Instructor riding your horse

[Helga1980]

Whenever I have a private flatwork lesson my instructor will always ride M. Generally I warm-up for 10 minutes, he rides for 10 mins, then I have the lesson 'proper' for 40 - 50 minutes.

Personally I find this invaluable as he can get M into work mode straight away rather than me argueing with him (we've still finding our feet a bit in terms of flatwork), also he will demostrate various things so I can actually see what it is that he's trying to explain to me.

Also has the advantage of him having a better understanding of what M is like to ride.

Does anyone else's instructor do this? Speaking to a couple of people, they really do not like the thought of the instructor riding as they feel they are paying to be taught not to watch their instructor ride. Any views?

 

[Haflinger]

My instructor has never ridden Toscar whilst I'm having my lesson (yet!) but will sometimes have a go in his owner's lesson.

Some people (who have a different instructor to me) at the yard, have the instructor ride the horse for them or are taught normally.

It can help probably though becuase the instructor can demonstrate something more easy if you watch what happens/what to do

 

[vicster]

When i have lessons my instructor never gets on but they are all different - if you are not happy with it you should say though. I can understand in a way that it is easier to show you when they are on but there could be other ways.

 

[Tempi]

i personally dont see the point in having an instructor ride your horse in a lesson - you go to be taught, not to watch someone else ride your horse. My trainer has only ridden my horse twice in two years - and thats just to have a 'feel' of how she is going.

 

[miamibear]

I agree with you to an extent.

I would expect my instructor to get on my horse if i was having a problem with an exercise or my horse was being particularly evasive.

However i do think teaching the rider how to overcome the problems that would face them if they were riding on their own i.e from the start of the session helps too.


So in short i dont think i would be happy with him getting on for 10 mins every session but i would be happy with him getting on if i was having a problem with something he was teaching me.

Does that make sense? I suppose i see it as not achieving anything because if i was to take my horse to a dressage comp for example he wouldnt be there to set the horse up for me so i would need to know how to get through it myself

 

[BroadfordQueen]

When i had dressage lessons my instructor rode my ned on the first day because she said she wanted to feel what i feel, as its easier to teach me then. and she worked wonders on him!!

 

[Kelly1982]

I dont think i would be happy with my instructor warming my horse up for me to get them working properly as isn't that the whole point of having lessons? To learn how to get your horse working properly for you??

I wouldn't mind them getting on now and then to 'have a feel' of how my horse is going so they can see for themselves what problems i am experiencing.

Does that make sense

 

[fjudge]

I think that it is usefull for an instructor to ride for 5-10 mins as it lets them get a feel for the horse and then they can explain and help you from the floor better as they know what yoou are feeling and dealing with. Skye is different and goes differently sometimes, so im sure some of yours go differently sometimes? Some days she co-opperates, other days she doesnt. Each lesson she may be different...etc..

So, IMO i think that it is good for an instructor to have a sit on the horse in the lesson for the reasons i have said.

x

 

[Parkranger]

I think that it's invaluable for your instructor to get on board so that they canunderstand what you need to do in order to get the best out of your horse.

I also think though that once they've done that, it kind of defeats the object if they keep getting on board - they should be telling/helping you get to that level with your horse.....

 

[emma69]

Each horse, rider and instructor are different. There are times it is really useful for the instructor the ride - if the rider is adamant the horse can't do something when the instructor knows the horse is pratting around for example, but in that sort of situation you pop on, do it, pop off and then make sure the rider can do it, and then next lesson make sure the rider can still do it - without the instructor doing it first.

If I was taking on a new client and the horse was fairly young, I would often ride the horse to see what it had already been taught - it would be much easier to then teach both the client and the horse if you could assess the base line knowledge (and to be honest, 10 mins of me riding and feeling would tell me more than watching the client for a couple of lessons, about the horse anyway)

There are also riders who ask instructors to get on once in a while to show them something - they understand better if they have seen something, or there are some clients who want the instructor to do something first (e.g. a ditch fence) if they are unsure if the horse has ever seen one. In these circumstances it's tricky - you are being paid to do what they want you to - to a certain extent - but it does them much better in the long run for them to do it themselves. In these situations I woul rely on what I knew about the rider, and what I knew about the horse, it's a judgement call.

All of the above relate to privately owned horses - the instructor should know school horses well enough to know what the horses capabilities are and not be asking the horse to do something they are not capable of.

What I cannot abide is instructors who get on to show off to a client - invariably without hard hats on - yes, we are aware you can ride, it's teaching the rider and the horse that is the issue.

One exception to the rule - if a horse is SJing or XCing and the horse gets itself in a tizzy about a jump, rider also in a tizzy, I will first get them to go and jump something simpler, then come back to the problem fence, if the horse still won't play ball I will get on and make the horse go over it, because otherwise next time the horse comes to do it (same or different rider) it has become an 'issue' for them - much better to sort it out. Where possible I will then get the rider to do it after me, so they don't have an issue with it either!

As for the instructor getting on every week - I can't say I would do it either as an instructor or as a rider - I would ask him to teach me what it is he does to get the horse so well warmed up, by talking not showing. Once in a while is one thing, every week sounds like an easy way out, for the horse, rider and instructor - the rider needs to be able to get the horse into work mode, otherwise they will struggle with this forever and a day

 

[Marquire]

I was of the opinion that you pay to be taught not to watch but my last lesson with one of my trainers I was really struggling with collected canter on the grumpy Boy. I rode him for 25 minutes and was really at my wits end. I asked my instructor to sit on him and he did some work with him for 15 minutes, explaining to me the whole time what he was doing, feeling etc. I got back on for 5 minutes at the end and the difference in the canter was amazing. It wasn't just because my boy had been ridden by a better rider than me it was because I had learned what he was doing to get the effects.

As a footnote, I took the Grumpy Boy to BD the next day and scored 7s for all the canter work where the month before it was 5s and 6s.

Marie

 

[Helga1980]

Interesting mix of views.

Should probably add that I've only had M on loan coming up 2 months and yesterday was only our third lesson. Also his owner didn't really 'do' flatwork so it's all a bit new to him and my instructor can introduce new things to both me and M when riding better than explaining (I'm a visual learner though so that does play a part).

Admittedly, I don't think I'll be that happy if he's still riding him in my lesson in 3 months time!

 

[katiejaye]

My instructor is also my YO and he schools Louis once a week for me. I find it useful that he knows how Louis feels to ride and we can discuss his evasions and issues with him having a proper understanding of what Louis feels like.

He never normally gets on to Louis in my lessons as I prefere to fight my own battles if we are having "issues", however on Wed we were doing a new exercise which I couldn't quite get my head around so I asked if he would ride Louis just to show me what the ex looked like from the ground and what exactly it was meant to be doing.

I don't think there is a right or wrong way of doing it and it all depends on what suits you really and your horse.

 

[NAT22]

My instructor has been riding my horse for me at the beginning of my lessons just recently - and we have both improved - Chas from having someone different on his back and me from watching how she does things.
Our work has come on so much in 3 months we are now feeling brave enough to enter our first BD next week.
Do what ever works for you - I now find I know what I am asking for a lot more - and Chas knows what is required of him - we are a much happier pair now that we are working towards the same thing!
Also i love watching my horse being ridden by a pro - I have had him all his life so not many people have ridden him - seeing my instructor working his so well brings a tear to my eye!

 

[Helga1980]

Good luck with the dressage Nat, I must confess it was nice to see him ridden by someone talented - never knew he had such an amazing trot, really floaty and swinging through his back.

Don't think we'll ever do BD but definately going to try some unaff stuff!

 

[vicm2509]

My instructor has never ridden my horse. I was thinking of asking her to though as I would like to see what he is capable of with a well trained rider on his back. I would not really see the point in her riding him at the start of every lesson though.

 

[pocket]

I am fortunate enough to have two lessons a week as I am quite lazy and will be more likely to school if someone is watching me. On these lessons I ride and any problems my instructor works us through.

However, I'm a nurse and every 7 weeks, I do night shifts and I cannot ride as I get so tired so my instructor rides Ralph, he will also school him if I am working an early shift on our designated days ie tue/thurs. For me, this is fantastic as I feel Ralph has come on leaps and bounds, even watching him being ridden is a learning curb and I can see what Mark is telling me to do being put into practice.

I don't feel as though its cheating in any way or form and a very valuable exercise for both horse and rider, also, by your instructor riding the horse, they can get a better feel for the horse and help you to iron out any problems. I also believe that it is important that horses get ridden by different people (confident/competent riders) so that if you were god forbid to have an accident out hacking, someone else can confidently get on your horse, also if you wanted to show the horse and it requires judges to ride, the horse will be used to a new rider and be safe.

 

[PapaFrita]

My instructor used to ride my horse and I found it a very valuable experience too. He doesn't any more unless I've cocked up something terrible!

 

[Governor]

My instructor schooled Governor while I was away - and when we started having lessons with her she sat on him after a couple of lessons.

There is a real difference between an instructor who teaches you having seen the horse and teaches you having ridden and seen the horse. I think it gives you a better understanding of what is your 'fault' and what needs improving with the horse. Regardless of how well an instructor can 'ride from the ground' I think their teaching improves once they've ridden the horse.

Not sure i'd want my instructor to ride my horse before me personally - i'd not mind if they got on to show me something mid lesson - but i'd rather iron out problems myself as i'd feel I was avoiding an issue having someone do it for me.

 

[Kelly1982]

I think there is a difference though in your instructor getting on your horse now and then to 'feel' what you are experiencing (which is what most people are describing) and your instructor getting on and warmning them up for you every lesson like original post suggested

 

[Lobelia_Overhill]

I remember my former instructor [who never rated me as a rider anyways] got on my mare to "show me how it's done" and she couldn't get the mare to lower her head or go in an outline or anything ROFLMAO she wasn't quite so snide in her remarks about the mare resisting and my not riding her properly...

 

[Cinders]

i think its invaluable to have a good instructor ride your horse once in a while. Leading up to the trailblazer final we were desperately trying to grasp an outline but having never ridden anything in an outline i was struggling. My instructor got her cinders for anything from 10-20mins in a few lessons to show cinders what we were asking and to let me feel how it should feel. It worked wonder for us but now we've got the hang of it she doesn't need to get on her anymore

 

[patchandloopy]

yes, and i dont mind-as with my cob my instructor did get a bit fustrated at the beginning as i wasnt able to do the things she was trying to get us doing, but could see i was trying too-so she jumped on for about 15mins and then saw why she was like she was and had a better understanding of her-which i think is helpful as then she can work on what she felt in the horse and teach the rider how to apply it.

My current insructor has alos ridden my current horse and had a feel as to why i was complaining he was so heavy in my hand and on the forehand yet to her looked lovely-once she had a few mins on him she realised and assesed the problem taught me the way to fix it and now i have a light horse!!

 

[Argie_Spew]

If im teaching a new partnership then i get on the horse, how can u teach some one if u dont know what they are feeling!
Talk to your trainer, if you are not happy about something then they need to know, after all you are paying the money!!
x