Is this typical of riding school teaching these days?

Meowy Catkin

Meowy Catkin

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I have let a friend's daughter ride my mare in the menage a few times in return for a bit of help around the fields and yard. She is a lovely girl and will be a super rider one day as she listens to your instruction and really tries to improve. She has been riding weekly for just under two years and is 12 or 13.

She had no idea about trot diagonals, her instructor has never mentioned them at all. She cannot sit to canter. My mare is very smooth and is very easy to sit to, so it isn't 'bouncy pony' trouble. She has never been taught to use her legs for steering or moving over, only for kicking-on up the gaits.

However during her lessons she is doing alot of jumping, including 2'9" courses. She has had quite a nasty fall which really knocked her confidence for a few weeks and asked me if she could bridge her reins when she rode my mare. I said that she could if she liked and told her all about how I've stopped my mare when another horse bolted away from us blah... blah... blah... and so she really didn't need to worry especially because my mare is a lazy toerag in the menage. This did make me worry about exactly what was happening during her riding lessons. She wants to jump my mare but I have said 'no' because she is not ready to jump her. My mare will throw in the odd dirty stop/run out and I don't want to ruin her fragile confidence.

Anyway ramble over... and so to my main questions....

Why hasn't she been taught all the 'basics'?

Is it normal for RS's to have their pupils jumping before they can canter properly?
 
the answer to your question is yes. I used to ride at a riding school for years until i cam to my senses and realised I was learning alot more away from their shoddy teaching! I was a big kick on through the gates, until riding friend's horses made me learn how to squeeze. Oh yes and the old faithful use your reins to steer. Its shocking how riding schools take money from people to teach them quite frankly, *****e horsemanship.
 
I have found this to be the case and hate it. When I worked at a RS, I had pupils feeling for diagonals and a couple of them were just starting to canter when I left.
I went to see them a couple of weeks later and was told, "oh yes, most of them are cantering now!" WTF?

They canter when they can't do sitting trot? How are they supposed to be balanced for the transitions up and down, for a start? Yes, they started teaching them to jump as well. :/

In my time of teaching, I had 2 people fall off. One instructor took over, had them all cantering and had 3 fall off in ONE DAY. They are pushed on too far too fast in my opinion.

Will add that where I learned to ride was brilliant, as you had to be at a specific standard before progressing. I'm sur ethere are good ones, but lately all I've heard is how fast they can progress you.
 
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It's not typical of ALL riding schools but it does seem to be a common problem. There is a flaw in the BHS AI system, too many incompetent instructors are getting through
 
Totally! First riding school I ever went to didn't teach a standard 'change of rein' When I got to super posh place (after 2 years of riding at the preivous stables) and was asked to change the rein and diagonals I didn't have the slightest clue what it was..
Have to agree with jodie - Money grabbers!
 
Sounds about right :( When we were on a yard that was also a RS I could not watch the lessons because of the lack of basics taught. But you would see jumping lessons with kids being allowed to crash over big jumps yanking ponies mouths when they could barely canter. The ponies were amazingly forgiving. I'm sure some RS don't do this but I think pressure is put on them by people who want to do the fun stuff rather than the boring in their 1hr a week.
 
yes! riding schools are useless! i learnt more about riding and horse care from working at a livery yard for about 6 weeks, than i did in about 3 years at a riding school. At the riding school, i never learnt any thing, including tacking up, changing stirrups etc, and was paying £15 for 30 mins!
 
TheMule said:
There is a flaw in the BHS AI system, too many incompetent instructors are getting through
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But too many good instructors, who are nervous in exam situations, or who the examiners don't like on the day are failed. It is a strange system, unfortunately though, any system has its faults!
 
I think it depends on the school and more importantly their instructors.

I was taught from a young age by the YO and she made sure I was 100% in each gait before moving on to the next, i didnt canter before i knew my diagonals and sit could sit and rise confidently with steering in trot. It was a long time before I jumped and even then the first few lessons were just trotting poles on the ground.

When I had my old loan mare at this yard I had to move my lessons to another instructor there and at the time I knew no better but now looking back I know she was awful! My mare came from a lovely dressage home and hadnt jumped much. But I struggled to get her working forward and in an outline and to engage her back legs (Id had a few years off riding and was rusty and this mare did take some of my confidence as she found she could take the pee with me) but this instructor used to just shout at me and one day got on her and pony club-kicked the sh8t out of her for circuits of the school - did she work better - of course not!

Anyway the loan didnt work out because I got increasingly frustrated with my riding and needed to get "it" back before i could handle this mare. I now have lessons with my old instructor when I go home and she is very strict with me, if im not riding properly to start, i dont jump or move onto harder stuff!

So it really does depend I think, some are good, some not so!
 
I really am shocked. I'm not that old (31) and it was so different when I learnt. It's almost like I was taught to 'ride' and she has been taught to be a 'passenger'. I'm quite tempted to ask if she would let me watch one of her lessons.

Thanks Horsecrazy, she is fab. :)

carrietwentynine.jpg
 
I gave up teaching at a riding school, and am glad I now have the opportunity to tell my clients that it takes as long as it takes. I think some feel the pressure to get results quickly to keep the money coming in, this is also the case with a lot of freelance instructors. I also think so many riding schools don't train their instructors to be good teachers.

When I passed all my exams, I actually had no idea how to teach, but was lucky enough to realise this. coupled with a mind that has to know the why's in everything, I try to pass this on to those that want to learn.

To many people become instructors when they don't really have a PASSION for it as it seems to be a natural path for people who want to work with horses.

I can't count the number of instructors I watched where I used to work who couldn't explain 'why', were bored or just downright rude. I see it as a priviledge to impart knowledge to others and love the expression on their faces when it all 'clicks'. Surely if someone is not interested in that then they shouldn't become an instructor.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR makes my blood boil!!!!
 
When I was teaching well over 14 years ago I taught kids how to ride without stirrups and bareback even when jumping. Without reins to get their seats and balance worked out. But nowadays its all about safety and that the riding schools are worried about being sued. So I dont know how much teaching has had to change but I should think quite a lot.
 
Kaylum said:
When I was teaching well over 14 years ago I taught kids how to ride without stirrups and bareback even when jumping. Without reins to get their seats and balance worked out. But nowadays its all about safety and that the riding schools are worried about being sued. So I dont know how much teaching has had to change but I should think quite a lot.
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This is how I was taught!

If I made a mistake in a jump I lost my stirrups, if i did it again i lost my reins and so on..... I soon learnt :)
 
Kaylum said:
When I was teaching well over 14 years ago I taught kids how to ride without stirrups and bareback even when jumping. Without reins to get their seats and balance worked out. But nowadays its all about safety and that the riding schools are worried about being sued. So I dont know how much teaching has had to change but I should think quite a lot.
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But is it safe to send someone who can't stear properly and can't sit to canter around a course of 2' 9" fences?
 
Ahh I remember on the second lesson that canter was introduced we had to go round the school, drop the reins mid-canter and "be aeroplanes" (stick our arms out). I have no idea how I managed to steer!! went well until my horse tripped and I went flying! Two lessons later and we were jumping....... :rolleyes:
Also first ever beginners lesson was a hack on a lead rein and it wasn't until the RI finally noticed I was flying about all over the place on this poor ponies back and told me to stand up in my stirrups.
I moved riding schools where they quickly put me on a lunge!
 
A lot of riding schools pressure the instructors - children these days MUST have fun, they must not have to work for anything, so they must be 'jumping' from week three, and there is a lot of cantering while being led from the ground which I despise. Trot diagonals and often canter leads ignored, as long as there are games fun and jumping, and mummy will play up if dear little Jessica doesn't get to do as much fun stuff as little Chloe does.
Out the other end, it results in foul teenagers who are utterly convinced that owning your own pony is lowlife and actually they know far, far more than any mere horse owning friend who actually has to look after her pony herself.
Oh and Pony Club Centre Members get something called Bronze, Silver, Gold and the Platinum for just about being able to stick on for half an hour a week while real Pony Club kids are still toiling away somewhere between D+ and C being made to do everything properly.
Can you tell I'm just a little bitter?!

Ex- Riding School Instructor and mother of two On a Budget DIY pony owning daughters!
 
Yes. And it happens on here too. Kids who cant ride adequately enough to jump are already jumping, and then falling off and wondering why. Their position is pants, and yet they're still jumping.

But its because parents want their little darlings to be william fox pitt and cant wait. and kids are spoilt brats and want to be jumping rather than learning the "boring" things.
 
BUT then I'm also really annoyed whenever I go to shows, LEAD REIN CLASSES?! So your child can't control its own pony but you still think thats ok to let them show?

I'd be SLIGHTLY more considerate if the kids had groomed the ponies themselves and prepared for the show. But normally the parents have groomed the pony, got it ready, and the child is just sat on it.
 
Think it's unfair to say AIs are rubbish!

Fact is council license says you only have to have an AI ON SITE to teach. Most schools around here have people with only their stage 1/2 teaching. You're LUCKY to get an AI!

I'm a freelance AI (hence a little upset by that comment!) and have taught loads of people out of riding schools. One guy came back to riding after a break (although never properly learnt before) and was cantering in his 2nd lesson at a RS. He then came to me for a lesson and his lower leg was swinging like a metronome!!!!!!! I asked him if his instructor at the RS had said anything, and apparently she just said keep it back. Didn't explain how or why or anything!!!! FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!!!!!!! Half hour later he has a still, stable lower leg (and he didn't come out of trot!)

This is just one example. RS around here just don't seem to bother with position. If you don't fall off, according to them, you can ride!! Grr!
 
Yes, she did say at one point that she was bored of 'walk, trot, canter' but what else is there? She can't gallop in the menage and my horse isn't an Icelandic or a fancy american Walking Horse! ;)

This is a nice girl too.
 
I'm really surprised by some of these comments, as an ex-riding school instructor myself. I'm only an ex because I didn't enjoy teaching children who didn't want to be there.....but that's another story.

At the riding school I was taught to teach at (if that makes sense) and others I have been to, we never allowed the children, or indeed adults, to go into a group until they could walk, trot and canter, until they could work without stirrups in walk and trot, and until they had been over poles. They absolutely had to know their diagonals, but not necessarily their canter leads.

They also had to be able to ride more than one pony/horse.

I'm surprised that people say it's 'easier' to teach jumping, or more fun for them. We used to have lots of fun with different games and challenges that taught them how to ride without needing to just put jumps up.

I really hope that people don't just ignore riding schools, or treat them all the same. No offence, but some of the worst and most ignorant riders I have ever come across are those who are 'self taught' or have had only a few lessons and then thought they knew it all and didn't have a lesson for years.

I don't think I was a good instructor by any means, I didn't enjoy it and I suffer from a severe lack of confidence, but please don't think all riding schools are the same. Yes, they have to make money. They are a business. But that doesn't mean they don't care about the progress of their riders.

Edit: Oh, and I'm certainly not an 'older' instructor with sense and experience....I was teaching when I was 20, and am now 24.
 
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jodie :) said:
...Its shocking how riding schools take money from people to teach them quite frankly, *****e horsemanship.
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charlieandblue said:
yes! riding schools are useless! i learnt more about riding and horse care from working at a livery yard for about 6 weeks, than i did in about 3 years at a riding school. At the riding school, i never learnt any thing, including tacking up, changing stirrups etc, and was paying £15 for 30 mins!
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Simply tarring all riding schools with the same horrid brush!

skewbald_again said:
A lot of riding schools pressure the instructors - children these days MUST have fun, they must not have to work for anything, so they must be 'jumping' from week three, and there is a lot of cantering while being led from the ground which I despise. Trot diagonals and often canter leads ignored, as long as there are games fun and jumping, and mummy will play up if dear little Jessica doesn't get to do as much fun stuff as little Chloe does.
Out the other end, it results in foul teenagers who are utterly convinced that owning your own pony is lowlife and actually they know far, far more than any mere horse owning friend who actually has to look after her pony herself.
Oh and Pony Club Centre Members get something called Bronze, Silver, Gold and the Platinum for just about being able to stick on for half an hour a week while real Pony Club kids are still toiling away somewhere between D+ and C being made to do everything properly.
Can you tell I'm just a little bitter?!

Ex- Riding School Instructor and mother of two On a Budget DIY pony owning daughters!
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There it is again! That brush!

flamehead said:
Yes. And it happens on here too. Kids who cant ride adequately enough to jump are already jumping, and then falling off and wondering why. Their position is pants, and yet they're still jumping.

But its because parents want their little darlings to be william fox pitt and cant wait. and kids are spoilt brats and want to be jumping rather than learning the "boring" things.
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Hmm... :rolleyes:

Please, if anyone out there has lost their faith in RS's, come and visit mine. We couldn't be further from what some people have said!
 
Typical? Not sure. Common?? Very :(

I've just made the decision to change yards because although I was cantering, jumping, hacking out all over and having a great time, I have realised late in the day that I am doing everything in a poor position, with terrible balance and with the potential to harm the horse. Although I do know diagonals and leads!

The new school I have just started at seems on first impression to be much more keen on the fundamentals and I'm looking forward to mastering my position and sitting trot before moving on again.
 
At the riding school where I used to work, beginners start off learning the rising trot, how to stop and go and steering in walk to start with. Once they have the hang of the rising trot, they do some sitting trot in preparation for learning to canter and progress to steering in trot. Then, they do some work over trotting poles in jumping position, start learning to canter and jump small jumps out of trot. Eventually they progress to jumping small jumps out of canter. At about this sort of stage, they are also taught about diagonals, etc.

I learnt to ride at a riding school and my experience was definitely a good one. Once I had learnt the basics, we got to do all sorts of things such as direct transitions, figure of eights and serpentines in canter, leg yield and shoulder in, work without stirrups, lots of grid work and courses. Once, we even got to jump a row of seven bounce jumps without reins and a cup of water in each hand! The basics I learnt at the riding school, were the foundations for everything I have learnt since. I agree that they do generally teach just the basics, (e.g to stop you pull on the reins, to go you kick) but a lot of people who learn to ride do so for fun and aren't bothered about learning more complicated stuff such as using your seat, working the horse correctly etc.
 
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