Does anyone else feel like their riding deteriorates day by day after a lesson?....

[Chloe_GHE]

Basically last night I schooled both my boys and haven't had a lesson for 2 weeks (have been out competing though)

Because Dustry is below the level I am at everything with him feels really positive and he is making big improvements because he is currently at the steepest part of his learning curve (eg big diff from racehorse to 'proper horse') and I'm happy with my riding on him.

But on Soap I feel like with each day that passes past my lesson I am getting less and less of a good rider. We are breaking new ground in our lessons and really pushing ourselves so what we achieve in our lessons is new and the best we have ever done. When I go home and try to recreate that because it is so new and not established I find myself getting frustrated because I think I can feel what it should be like, but it's not happening.....does that make sense?....

I think maybe that to stop getting frustrated at not being able to perform at lesson level I should maybe drop down a little bit in what I'm asking and almost establish what was achieved in the previous lesson.....still making sense?...

In an ideal world I would love to just have a lesson everyday, but sadly I would very quickly be bankrupt!

So does anyone else feel this way like you are trying to ride at the top of your game to get to the next bit but as I've never got to the next bit and neither has the horse we are not sure without instruction how to get there.....maybe I'm being too ambitious with too little knowledge......help please.....dressage has confused my brain and equally made me really want to master it at the same time!

Frustrated and foxed from Wiltshire
C x

 

[_Rach_]

yep I argee, So instead of fighting with Twizzy I just find myself eaither jumping or hacking , less stress.

 

[Baileysno1]

I definately get this, lessons are euphoric but I get frustrated at never being able to emulate that kind of riding on my own. The closest I got was with a german woman who came and did monthly clinics Elke Funk Hess, she encouraged you to take written notes after a lesson and gave you really specific excercises to repeat and work on through the month, it did transform my schooling sessions, I started to correct myself like I was in a lesson and I only ever schooled if I had time and was in the right mood to see it through. Ufortunately now moved out of the area and have gone back to my sloppy self : )

 

[Chloe_GHE]

yep I argee, So instead of fighting with Twizzy I just find myself eaither jumping or hacking , less stress.

Glad I'm not the only one! Yeah I much prefer just hacking out and schooling on the hack or jumping in-between lessons, but then that's not really going to improve our flatwork as much I don't think....

 

[Chloe_GHE]

gave you really specific excercises to repeat and work on through the month

this could be an idea, I might ask for some set exercises to practise to be getting on with, I think I need a black and white goal, then in my lessons we can work on the less finite stuff eg feel, improving the stride and the subtleties of it all

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

Totally haent schooled my mare since my last lesson about 3 weeks ago due to busy instructor and chiro visit and I cant remember what we were doing she is making such progress in lessons Im worried if I try on my own at the mo Ill set us back!

So just hacking at the mo and playing at some gallops got a lesson booked in a week though with a new instructor so hoping we can carry on were we left off! Believe me you are not alone

 

[dominobrown]

At the moment the more that I do the worse we get!

 

[Saratoga]

I used to be the same, but since having a new trainer i really take the important things away to work on during the time until the next lesson. If you undertand what you are trying to achieve, know what the most important bits are and have a clear idea in your head of the exercises you need to crack to really improve then it makes it easier when they aren't there shouting at you!

If your lesson is less structured then it's sometimes hard to come away with a goal.

 

[Chloe_GHE]

I used to be the same, but since having a new trainer i really take the important things away to work on during the time until the next lesson. If you undertand what you are trying to achieve, know what the most important bits are and have a clear idea in your head of the exercises you need to crack to really improve then it makes it easier when they aren't there shouting at you!

If your lesson is less structured then it's sometimes hard to come away with a goal.

My lessons are structured but I find I'm absorbed in what I'm doing at the time so don't sort of remember the exercise as a whole, I focus in on the smaller aspects and the feel, then when I'm at home I don't have a clear idea of the exercise and try to piece it together from the feel and other little snippets. Think I'm gonna ask for an action plan after each lesson with certain things to do each day/week

 

[Saratoga]

Action plan sounds good, it's also handy to run through all the really important bits with the trainer when you are walking round cooling off so it is fresh in your mind again. I also write down things as soon as i get off if i've had a particularly mind blowing session and i know i won't remember it!

 

[HannahHDEventing]

What about if you have the lesson video'd. Then you can look back on it and see things that the trainer may have said, which you forgot or didn't hear.

 

[FleabittenT]

Take notes after every lesson There's no way I can remember even half of it all otherwise!

I have a lesson every Sat, keep my sad little lesson notebook with me & scribble down as much as I can remember straight afterwards. Everything, every little tip, exercise etc. You can then re-read this before you ride inbetween lessons, to re-focus. Helps me, anyway!

 

[FigJam]

I definately get this, lessons are euphoric but I get frustrated at never being able to emulate that kind of riding on my own.

Yup, this is how I feel too! I get in the school after lessons all positive and full of enthusiasm, and then struggle to recreate the lovely work we had in our lesson, end up with Hopalong and I both getting annoyed with each other and finish up miserable. So you're not alone!

At home I get glimpses of nice work, at lessons I get consistent nice work. I guess I need someone standing shouting at me 100% of the time?! I'm pretty sure it is 99% me and not managing to ride as well as I should or ask for things properly without someone on the ground fine tuning/pointing out what I'm doign wrong.

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

When things are not going as well as they do in my lessons I have a little check list and run through it as my common faults are elbows not being bent, looking down or heels up and usually that sorts my problem out but I might start carrying a note book too,

 

[Chloe_GHE]

I think I must just think my memory is better than it really is!

 

[wench]

Ask instructor for "homework"?

 

[Michellehenry]

Absolutely and although I am not pleased that you are frustrated I am glad I'm not the only one ! My poor boy and I have been getting frustrated with each other all week because I am desperate to recreate the work we did in our last lesson.

I usually have sessions filmed as I forget more than I should . This has really helped and because I didn't have anyone to film last time I have remembered my ' homework' but have lost important elements of how to achieve what I had in our lesson , if that makes sense.

 

[jenbleep]

Yup, this is how I feel too! I get in the school after lessons all positive and full of enthusiasm, and then struggle to recreate the lovely work we had in our lesson, end up with Hopalong and I both getting annoyed with each other and finish up miserable. So you're not alone!

At home I get glimpses of nice work, at lessons I get consistent nice work. I guess I need someone standing shouting at me 100% of the time?! I'm pretty sure it is 99% me and not managing to ride as well as I should or ask for things properly without someone on the ground fine tuning/pointing out what I'm doign wrong.

In a way I am so happy you guys are saying this, because I feel the same! In my lessons we always work so much better, I ride better, look for the answers to our problems etc etc and try and emulate this schooling by myself. This carries on for a week or so, then I have a schooling session which is utter awful, and keep to doing simple transitions, then book another lesson!

I always ask my instructor if she sees us improving because I'd hate to think that every two weeks she sees the same jenbleep and Charisma!

 

[dressager]

I also have my lessons filmed regularly and it's amazing how much I forget or even miss during a lesson through concentrating too hard! It also helps me appreciate even more what trainer was saying and I then find it easier to visualise the "ideal" when riding on my own (annoying with no mirrors though).

But I agree it is so much harder out of a lesson and the problems I have on a day to day basis don't seem to crop up in lessons! I think it's important to remember that horses only live in the present so work with what is going on in the here and now, not in the past, it's the best way to develop feel and intuition when you haven't got an instructor giving frequent commands.

 

[kerilli]

does your instructor always warm you and the horse up in a fairly consistent way, then afterwards go on to work on various exercises to help with particular issues? if so, you can use this same pattern etc.
i don't want to sound 'holier than thou' (god forbid) but until i found an instructor who did this, and who was willing and able and happy to answer EVERY question i asked (because i needed to know WHY he wanted me to do x at that moment, etc etc), i used to get very stuck and very frustrated... now i have a system, learned totally from him, that applies pretty much to every horse i get on, but then with specific exercises to work on whatever the horse needs, depending on level, the aims of the session, etc, if that makes sense.
starting every session with a clear plan really helps too. obviously it needs to be adjustable, depending on how the horse goes, but if the plan is say "improving rhythm" or "working on canter transitions" or "getting horse through more securely to the contact" then at least you have something to work towards.
also, someone v wise once said that going back and doing something that the horse finds easy, as a reward, is a v good idea if you're struggling with something. i think it's human nature to keep trying whatever isn't quite working, but sometimes, doing something different but easy, rewarding the horse, then going back to the more difficult thing later, really works.
sorry, another essay. tea & sympathy if you got this far...

 

[MegaBeast]

Are you able to bribe a willing victim to video some of your lessons? Can be very useful as a memory aid for the exercises and key points to work on.

Know what you mean about feeling like going backwards though!

 

[diggerbez]

yes chloe another one here who suffers from post lesson amnesia i think its because i concentrate so much in my lessons that i don't really absorb what's happening. however, having said that, i had a lesson with a new trainer last week and then (for various reasons) didn't go in the school until yesterday (6 days later) and i remembered loads! in a way i think its because she didn't bombard me with lots of things- what we worked on was fairly simple and quite repetitive (i.e. same approach in walk, trot and canter) as opposed to old trainer who would literally tell me stuff for the whole hour of the lesson- i think i preferred the new trainer's approach (as fab as old trainer is) and horse went much better at home than he has been doing recently... i would definitely say get specfic homework from your trainer- i.e. one or two exercises to be working on- in your lessons you might be working on several different things but cut this down when working at home- even if you only focus on one thing from your lessons you will make progress and hopefully not get confused

 

[VRIN]

How about asking your instructor for a particular exercise that you cen work on at home?

 

[Ludi-doodi]

My lessons are structured but I find I'm absorbed in what I'm doing at the time so don't sort of remember the exercise as a whole, I focus in on the smaller aspects and the feel, then when I'm at home I don't have a clear idea of the exercise and try to piece it together from the feel and other little snippets. Think I'm gonna ask for an action plan after each lesson with certain things to do each day/week

QR - How about having your lessons videod? That way you can concentrate the way you do in your lesson then watch it back at home - though make sure you watch it several times. I think it's important to watch it more than once so that its clear in your head when you next school on your own, it'll be embedded in your head what you are wanting to achieve and have your instructors words ringing in your ears.

Another way I find that works is to write down what you did in your lesson as soon as you can things like how it felt, aids you gave, tips the instructor said etc when I remember I bring my note book with me to the yard and do it as soon as the horse is sorted out after my lesson. I've sometimes even been known to write notes down whilst watching the video!

Having said all that my riding is totally rubbish at the moment because I haven't had a lesson in nearly 2 months