Is it embarrassing to have a lesson as an adult?

[Poppy+MrDarcy]

I am due a lesson tomorrow, but I don't see many other adults having lessons! Makes me feel like I stick out like a sore thumb!

 

[Birker2020]

I would like a shot if I was under the weight limit. Have fun.

There are lots of reasons why adults have lessons, mine is to keep my hand in whilst I can't ride my own before I get my next one.

Other reasons might be because of the energy crisis etc people have had to give up horse ownership, or maybe you have a rider who has lost their confidence on their own horse.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Do you realise that even the top international riders have lessons with their coaches?
Why on earth would having a lesson be "embarrassing "?

 

[j1ffy]

I’ve had heaps of lessons as an adult, I didn’t ride for 10 years through my 20s so went back to a riding school before buying my own. Even now (as a horse owner who has regularly lessons on my own) I’ll go and have a schoolmaster lesson occasionally.

Enjoy it! And if the place doesn’t suit your needs, shop around for one that does.

 

[Birker2020]

Are you embarrassed because you are in a group lesson with children? Is that why?

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Er no .. I love my lessons and I don’t care that I’m probably the oldest person there by quite some way! I have private lessons mainly, occasionally adult group lessons - I can see if you were the only adult among a group of preteens you might feel a bit out of place!

 

[Archangel]

Hell no, go out there and have a great time.

We will need a full report

 

[Poppy+MrDarcy]

Do you realise that even the top international riders have lessons with their coaches?
Why on earth would having a lesson be "embarrassing "?

It's not particularly at that level

 

[Poppy+MrDarcy]

Are you embarrassed because you are in a group lesson with children? Is that why?

I would say mid teens, but their a heck of a lot better then me

 

[Keith_Beef]

I have group lessons and often I'm the only adult with the others being girls of between 14 and 19.

Sometimes there will be a couple of women in in their thirties or forties. Occasionally there will be a man my age or a little older.

I'm not at all embarrassed, it's the teenagers who are sometimes too timid to ask the instructor to go over an explanation again, or to admit they've not understood something.

I see the puzzled looks, so I ask the question and everyone is relieved.

 

[FourWhiteSocks]

I loved having an adult rider in a lesson as a teenager, because their presence always meant that we behaved a bit more sensibly (I was a sensitive wimpy child and you know how competitive teenagers can get, especially when you throw horses into the mix). Someone in that lesson might really appreciate the fact you're there.

 

[Jenko109]

I think it sounds fine.

What is wonderful about this sport is that you can make friends with people who are much older or younger than you and it works just fine because you have something pretty big in common!

 

[Zoeypxo]

No it isnt embarrassing
I regularly teach people who are 60-70

 

[Cortez]

It's not particularly at that level

Yeah, but that's how they got to that level. I don't know a single pro rider that doesn't have regular coaching, and I only teach adults.

 

[Ratface]

Up to our joint semi-retirement, both Old Horse and I had regular monthly lessons from a professional dressage rider.
I've been riding for 70+ years, but I know that I still benefit from experienced eyes on the ground.
Some months ago, I was in our own little grass school. YO was watching me (I hate being watched by anyone other than my usual teacher!). She suggested some slight alterations to my aids, which I followed. Wow - what an improvement! Much appreciated.

 

[catkin]

I have regular lessons, as does my instructor. It's so easy to slip into bad habits and good technique is so so important in riding. Whatever you do affects another creature for good or ill - we owe it to the horses we ride to always do our best. Regular lessons help.

 

[Abacus]

It shouldn’t be but probably can be awkward to be in a group of children or teens. A bit like taking a baby horse to local sj and competing with 10 year olds.

It may be possible to find an adult group of similar ability, have you asked the riding school? But really it doesn’t matter who you are with as long as the teaching is good and at the right level for you.

 

[Maryann]

Our riding club does a lot of training. People are in groups according to the level thay are at and the time they can get there. Not age.

 

[Mrs C]

Riding for me is a constant improvement for yourself and your horse as a partnership. I've always had weekly lessons. To me it's a strange concept to not want to progress!

 

[2 Dragons]

One of the things I love about riding is doing things with people of all ages. I have ridden and been yard buddies with people from 10 to 70.
I definitely need regular lessons- gives me motivation and strategies to improve

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

A pair of eyes on the ground are invaluable for any age/level of rider

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Everyone I know has lessons, including the show jumper yo. They regularly attend clinics and get professionals in for lessons for the liveries.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

My wife learned how to ride when she was about 12/13 years of age. Back in the day very few people had lessons, they learned out of books. She learned all her bad habits but gave up ponies in about late 80's. She married me & we had 2 girls & if they'd done well at School they'd get a pony day at the local riding school. This basically was have a pony for a day, feed it groom it ride it & muck out. They loved it. After a few years they had their own pony & had lessons & they could ride well & competed. In later life the eldest moved onto horses & my wife wanted to learn to ride correctly. She's had various lessons over the last few years & her confidence has improved & she occasionally enters a dressage test & is hoping to do some show jumping. She has lessons now when she feels she needs it & she is 66 years old. She has a great relationship with her trainer, her trainer loves lessons with her because my wife always does her best this is what trainers want.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I am due a lesson tomorrow, but I don't see many other adults having lessons! Makes me feel like I stick out like a sore thumb!

Why??

I don't see any issue - I used to teach many adults at the riding school. Some learn to ride later in life.

 

[Skib]

I was a late in life starter. You are right that on weekday afternoons one may be sharing the school with small children but I didnt start riding regularly till I was over 60 and the children never worried me.
I havent had a lesson since Covid started (I've been hacking or riding in the school on my own) but am intending to have some more soon as I am in credit at one local RS and I miss riding dressage tests.

 

[windswoo]

No, never too old to learn new things and might be more fun based with younger riders.

 

[Kunoichi73]

I restarted riding just before COVID. I don't have a horse and I wasn't sure about having lessons as I'd got a bit bored with them when I was younger. I really just wanted to go hacking and improve my riding so I could go on riding holidays. However, I'm enjoying my lessons immensely. I've found that as a (more confident) adult I'm getting a lot more out of my lessons than I did as a child. I'll discuss things with my instructor, ask more questions, ask if I can work on certain things, I'm more aware of some of my faults than I was when I was younger but also more willing to accept constructive criticism than I was. Not that I was difficult or anything, but I wasn't very confident when I was young and found criticism embarrassing in a group situation.

I've been having private lessons since I started back, but have just booked on an adult group lesson next week to see how that works. I'm not sure if I want to do that regularly or just increase my weekly private lesson from 30 mins to 1 hour. I also really want to go on a week's intense instructional riding holiday at some point.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I cannot remember when I last had a lesson, probably about 25 odd years ago. I have been riding almost daily for 7 decades apart from the last two years. If and when I am fit to ride again I will most definitely be booking some lessons both to help restore my confidence and get my new metal bits in various parts of my body working properly and convince myself I can still do it all before I invest in a new riding horse.

Will I feel embarrassed? Hell No! I will be too delighted and excited to be back in the saddle and trying again.

 

[Hackback]

When I returned to riding as an adult I went to a local riding school and had group lessons with a lot of teens. It wasn't embarrassing at all, we were all there to share a common interest and everyone just accepted everyone else.

The weird thing was when I started loaning a horse from there, parents were happy to let their kids hack out with me because I was 'grown up'. In reality those kids knew much more than me and it was me that needed them to look after me. And they did too - they were great.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I'll discuss things with my instructor, ask more questions, ask if I can work on certain things, I'm more aware of some of my faults than I was when I was younger but also more willing to accept constructive criticism than I was. Not that I was difficult or anything, but I wasn't very confident when I was young and found criticism embarrassing in a group situation.

My regular instructor is not always very tactful and I've seen quite a few of the younger girls almost brought to tears. To be fair, if he sees that he's overstepped the line he'll have a chat after and explain himself, but he wouldn't need to do that if he had a bit more awareness of how his time of voice and his sense of humour can make him seem over-critical.

He is just the same with the adults, and there again I've seen one woman of my age who really was in years at the end of the lesson. Instead of hanging around for a natter and maybe helping with feeding as she usually would, she practically ran to her car as soon as she'd finished seeing to the horse and put the tack back in the tack room.

When he talks to me that way I answer back and argue my case. Last week he asked why I was still trotting when he'd told us to walk. I told him that I hadn't heard him. Another time he wanted to know why I wasn't doing something or other. I told him that I didn't know he was talking to me because he's been talking to someone else a second before, and that he needed to be more clear. If he had an instruction or comment for me, then he should call out my name and watch for me to look at him.

The kids don't have the confidence to do that. When I was young, on the odd times that I talked back to adults for what I thought were perfectly good reasons, I got labelled as being cheeky and a troublemaker. It was very frustrating.