Instructors who ride in your lesson...

GREYS OR BAYS?

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SouthWestWhippet

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I'm always uncomfortable about doing this but on the occasions when I have hopped on a pony and demonstrated what I'm trying to get my clients to do, they've all said it was very helpful.

What do people think about instructors demonstrating what they want... does it waste lesson time or is it really valuable? And would it make a difference if they were demonstrating on YOUR horse or if you were riding on a school horse.

Quick Poll... but please reply with your thoughts and experiences as well.
 
I've had instructors get on and demonstrate before now. Found it really helpful as think you can learn a lot from the ground as well as being on a horse too.

Regarding own horse vs RS horse - think that for an instructor to get the best out of you and your horse, they've got to know/feel what you're riding. It's pointless them barking instructions at you for one thing, whilst you horse feels like something completely different underneath you
 
I love it when my instructor jumps on my horse as she always gets him going well so when I get back up I can feel what he should be doing. Plus it's great for my motivation as she shows me what he can really do! She also maintains that without getting on every so often, she cannot feel what it is I am dealing with if that makes sense?! She says that by experiencing his quirks herself, she can teach me the best way to deal with them
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It works both ways..I had a real tyrant of an instructor (not for long) Who would bellow "more leg" at me on each stride & blame everything on me.
So I jumped off & said " show me what to do"...she then found just how much hard work my horse was to get going into a nice contact, infact she couldn' muster a canter.

I do find it easier to be told what to do by demonstration, so much easier to see another doing it right (or completely wrong to show me what I'm doing)
 
My instructor used to own my horse so I think she likes to hop on every so often for old times sake (or to remind herself why she sold him!)
 
Logically it OUGHT to be helpful, but I find it depends on my mindset & how things are going. Sometimes it makes me feel despondent that I can't even ride my own horse properly!!
 
I think generally it is helpfull. It is lovely to see your horse going nicely, and as Natalie_H says, gives you the confidence that your horse really can do things, you just have to ask in the right way. Also it generally makes the horse a bit easier to ride for when you get back on. But I'd like the instructor to leave it to me most of the time, and only jump on when really nessecary.
 
My instructor gets on my horse once every 6th lesson or so. I have often said that I feel like my horse is doing x, y or z and my instructor has said but he doesn't look like it, then once she gets on him, she can feel what I mean and it helps her to help me more. She also says she sees a progression between each time she gets on him, which boosts my confidence in my ability!
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I would love to find an instructor who would get on my horse, ride it, then give me a lesson based on what they found from riding him! However the only instructors I seem to find always find an excuse not to get on him!!!
At the riding school where i work, the instructors are allowed to get on to demonstrate, or prove the horse is capable! Did find some instructors used to take the micky and just ride for 20 mins instead of teaching!!!
 
My instructor occasionally jumps on if I am having a problem or madam is being particularly naughty!! I find it really helps, I can see what she means and what I am after, Cropi also looks amazing when she gets on. Immediatley on the bit, in a perfect outline and just floats
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....well normally immediatley, it has been known for her to try it on with my instructor......she doesn't win though and its quite amusing to watch LOL
 
Like Catembi I sometimes just find it makes me feel despondent. Often I know what I am aiming for I just can't quite get it! When the instructor hops on and gets it in about 5 minutes it just emphasises that it is me and the horse is perfectly capable!! It is even more depressing when I get back on and *still* can't do it right!!

But, I guess that is why they are teaching and I am the student! Plus they see and ride the horses all the time whereas I only ride once a week and often get put on different horses (I ride at a RS).

Inspite of all the above whinging I do usually find it very interesting to watch the horse going from the ground and don't realllyyy mind when they get on.
 
My instructor doesn't, but I asked him to this week as he is good at calming the horse and I wanted to see what he was doing. Was very helpful!
 
I can see why it helps with your own, for them to see how he responds to being asked for it and with more advanced things, to check that he understands how to do it and give you confidence in his ability to repsond to the correct aids.
In a riding school though, it is pretty much a waste of time. If the horse needs teaching how to do something or the instuctor needs to see its way of going, that should be done on their time, not yours. Generally if a problem arises, I know what Im meant to be doing, but for some reason the horse isnt responding, so I need to be told what I need to do differently, not see someone else do it right.
 
I have found (through bitter experience
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) that I am a very visual learner. If the instructor gets on my horse and I can see what it should look like, I find it a lot easier to replicate
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My usual trainer doesn't jump on at all.

When I go and do a weekend with a Grand Prix rider she always rides him.

Last time we got on and rode our horses then we swapped horses, she worked on my boy, I had a lesson on her Schoolmaster and then we swapped back again. This really, really helped as I was able to take what I learnt from the Schoolmaster straight on to my horse and she had given my horse the benefit of her excellent riding. All in all I finish up with a different horse.
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I just wish I could go there more often.
 
My trainer gets on once a month maybe every 6 weeks - i find it helpful that she knows what we are trying to work on and if im finding something hard she will jump on and find the best solution to cure the problem then she will get me back on and explain what she has just done !!

as my horse is only a baby its nice to her school him as well for th ehigher movements as when i do it its like the blind leading the blind once he has the hang of it with her then it will help me !!

what i dont like is when instructors jump on and try and make you look stupid (not my current one) but ones in the past have - my mare who has just had a foal is a cow to ride but ive mastered her over the years and ive often had insstructors shout do this do that so ive told them to get on and all she has done is bunny hoped round the school with her head in the air !!!
 
When we were having lessons Oscar didnt really "get it". He was 8 when we got him and I dont think he had ever been in a school. So really it was back to basics for him (and me). With stuff he was finding hard, i asked my intructor to get on to see if he understood what she was asking, so I could see how it should be done. Once he grasped what she was asking I got back on and she could then say stuff like "when I tried I found he understood better if I did X/Y or Z to help him"

Ive just re-read that back and not sure if it makes and sense at all, but hope you get the idea!
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i depends on how long theyre on board i suppose, i mean if im stood watching for 20 minutes im not really getting a lesson and might as well have paid for a schooling session for the horse not a lesson for myself. if they jump on and quickly demonstrate, that can be useful
 
I try not to get on and do the'look how wonderful i am' thing. i think some instructors do do this. I always make it clear that i am only getting on so that i can feel what the pupil is feeling so that i can understand more about the best way to teach. Of coarse the horse will go better , thats why i am the teacher!!!
I always have respect for my pupils and getting on someones horse is rather like putting on someones old shoes and they really do become the product of the rider and quite often capitalise on that fact and end up teaching you how they want to be ridden!!!
Quite often when i get on first of all they have a little 'paddy' especially if we have been working on some thing then i can 'explain' to the horse and then to the rider once i get her back on!!
I do ride a couple of my young riders ponies as they are often monkeys!!!
My aim is to help and make it easier for both the horse and the rider. I also have an Advanced Med horse that i use to teach on and that is often very 'enlightening'.
If the rider feels a bit hopeless after i have ridden then i do say that its their job to change thenselves to help their horse. This is a tough but essential concept and if the rider can't cope then maybe i am not the instructor for them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I try not to get on and do the'look how wonderful i am' thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

See this is my fear. I don't want people watching me riding thinking 'WOW, I'll never be able to do that' cos that is a waste of their time and mine and also very very untrue LOL.

But for some things (like teaching jumping position or helping people understand the "soft back, supported tummy" principle of rising trot) I've found that a quick 2 min demonstration of what my body is doing helps people to get theirs to do the same. A few people have said things like "wow, your leg was futher forward than I thought" or "oh, I can see your stomach moving a lot in the trot" which they've then emulated and found the exercise easier. But I worry that they also might feel that I'm wasting their precious 45mins of riding a week.

I dont' teach many people on their own horses - I think it is definitely more appropriate then. I think I will carry on occasionally hopping on the RS ponies if someone is really struggling to 'get it' but I'll keep it to a minimum.

Really interesting debate this, thanks for all the comments.!
 
I think it's VERY useful, both as a student and a teacher. I was taught by a very strict trainer when I was younger and he would routinely get on and "fix" my horse so I could at least feel where I wanted to be, however briefly. I'll admit I found it frustrating but I know for sure I would not have learned proper "feel" without him and other instructors caring enough to do this for me over the years.

As far as the horse going better for the trainer, I should hope so! If I'm doing the paying I want to see why and if I'm being paid I better expect to have to prove I deserve it.
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Riding school ponies can be a bit more of a trick. When I did more of that I almost never got on - I didn't think it fair to anyone involved - but I did occasionally when someone needed a demo or felt that what I was asking was "impossible". For some people, especially those with confidence issues, it made a world of difference to see the horse complete the task easily.
 
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