Have I just had the rudest riding instructor on the planet?

M

millreef

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 December 2010
Messages
1,689
Location
Morocco - Casablanca
Visit site
Bet you can't beat this.
She is the senior instructor - German so has lots of European qualifications (not sure what they are but she's a brilliant rider). My regular riding instructor was off so she took the class. I have never even spoken to her despite riding there regularly.
  1. She begins the lesson without introducing herself
  1. Four other people in the lesson - she checks all their girths, ignores me.
  2. Nearly 15 minutes into the lesson she has spoken just twice to me - to tell me to keep my fingers on top
  3. She asks me and two others to trot at one end of the school on a 20 m circle and the two others at the other end doing the same.
  4. Then asks the other four to start cantering on the 20 m circle
  5. I trot for about 5 mins whilst all about me are farting and cantering and finally give up and wait in the centre of the circle as I clearly have misunderstood
  6. She then ignores me for a further 5 minutes
  7. finally she asks me what I'm doing.
  8. I have no idea I said
  9. You should be trotting said she
  10. But people are cantering on the same track as me I replied
  11. Yes, can you not ride? Replied the Teutonic one
  12. I've never known this before replied I, the confused one.
  13. I am German she states
  14. And I have a masters degree! she further states
  15. (I have two so what)said I
I then explained that I have to ride well as I have an exam on Tuesday.
WHAT EXAM - STAGE ONE!!!!!!She said. (She knows full well that I'm having my stage two exam. She even had a grin on her face.
After we resumed the lesson she came over to me (last) and I thought she would give me some gems to be going on with.....BUT..... she told me off for not checking my girth (I FECKING DID CHECK IT AND IT WAS FECKING FINE).
Finally I told her that she was the rudest person I have ever met and that there is no need for her to be so nasty. I then went and cancelled the rest of my lessons. What a complete B.I.T..C...H.
This has got to be the rudest instructor on the planet
Annoyingly I have loads of instructors and I absolutely love them and they're all really different. I am off to Toys r us to buy a small german doll to which I plan to stick pins into.
 
I am off to Toys r us to buy a small german doll to which I plan to stick pins into...

HAHAHA :D

The woman sounds like a fruit loop:confused:
 
millreef said:
[*]I am German she states
[*]And I have a masters degree! she further states
[*](I have two so what)said I
Click to expand...

LOL at the above - she sounds a bit unique! Maybe she's used to people prostrating herself at her every word and not actually having to relate to people on a human level:p:D

Happy shopping;)
 
Safe to assume she won't be your drinking buddy then :D


Sorry hear you didn't enjoy have a good lesson, hopefully normality will be resumed when your usual RI is back.
 
Not a good experience but it is *possible* that she was trying to 'throw you in at the deep end' to see how you coped in preperation for your exam. That said she didn't do it in a very good way and could have used a little more tact (in my own experience this is often lacking in German and South African instructors).
Try to find something to take from the lesson - even if it is just the thought that when/if you teach you will not approach a lesson like she has approached you today.
 
Vetwrap said:
Was this supposed to be a veiled threat - or an explanation as to lack of any normal reasonable behaviour?
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought about this. Somehow it doesn't quite have the same ring to it as ..... "I'm Colombian".... or "I'm from Iraq". OK I'd be a bit careful then, but so what if you're German? (No offence to the other 81520925 Germans out there).
 
For some reason I've got a vission of this German RI being like
Agatha Trunchbull, the teacher out of the film Matilda, waiving her crop at you spouting in a deep voice and a evil smirk ''I'm German!!!!!'' :D

sorry it's a Wednesday afternoon, I've had too many cups of tea and maryland cookies! :rolleyes:
 
Oh dear something seriously wrong with that woman - what a waste of your time - you may as well have schooled alone. Don't let it put you off and good luck with your exam x
 
When someone is being totally irrational/unreasonable or just downright rude I try to remember to say as sincerely as I can "No, Please -don't apologize" which always makes me giggle.
Then I leave, while they are trying to work it out.
 
Perhaps she has Aspergers Syndrome. My husband is very good at stating random facts to no one in particular for no apparent reason. Usually things which are in no way connected to the current conversation (I am German.... Great, but we're talking about horses right now) such as
-What did you do at work today?
Him- It was red.

And you are meant to guess what is red, why he's mentioning it and how it relates to the question, if it does at all.
 
When she said "I am German" you should have said "no Schmitt Sherlock" :D, play her an mp3 of a brass band, see if she marches into Poland.
 
MosMum said:
Perhaps she has Aspergers Syndrome. My husband is very good at stating random facts to no one in particular for no apparent reason. Usually things which are in no way connected to the current conversation (I am German.... Great, but we're talking about horses right now) such as
-What did you do at work today?
Him- It was red.

And you are meant to guess what is red, why he's mentioning it and how it relates to the question, if it does at all.
Click to expand...

Gosh at least I'm only frustrated once a week - you get it 24/7!:D
 
I, too have a vision of Agatha Trunchball from Matilda!! Trying to link her image with a German accent.??!

As for the lesson, well it doesn't sound much like a lesson really, I'd have stopped too. She really sounds like she didn't have her head on straight. I wonder what the other 4 riders thought of her?
All the best for your exam on Tuesday. x
 
She sounds very much like my last instructor (funnily enough he too was German!) When asked about my recent riding experience I told him I had only hacked my own horses and hadn't had lessons for about 8 years and needed to improve my riding.
His answer to that was "Any ******ing idiot can ride behind another horse in a line! Hacking isn't riding, its equvilent to riding donkey's on the beach!!!

I was this close to knocking him out!!!

I was then told that its just "cultural differences" and that us Brits take things way too much to heart! I cancelled my further lessons and have still yet to book another!

I hope you still at it though and good luck for your exams :)
 
Maybe her liddle tank had broken down, or the fallen Maddona with the big boobys had been stolen from her Frankfurter, or she isn't getting any gateaux in her chateaux ;)
 
PS - If you can't find any German dolls in Toys R Us, try a lego man and draw a small horizontal tash on his face, then run him over!!! (Not that I have any experience of this at all ;))
 
I had a german sharer once and she was very anal, I think its a trait and they can be very straight laced and take everything literally . From what you've described i'd say she wasn't intentionally being rude but just the way she is and some germans don't get / share the same warmth / humour as brits.

I've seen a lesson with a top dressage instructor who was german and I think about 10 words were uttered in that time but it was fantastic getting great results.

I just think it sounds like a cultural clash without any intention to be rude.
 
When I was in Germany and had lessons, it was common for the instructor to split the group into different circles at either ends of the arena for trotting/cantering. The lessons were in German, and I only have a working knowledge of the language but in one lesson one of the girls had to stay in trot while everyone else was cantering, I believe because the horse was not riding as well as the instructor wanted in trot. I also learned quickly that the rules of the Halle were that it is polite to change rein to match the other riders, and if you are riding more slowly then stay to the inside track. Therefore it would be normal for me to canter past someone who is trotting for example.

Not saying you weren't riding well, just offering another pov.

ETA: To say that I think the common view of Germans here is quite wrong (and rather uncalled for in some instances). Ime they are only formal at first (like most people) and afterwards they are a lot of fun. Yes, they take riding very seriously, even at a young age, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
 
Last edited:
I went to a western taster once and wastotally ignored all through the lesson (Maybe it was because I was on a mule?)
Gluttton for punishment, I thought I'd try just once more at the same place with a differant instructor and had a lovely lesson so decided to try it properly :)
 
She sounds like a real 'Charm school reject' & unable to understand that you are her bread & butter. She is there to teach, to enable not belittle. Rise above it, don't sink to her level.
 
Wolfie said:
When I was in Germany and had lessons, it was common for the instructor to split the group into different circles at either ends of the arena for trotting/cantering. The lessons were in German, and I only have a working knowledge of the language but in one lesson one of the girls had to stay in trot while everyone else was cantering, I believe because the horse was not riding as well as the instructor wanted in trot. I also learned quickly that the rules of the Halle were that it is polite to change rein to match the other riders, and if you are riding more slowly then stay to the inside track. Therefore it would be normal for me to canter past someone who is trotting for example.

Not saying you weren't riding well, just offering another pov.
Click to expand...

I think the main issue is that it's a normally British establishment in Hong Kong but over the past 5 years they have had more Germans over. Their way is different but if only she'd explained this to me. I pay fecking good money to ride there and it's her job to help me surely? Your description is exactly how the lesson went. (Since the Germans arrived nearly all the horses are in draw reins too).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top