Is rider ability limited to a certain level?

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HelenRod

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Can you ever truly compete, if the rider talent isn't up to scratch. I am wondering if I am ever going to get past the level I am currently at and be able to ride at the required standard.

I bought a sec D 2-years ago, pretty much a blank canvass.

Now I like to compete at showing, he is beautiful breeding and although I am biased is beautiful example of the Welsh D Breed but I just don't feel like I will ever truly be good enough to take him to where he could really compete due to my lack of skill and ability to guide him. We have a done a few local shows, where he has been done OK, 2nd, 3rd and 1st (in a walk and trot class) and then I took him to a big national event where we did OK but was pretty much told he could go better and I only got the placing I got because he is so pretty.

I take regular lessons but I don't seem to be improving at any great speed and when I see my instructor ride him he goes beautifully every time.

He is still young and I want him set-up right from the beginning, am I best just carrying on with lessons and just give up on the idea of competing at all.
 
I would have a conversation with your instructor explaining that you do not feel you are making progress, and asking for some input.

I would ask what are the current blocks and how to remove them. I would goal set with a specific time scale.

You may need more lessons, more time riding, more effort in lessons... but if the instructor can't get a plan together then I would look for another instructor.

ETA - I would also celebrate how far you have come so far!
 
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Red-1 said:
I would have a conversation with your instructor explaining that you do not feel you are making progress, and asking for some input.

I would ask what are the current blocks and how to remove them. I would goal set with a specific time scale.

You may need more lessons, more time riding, more effort in lessons... but if the instructor can't get a plan together then I would look for another instructor.

ETA - I would also celebrate how far you have come so far!
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I agree, I felt similar. I got a new instructor and I have gone from 'I'll never do more than a prelim' to pushing at Medium level.
 
as above, but also what other horses have you ridden or do you have access to? It's very hard to improve yourself, if you are also having to improve a horse at the same time. Some lessons on schoolmasters or more established horses might help you to learn how to help to show your horse off to his best.
 
I'd also say change your trainer. A year ago I was pootling round a novice test with my horse not quite on the bit and always feeling a bit worried about canter. I'd had my trainer for 7 years, had a lovely relationship with him but I was just not making any progress. This weekend I did an intensive 3 day course with my new trainers, with whom I've worked seriously since January. We did all the movements from Med 75, some were good, some a bit scrappy but we managed it and it was just so much fun and I have a very different partnership with my lovely horse. Go for it!
 
Of course you and your horse are limited - by talent, time, ability, opportunity, education, riding culture, money, all of the above. That is why there will always be people on top, and people below. Not all of us can be (insert admired top competitor of your choice here), but that is no reason to stop enjoying trying to improve.

And it's not always the instructor's fault either....there are The Unteachables....
 
Thanks everyone, my instructor is great and no issues with them personally, I am going to a try a clinic with a dressage instructor I 2weeks to get a different viewpoint and general opinion and experience.

I do think maybe I need to get on school master like you say hard to improve myself when the pony is green also, I've never be for brought on a youngster before x
 
As above, your trainer might not have realised that you want a bit more progression - worth having a chat with them, because you can sometimes get in a rut of trying to improve the same things all the time and have to push the work on a bit to make greater improvements.

Also, if he goes well with your instructor schooling him then maybe they could take him for a month of schooling - might just move him on a bit and give you a both a bit of a boost
 
As someone else has said riding a schoolmaster allows to get the feel of a horse going correctly and you learn what buttons to press. I would also recommend a lesson on a mechanical horse and that allows to get a feel of when you are in the correct position and develop core strength and self awareness.
There are a lot of people who compete who do not ride that well, they have a self belief and seem to get away with it. Showing is all about putting on a performance, covering up you and your horses week bits and making the best of the good bits. So you have to try and be objective and get someone you trust to watch, they do not have to be an instructor to know that you are cutting a corner or a circle is more of a 0.
Do not be too hard on yourself you will get there.
 
Some showing producers do master classes. It depends on where in the UK but if there is someone near you then you might benefit from that without having to change your primary instructor. There are a lot of tips and tricks in showing which are different from what you might do in dressage or show jumping. Even improving your ringcraft - which has little or nothing to do with your riding - can help improve results.
 
I would definitely recommend doing some schoolmaster lessons, I found them very enlightening and a little less blind leading the blind afterwards :).

And maybe that just isn't the instructor for you so definitely try a few others.

Regarding the showing would you enjoy getting someone else to do the bigger stuff with him and get him the experience/confidence for the bigger rings with the aim of you taking over the ride in future? Plenty of people do this and put someone else up at times. :) Connected to that I know you consider him beautiful (we all do our own) but perhaps it would be worth having him evaluated by someone in the know to see what they think and what level he could be aiming for if showing is your thing? You don't say which national event/class.
 
Mechanical horse is a good suggestion, I had a lesson on one and it really opened my eyes. I was then able to translate it to riding my horse, and it has helped. I'm now so much more aware of what my body is doing (or not doing, sometimes), I plan to have more in the future for fine tuning!

Do chat to your instructor, as others have suggested. My lessons are certainly different when I mention I have a competition coming up!

Riding other horses, it doesn't even need to be a schoolmaster. When B was out of action with an injury, a friend kindly let me ride her horse who is different to mine in almost every way and actually quite tricky, so suddenly I had new techniques to add to my riding skill set and a new found determination to have my horse in front of the leg (I'd had a taste, and I wanted more haha!). It can change your perspective, for sure.

It's only fair to note that progress can be very slow indeed, especially if you're anything like me and are not a naturally gifted rider. I really have to work hard to get anywhere, even for something small, but for others it just comes naturally and easily (not that I'm jealous... :P ). For ages, I felt that I wasn't improving at all despite the amount of effort I was putting in and decided that I need to do more off the horse in order to see more results. So I have taken up running to increase my own fitness and strength, and this week have started doing additional workouts to increase muscle tone & core. The running has definitely increased my stamina so I can ask for 'more' for longer. Something extra to think about, maybe.
 
I mainly do ridden showing and used show rider as instructors and felt I was getting nowhere, I switched to someone who competes at quite high level dressage and he has taught me so much one of my horses has turned into a bit of a star as a result, I always struggled with him schooling wise but I find him so easy now and it's literally been about 8 months for the turn around, I am not saying the previous instructors were no good it obviously wasn't working for us I would have a few lessons with a few different people you might just find that moment where everything falls into place, I was by no means a great rider but I feel like I can hold my own in a show ring now and have so much more confidence, I am even thinking of doing a bit of dressage which I never even thought about before and I honestly owe it to the new trainer.
 
PaddyMonty said:
How do you know this for sure?
There are several instructors in my area that teach regularly. Pupils think they're great. Reality is they aint learning diddly.
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Good lord this! As a judge I see the result of several of them - they rave all over facebook about how much they love the instructor but don't progress, don't get good marks. But I know one particular instructor who blatantly LIES to their clients about the capability of their horses which leads to great upset when they can't perform.

Just because you are enjoying a lesson doesn't mean it is a good lesson.
 
Batgirl said:
Good lord this! As a judge I see the result of several of them - they rave all over facebook about how much they love the instructor but don't progress, don't get good marks. But I know one particular instructor who blatantly LIES to their clients about the capability of their horses which leads to great upset when they can't perform.

Just because you are enjoying a lesson doesn't mean it is a good lesson.
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Truer words would be hard to find ^^^ An instructor's job isn't to tell you how wonderful you are (resulting in LOTS of happy clients who don't learn anything), but perhaps rather the opposite?
 
I don't think I've ever had anybody tell me how amazing I am :D, but I have had (in hindsight, having found the productive option) plenty of not very productive instruction. In particular some people focus too much on the horse without making sure their rider has the tools to produce that, particularly when left on their own. There were some really key position things that when addressed made a huge difference to the both of us and I have a certain frustration with others not picking up on them before.
 
Cortez said:
Of course you and your horse are limited - by talent, time, ability, opportunity, education, riding culture, money, all of the above. That is why there will always be people on top, and people below. Not all of us can be (insert admired top competitor of your choice here), but that is no reason to stop enjoying trying to improve.

And it's not always the instructor's fault either....there are The Unteachables....
Click to expand...

Batgirl said:
Good lord this! As a judge I see the result of several of them - they rave all over facebook about how much they love the instructor but don't progress, don't get good marks. But I know one particular instructor who blatantly LIES to their clients about the capability of their horses which leads to great upset when they can't perform.

Just because you are enjoying a lesson doesn't mean it is a good lesson.
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Agree.

Some people have natural feel, some don't.

I learnt to play the piano but if I didn't practice 3 times a week I was useless. Even at a decent grade. My brother on the other hand was incredibly talented and flew up the grades...

Also... Some people *want* to learn and some don't. Some have a lesson to be told everything is great and they're doing a good job. Others want to take everything apart and build up from the bottom and put their lesson into their own time and improve.

You can pay all the money in the world for training and horse but if you don't try and/or you don't understand then you won't progress.

Likewise - I have come across many people who (likening to the piano theme) want to learn how to play Fur Elise. However, they have no concept of chords, tone or basic timing.

Same principle applies to riding; no point wishing for a magic 70% to appear on your record if you don't comprehend how to achieve it.
 
Thanks everyone, it is very much eye opening and insightful to read everyone's view & opinions, I am not on here to berate my instructor, she is far from telling me only what I want to hear, she is very honest with me around what I am doing right and wrong and we have progressed a great deal in the 12-months she has been teaching me, especially from a confidence point of view but I am aware that there maybe limitations to her teaching me as well, as is she, she has actively encouraged me to go to professional show clinics etc.

I have booked myself into a local clinic with a dressage instructor for the weekend after next, where it is 45-min 1-2-1, session, I definitely think I need to mix things up a little try a few more clinics different styles of riding, I think my current instructor is very much based around show production and I need a slightly different angle and opinion to get me over this bump in the road, possibly go back to basics.

I think I need to take stock of how far we've come, where we want to be and how are we going to achieve this; who and what and who do I need in my team to help me to start to achieve this over the next 6-months.

Thanks everyone :-)
 
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