very experienced eyes on you at an early stage, just because you are putting the building blocks in for stuff you will rely on later, and it saves time and effort to get it completely right first time ;) I would place more value in that than formal qualifications, though I do currently go to an FBHS, that's by the by for me. But whoever you choose, if they can't get across to you, what you need to learn, then you're on a hiding to nothing!
 
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Finding a good instructors can be very frustrating and is something I need to go through again soon as my previous very good instructor is now retired.

At present I have a young horse so just training away with an event rider and coach doing a little bit of everything for his experience. However next year onwards i will concentrate more on dressage and there are a few riders and trainers around but for most of them I don't like their riding style (too heavy handed and horses all contracted). The one person's riding style I do like and I was really put off by tips she gave me during a lesson so will have to have a rethink!

In your situation I would go to both people but keep my eye out for other trainers who could give you more all round help.
 
I too would stick with both. Remember that your BHS instructor has their own circumstances, be it a young horse, inexperienced, difficult horse. Ok, they might have a horse that is lovely and that a more top end rider could make more of but they are probably doing the best job they can with their horse in the circumstances. They may also have ambitions of riding to a higher level or they make enjoy producing horses and reselling. Your Grand Prix rider enjoys getting horses to the very top and competing there. These two people have different mindsets and different horses. Both have information to give you that will improve your riding in different ways :)
 
Both is a good idea, a trainer who has coaching qualifications can certainly help in how the trainer communicates. But if you are planning on progressing through the levels it really is so important to have a trainer who has trained horses to a high level, it really makes such a difference as you get things sorted as you go along and you dont get bitten in the bum later on and have to go back to redo things.
 
I think you can teach eachother. Be honest with her and say you sometimes dont understand how she explains things...but if she were to show you in some other way or explain it another way it would work better.. remind her to take it step by step in her head and verbalize this. Shes been taught at some point, clearly successfully, so she can think back on that. Itll go good, or shell resent it and it will go bad. But if shes looking to teach she may appreciate the honest feedback.
 
go with any, not just these two, everyone knows something different


your regular ins sounds great, making the horse straight is the greatest priority

over worrying about being faithful to people gets you in holes, put your own needs first sometimes, don`t be afraid to ask for clarification or to say you can`t grasp what to do.
 
I agree with all the others that you can learn different things from different people and benefit from different perspectives.

However, I'd suggest maybe re-framing it in your mind that your trainers aren't explaining things in a way that is clear to you, rather than not being good at explaining generally. These things are very personal, and people learn in different ways - but the reason it's important to be aware of, is that if you think of it like that, you're less likely to accidentally say something which might offend your instructor - like that they aren't good at explaining clearly!
 
I would try a few other instructors I think sometimes if you have used the same person for many years sticking with them becomes more of a habit, I had a bit of a light bulb moment with the instructor I use now after a few lessons I suddenly thought god what have I been doing all these years I have honestly learnt more with him in a year than I have through my whole life with various other instructors, I have a horse that was not the easiest in regards to schooling but in 6 months he is a different horse and his actually much easier now.
 
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