Is this typical of riding school teaching these days?

I would say its incredibly varied as to what happens, but Im not sure any of the 4 I am currently riding at (long, non-horse owning w lots of experience story) really do it right.

The one where I learned was VERY slow to introduce jumping. They are also very structured though. Almost no variation in lessons, but that helps in a way, cos you only canter once you are moved up to the canter lesson, jump once you are moved up to the jump lesson, courses in the course lesson etc. At the time I found it quite frustrating how slowly I progressed when friends at other places were cantering on their third lesson etc. However, they very rarely loose any clients through lack of confidence, and a good number of their riders have been there even longer than I have; I think if you stick with it through the slow beginners lessons, you dont really find a reason to leave afterwards.

The others are a bit more slap-dash about what the lesson is depending on who is in it (riders and horses) and what the instructor feels like. I dont feel particularly comfortable with it tbh, where people canter in their first ever lesson being held to the saddle by a leader. However I can see how it would help you eek a few more weeks of money out of the parents because the kids find it fun. Similarly I would never teach jumping to someone whos seat wasnt safe without stirrups, but most places seem to think it goes walk, trot canter or jump, then the other, then no stirrups.

There also seems to be a big focus on jumping at most places. My good/slow place doesnt really do "dressage" at all, and everywhere else seems to introduce lateral work,FCs etc in their most advanced lessons. Surely leg yielding is a way to introduce something new whilst peoples seats get secure enough for jumping! Jumping is also generally (even by a number of otherwise good places) taught very badly, with a lot of emphasis on the correct John Whitaker style jumping position, which when executed by confused beginners over tiny crosspoles ends up in the best case with beginners launching themselves up the horses neck, and in many cases with the rider over the jump but not the horse. I had to stop jumping at 2 places becuase I couldnt watch this any more. It feels to me kind of like a bulk riding school system; Sure you loose some along the way, but you keep enough quantity coming through with your promises of early jumping and rapid progression that it doesnt matter if a few are scared off by it. It really does make me sad that non horsey parents and kids (or adults) who dont know any better dont have someone to let them know about all the better places out there.

I wouldnt say it reflects on BHSAIs at all though to be honest. I am pretty sure that I have never been taught by one at any of these 4 places, and I almost 100% certain that 2 of them dont have one on staff at all, although couldnt say about the other two.
I think it is a combined problem of letting inexperienced riders teach (majority of my "instructors" are less experienced than me, particularly in terms of overall knowledge of techniques etc. if not in terms of riding skill, and I would prob. only assess myself at about BHS stage 2 standard; and a good number of people that stables have let teach me over the years would pretty obviously not been able to pass the stage 1). This is a particular problem in beginners lessons, as the experienced instructors are saved for advanced groups and privates, and pretty much anyone who has been helping out long enough seems to be let loose on a beginners lesson.

The really good thing I would say for all these schools though, is that they all like you to try different horses, even if you have a favourite that you ride say 50% of the time, you can pretty much guarantee that you will also have tried out all the others that are size/weight appropriate at some point. Sometimes what riding school customers lack in terms of style and knowledge of more advanced work is made up for by their ability to get a basic level of performance out of any horse, which is something I have often seen people who have always learned on their own lack in the past when they come for one reason or another.
 
I think it varies so much, but a good riding school should teach all the basics before moving up a gear to canter. I help out at pony camps for a friend that has a riding school, teaching stable management, and teaching the odd beginner the art of rising trot, but she wouldnt dream of teaching anyone to canter before they have mastered the trot, both rising and sitting, and are totally confident in trot. I have taught a few friends of mine how to ride, and they reckon i'm a bit boring, because they just wanted to get up and go, but I'm a stickler for doing things right, so progress was slow, but my latest progeny is jumping 1.10m now no problem, and has been riding a year this month. He knows all about looking after the horse too, as I make sure that he does. I think the whole training system for instructors needs to change, as I probably wouldnt pass all exams to be bhs qualified, based on my own riding, lack of confidence, but without blowing my own trumpet, I'm pretty ok at teaching. I do have some formal training, but i think you either have it or you dont. Some people just want their pupils to be able to gallop as soon as possible, but that's crazy, that jusy fecks up their confidence in the long run.
 
Faracat said:
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.
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?
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This is exactly how my daughter was taught to ride and we didn't know any better ourselves so we went along with it. Wasn't until she started getting bored and wanted to ride in a different place and found a small competition yard where the YO gave lessons on some of the working liverey horses and she began to learn the more subtle arts, which she's been working on ever since...
 
well the first instructer I had never taught me my diagonals, I had to learn it from a book!! though on the whole the riding school was (I say was as I don't really know how it's run these days cos i was shunned... about to explain why...) very good at waiting till people were ready and not pushing people out of their comfort zones, and waiting before they had secure seats before allowing them to canter let alone jump, infact very little jumping was done, though that could have been that a lot of the instructers where too lazy to put them out and then put them away, and that the manager is a dressage lady anyway. However, if you then get too good (too quickly especially as me and a good friend of mine, who did, independently of each other, and we are by no means amazing either) but if you learn to much, well, then they don't like that either, but i digress...

Alot of the other schools i've been to/ heard about have people cantering by their 3rd lesson or something stupid like that. I'd say money has a lot to do with it, to keep clients coming the instructer sometimes has to go along with what they want. Some is due to boredom of the instructers i'd say aswell, because it's not 'fun' to be teaching walk and trot week in week out, and some is a combination of the 2.

Ar one riding school near me, I joined a group lesson of what I thought were similar ability ridiers to myself (from the description) and found people who in my humble opinion should not have been cantering, and looked like they would have instantly fallen off if they're stirrups were removed even in walk!!!!

I think there needs to be a balance in pushing people to achieve they're best and pushing people beyond they're current capabilities.
 
Is it just me or do a lot of schools try push for you to have group lessons....i suppose more people in the school at one time means the more people they can get in in a day.

When i started having lessons at uni to get my horsey fix - i stopped going after 3 months as, while i'd enjoyed them, my RI wasn't there one day and even tho the YO who taught was i was taught by a girl with no quals who i knew more than....she had me trotting round with no stirrups - yes thats what i usually did with my RI - but not giving me any pointers, not only that but while paying £25 plus £10 for taxi each way for a 45 min private lesson...i was only able to use half the school, that while still a decent sized space drastically decreased meaning i could not do as much, as the YO decided to give someone - who was not payin, but doing her dissertaion i think - a jumping lesson in the other half, this was a friday mornin, so it's not like they were rammed for school space the rest of the day.

Anyway...after my first lesson the RI tried to pursuade me to join an adults group session on a thurs evening...Luckily could not do it any way due to rugby practice....But also i would rather pay the extra £5 for a private lesson and have the one-on-one teaching, and don't see why she would try pursuade me otherwise.
 
The livery yard I'm on is also has a riding school and whilst having a chat with the instructor over a coffee she said that one of the problems is they don't move people in to different classes quick enough for their experience.
They have max of 4 people in a lesson but if one person is at a higher standard then it's up to the others to catch up as she has to make the lesson interesting for the more experienced person!!!
However this is both the RS not moving people in to he correct lesson group but also the client that "can't come at any other time!!" Apparently one woman told the instructor that her daughter could only go for a lesson at 11.30 on a Sat morning as the daughter had trampolining from 9 -10 then a riding lesson and then swimming from 12.30 to 4...poor kid must have been knackered!!!
She also said that the problems arise when people think they can ride and threaten to leave if they aren't put on the more experienced horses or clients want to jump, hack out etc before they know the basics but as a RI she is stuck between the client wanting more before they are ready and the RS owner looking at the cash coming in!!
 
i use to work as a free lance instructor in ireland. on one occasion i went to a yard and me and this other AI use to take the lessons in turn and i would watch her lesson.
she jumped these little kids who could not rise to the trot :eek: when i taught i did lots of flat work and they all said it was good they got to work on there position :D sadly the owner of the yard came and spoke to me about letting them jump. i told him that i was not going to jump until they could rise to the trot other wise i thought it was unsafe. its a shame actually as i got lots of compliments that day but i was not asked back due to not jumping the newby riders.
on the whole right diagonal at the yard, i am at now i have been there since march and get lessons with my livery i have not heard one teacher mention the correct diagonal in any lessons.
:confused:
 
QR.

I started riding at 7 and was having weekly lessons until I was deemed a capable enough rider to go hacking. I was at the same riding school from then until I was 16 and went to college.

I had NO idea about the correct diagonal or the right canter lead or getting a horse to work in an outline or any kind of lateral movement. My lessons at college had to take me back to the basics and practically start all over, which was gutting. BUT, I am a fast learner and it didnt take me long with decent instruction to "get it"
 
Well I can't speak from a beginner's perspective as I learnt to ride 20 years ago, but having recently started riding a couple of months ago after a very long break, the above bears no relation to my experience.

I started having private lessons in May, and although I cantered in my assessment lesson, for my first few proper lessons I didn't canter at all.

If I was on the wrong diagonal, I would quickly be shouted at (nicely).

I've had two lessons so far where I've popped a couple of cross poles at the end of the lesson. I've also spent time working on leg yielding and counter canter.

I've only just moved up to group lessons, but in both we have done work without stirrups.
 
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flamehead said:
TG, it was you I was talking about!

When you first came on here, you said you NEVER jumped apart from once in a blue moon. Since then, almost every post I've seen from you is jumping - and whether or not thats because you've had private lessons is irrelevant! IMO you shouldn't be jumping because you're not secure enough in your seat and your basics aren't there - thats not against YOU, its against your riding school. IMO thats like me saying, well I know vaguely where the pedals are and what they're meant to do in my car, but I'm not 100% sure but what the hell, can I go on a motorway now? Uh, hell no!!!

When I was taught to ride, we walked, and trotted. We did diagonals ad nauseum, and it was a REALLY big thing to get one canter at the end of the lesson. When we were then cantering regularly when I moved up a group, we spent time cantering without reins (!!), without stirrups, through cones etc etc etc. Once in a blue moon - and I mean literally once a year - we would jump a SMALL cross pole.

Now I'm not saying thats the RIGHT way to go because clearly I could have benefitted from doing a little bit of jumping! And I'm by no means the best rider going. BUT - every single time someone sees me ride, without fail they say that I must have been taught well because my basics are excellent.
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Sorry to say flamehead, I agree with you.

Being fairly old, when I was learning to ride, for the first lesson we were not even allowed to get on a horse, we had to spend the time learning how to hold the reins, there followed months of walking and trotting on and off the lunge until we had developed independent seats, then we were allowed to canter! Until we could maintain a balanced position in canter we were not allowed to jump. These days it seems that the RS are pushing the kids far too quickly. I have seen videos on this site of people jumping whilst booting the horse and jabbing it in the mouth, clearly not ready yet!

It is a shame, I am sure there are decent RS out there - somewhere!
 
JenJ said:
Well I can't speak from a beginner's perspective as I learnt to ride 20 years ago, but having recently started riding a couple of months ago after a very long break, the above bears no relation to my experience.

I started having private lessons in May, and although I cantered in my assessment lesson, for my first few proper lessons I didn't canter at all.

If I was on the wrong diagonal, I would quickly be shouted at (nicely).

I've had two lessons so far where I've popped a couple of cross poles at the end of the lesson. I've also spent time working on leg yielding and counter canter.

I've only just moved up to group lessons, but in both we have done work without stirrups.
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Your RS sounds like one of the good ones, however, you are not a beginner and I wonder what would have happened if you were.
 
I'm not convinced it's just riding schools. I spent nearly six months trying to find someone to ride a sweet, but young and correctly schooled, pony - for free - simply because finding a child who could actually ride properly seemed to be like finding the holy grail! Obviously, we should have just taught the poor creature about kick and yank, then it wouldn't have been a problem!
 
my friend jumped before she could canter properly :mad: i also went to that riding school and had the same problem. when i saw my friend ride i wouldn't have let her jump!!
 
Skewbald - to me it did seem like you were putting down the riding ability of RS riders/PC club centre riders. If I got the gist wrong, then I apologise!

Flamehead - I am the first to admit that I am NOT a very good rider!

I have had four actual jumping lessons, two group two private. That's not very much, is it?

Also, have you thought that maybe I don't have someone to take pictures of my flat lessons? I ride twice a week at the moment, one group/semi private lesson and one group helpers lesson. I don't know anyone in the London area with a non riding school horse - if there is, I will happily muck out/sweep/groom till my feet drop off for an extra ride! Until I find someone, then I'm stuck at my apparently poor RS.
 
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i learned more in a couple of lessons on my own pony than lessons at riding school!!
also i found i learned more from my friends with ponies than the RS instructors
 
I have to say, as a qualifed BHSI( SM) and the manager of a large riding school/equestrian centre I find this post quite upsetting.
Firstly to say that not ALL riding schools are like this, at ours, every new client has an assessment lesson, they then move into private lessons or lunge lessons until the basics are established before moving into groups. They are not allowed to move out of the relevent group at any time until every 6 weeks we have an assessment week where every rider is assessed and a short report written and logged about them is taken. If they are deemed good enough to move up then they can do.
They also learn on good quality well schooled horses and ponies which help them to move on quicker.
We hold monthly shows where our clients can compete against outside competitors should they wish, however, they are never allowed to compete at a level I believe to be above their standard.

BUT, what I would like to add, although not every teaching method and RS are ideal, if these people didn;t learn to ride here then where would they learn to ride?? NO WHERE, not everyone has a friend to lend them a horse or a has the chance to own their own with top tution. So even if there riding isn't perfect, at least they are having the chance to have a go and learn. RS give people the chance to gain valuable riding experience of all types of horses and ponies- keep knocking them and knocking the instruction level and there won;t be any places around to start the grass root riders.

For the people who state they learnt more on a friends pony than at a RS, you are lucky to have a friend who will let you ride their pony- others don't have that chance.

Also, unless you have any BHS qualifications, don't knock how difficult it is to achieve them. To get your AI alone these days you have to present a in depth portfolio of students you teach as well as lesson plans, accident reports, assessment sheets and client reg forms.

Lastly, you must also bear in mind that these people are having 1 lesson a week. fornight, month- they do not get the hours in the saddle that you get to perfect what they learn on a daily basis, every time they return for a lesson they are having to take a step back and start again rather than practicing on a daily basis as people with their own horses do. No matter how well you teach some one the basics from the start, if they only ride every 2 weeks or so they will struggle to keep their postion, remember the aids, co ordidate everything etc.
 
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hmmm diagonals... first learnt them on a riding holiday age approx 14.

Had been riding since I was 4/5... in at least 4 different RS. It was a bit of a revelation.

The one think I would say is that I wish that someone had not made cantering this big scary thing that only the good riders do. I got incredibly het up about it (by which time could do most other stuff v happily) and it took ages for me to get over it because I would just stiffen up. My no stirrup work while trotting became superb in that time though :rolleyes: Thanks to the 28yo pony and the ride leader of a trekking centre on exmoor who took me out on my own for me to realise that cantering wasn't quite so complicated as everyone else was making out.

no comment on when I worked out you could use your legs to steer... and I discovered the outside rein age approx 24 :eek:
 
TG - What annoys me is not their ability or otherwise, it's the hyped up opinion of it they are given.

I know one particular girl, who has ridden at RS for years, and is now a 'helper' so say 'breaking in a three year old' and 'one of their top riders' she has her 'PC Gold' and soon to be 'Platinum' apparently which quite obviously makes her feel like she is the badger's nadgers and why not, it is obviously 'the top of the tree'.

She is in fact an indifferent rider, I realise she doesn't have the advantage of riding her own pony, but in fact, we have one or two she could have ridden, if only she hadn't been so plain damn RUDE about my daughters and their abilities as she was so OBVIOUSLY a better horsewoman than the two who have to get up at 5.45 to do their ponies every day, take the rough with the smooth etc. This is not an isolated case but the norm from this particular RS.

We offered her the chance to ride my cob some years ago (her mother is a friend, so we thought 'why not, she could go out with my two') but rather than help around the yard she told us ALL where we were going wrong (including me, BHSAI for 30 years, international dressage groom, stud groom, etc etc) and gave us the benefit of her wisdom for the whole afternoon, which did not include picking up a broom or a pooh scoop even when asked.

The RS is still telling her how superb she is (well I guess she does work for nothing) and telling her she is doing a good job of jumping a three foot course, when to my eye, she is holding on by the horse's mouth the whole time, her leg is unstable, and she is being hauled out of the saddle, is unable to use her seat as it is not in the saddle, even on the flat, and seems to have no concept of bend, rhythm or straightness. Apart from that, yes they're right, she's splendid!

I'm not actually knocking her ability, maybe she's done as well as she could have done with her body shape, talent, and the opportunities she's had, I know she enjoys herself, and that's fine. Her arrogance however is utterly unbearable, and planted their entirely by the RS, who either don't know any better, in which case they shouldn't be in business, or they just lie to keep their customers, in which case, ditto
 
Charlie76, I didn't start this thread with the intention of upsetting anyone, I'm sorry that that has happened. Your RS sounds fantastic and this is the standard that all RS should aim to achieve (although maybe on a smaller scale for some).

I agree that without RS's it would be impossible for many people to learn to ride. However it takes hardly any extra effort once you have the RS set up to teach well rather than badly.

I really was just taken aback that someone has paid for lessons for nearly two years and has had major basics left out of their lessons and been allowed to do more than she is capable of. She has had at least one fall (and injury) because of this.
 
As I've spent a quarter of a century having lessons in riding schools I feel pretty well qualified to comment on this one. It seems that a lot of the comments are based upon experiences of just one RS, or worse one RI or even just one RS client - hardly representative.

I think the truth is that there are some shoddy riding schools and shoddy instructors out there. There are also some excellent ones. For non-horsey parents it must be a nightmare sorting one from the other.

I do think that more could be done to tighten up on who is allowed to teach and what supervision they require. Personally I don't think a BHSAI should be the most senior person teaching on a yard, and I think there should be a requirement that anyone under BHSAI level is supervised by someone above BHSAI level.

I'm not knocking BHSAIs, there are some excellent ones out there, but probably the excellent ones could go and get the BHSII if they wanted to! I think that looking for an instructor with higher level qualifications is a good start to getting good tuition, whilst I've seen excellent teaching from PTT students I have never yet seen bad tuition from a BHSI. I think particularly for someone at that, can walk trot and canter off the lead rein stage getting some decent tuition from a more senior instructor can make the world of difference to their progress.

It dismays me to see parents paying out full lesson rates to be taught by a trainee with only their stage one, and yet this is acceptable even in BHS approved yards. You wouldn't pay full whack for a trainee hairdresser to do your haircut though would you? But it is actually much more profitable for a RS to have client's (particularly novices who know no better) taught by students as they are paid so much less by the hour than a senior instructor.

The system needs to be transparent. As a lawyer I have to display my certificates where they can be seen by clients, this should be the case for any instructor teaching for reward. Riding schools should be obliged to make it clear to all of their students who will be teaching them and the level of their qualification, they should be encouraged to adjust their rates accordingly when a trainee is used. The register of instructors should be improved to include ALL employed instructors as well as freelancers.

In terms of novices, I think when teaching children particularly there is bound to be an element of kick/pull just because of their level of understanding and the responsiveness of the ponies. However a good instructor will explain the aids in easy to understand terms. One PTT I overheard described the aids for halt roughly as follows: "Sit on your bottom, stretch your head up tall, push your tummy out like you have just eaten a big plate of chips, and gently pull the reins." not perfect to a more advanced rider but understandable to the children and much better than just pull back. Likewise they also focused on looking round corners to turn the body rather than just tugging the rein to turn.

At this same riding school they may walk or trot over poles whilst still on the lead rein, this is as much part of the steering "assault courses" they often do as about jumping. Very occasionally they might pop over a raised pole, but they don't start jumping until they are established in rising trot off the lead rein and doing a bit of canter. I don't think there is anything wrong with jumping small fences from trot, in fact it can be a good way to experience a bit of canter easily. This riding school has a good variety of ponies too, from bombproof veterans, upwards, including working liveries. Including some ponies who in previous homes were high level competition ponies. Many are happy to plod round with a total beginner or take a small adult for an exciting xc ride.

The aids are refined as the rider progresses and this is a continual process at every stage of learning, right up to the refinement of a grand prix dressage rider. You cannot expect someone who has never ridden before to pick up the aids with all the refinement of Carl Hester. It is similar to learning to play the piano, everyone starts with chopsticks but eventually you aim to play Mozart.

I think it is really nice that the OP is giving this girl a chance to ride her horse, it is such an amazing way to progress and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I have had to ride privately owned horses. It is also a quick way to realise that you do need to refine your aids a little more! I don't think the OP should be too dismayed by what she sees, this girl has been having lessons for two years, this is probably half an hour a week, in a group. It doesn't add up to much. She is still very much a beginner. Riding school clients could progress more quickly, but many aren't able to have the number of private or semi private lessons to make quick progress. Half an hour a week in a group of 6-8 is nothing really, much of the time will be spent catching up to where they were the week before!

At a good riding school the progress will come eventually, where I ride there is plenty of progress to be made, cantering and jumping is not the end, half pass, counter canter and flying changes have been taught in lessons I've been in, although not all the horses are suitable for this sort of work. I've also learnt how to ride in a double bridle. Having said that, many riding schools simply aren't equipped with the instructors or the horses for higher level work and I do regret having spent many years in a riding school where really once you could walk trot and canter in balance and jump they didn't really know what to do with you!

So the summary of that ramble is that there are decent riding schools out there that can teach the basics, there are excellent riding schools out there who can take you to the next stage too, but as with everything there are rubbish ones too! However more should be done to protect the unwary from the rubbish ones.
 
Katt said:
As I've spent a quarter of a century having lessons in riding schools I feel pretty well qualified to comment on this one. It seems that a lot of the comments are based upon experiences of just one RS, or worse one RI or even just one RS client - hardly representative.
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Can I just be a bit nit picky and say, yes, but that's how gathering evidence rather works, isn't it? Each individual may be talking about only one or two RS, but the collected information indicates a broader trend.

I spoke at length about one client, but have in fact worked in many riding schools, and finally gave up teaching in the last one for this very reason - lessons were to be fun, all children whether able or not were to canter and jump, especially if mummy was there, oh and by the way we'd like a 100% safety record too, please. Well, hello.

If twenty five people comment on this topic, and (I haven't counted) twenty of them say, yes, this is my experience and five of them say no, this isn't my experience then that is representative, in fact that's exactly what it is, surely?
 
all of you that have said that the majority of riding schools teach rubbish- where did you all learn to ride?? It might be useful to tell people so they can go to the better riding schools!
 
skewbald_again said:
Can I just be a bit nit picky and say, yes, but that's how gathering evidence rather works, isn't it? Each individual may be talking about only one or two RS, but the collected information indicates a broader trend.

I spoke at length about one client, but have in fact worked in many riding schools, and finally gave up teaching in the last one for this very reason - lessons were to be fun, all children whether able or not were to canter and jump, especially if mummy was there, oh and by the way we'd like a 100% safety record too, please. Well, hello.

If twenty five people comment on this topic, and (I haven't counted) twenty of them say, yes, this is my experience and five of them say no, this isn't my experience then that is representative, in fact that's exactly what it is, surely?
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You can be nit picky, if I can nit pick back! ;)

That is indeed how gathering evidence works, and I have no problem with each person coming on the thread and providing their experiences, and an overall conclusion being drawn. But lots were effectively saying "yes all riding schools are like that because I know this person/watched a lesson once and it was awful" or "no riding schools aren't like that because I run a lovely one".

By taking all of those posts into account, and bearing in mind that we can probably all instantly recall someone who has only ever had riding school lessons and is a terrible rider but probably don't even notice the ones who ride nicely having only had riding lessons, then the overall picture is bound to be, that there are good and bad out there!

Sadly because you remember the bad more vividly a lot of people have a horrible impression of people who have only ever had riding school lessons. Whereas there are lots of good ones out there, but you might not realise that they only ride in a riding school.

I used to do regular competitions on a school horse, when she was sold I rode a different one and one of the other competitors commented upon it and asked what had happened to my other horse, she was amazed when I explained that it was a riding school horse that I hired for the day.
 
There are some people getting a little bit precious on here to be honest. I personally don't feel that, for example, being able to ride the correct diagonal (something that you can pick up in one or two lessons) to be a measure of a rider or a teacher.

I also think that doing a few small cross poles can really help a rider find their position, confidence and balance and thus help to find a good seat in canter. It also breaks the tedium of trotting round in circles for both the rider and the ponies/horses.

I have been to rubbish riding schools and good ones. But, you must remember just how difficult it is to actually make money out of horses and put food on the table. I have no problems with riding schools being commercially sassy as long as the riders are safe and the horses well looked after.
 
There are of course good and bad riding schools. I livery my horse at a riding school which also has a pony club centre and people are taught correctly, parents told to butt out if they interfere cause little sally is not as good as they think she is. Everyone has to start somewhere and for people who had never been anywhere near a horse and want to learn to ride they are essential. People can also learn stable management/tacking up adjust thier own stirrups, girths etc not just plonked on and sent off round a schoo.

I dont know where you are but this comment certianly does not apply to the centre where i am all the kids to the c+ tests etc and are progress to and pass the B test which on only riding school ponies riding once a week and rallies is pretty good going.

"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."

Again its dont tar everyone with the same brush time
 
I have to disagree. Before buying my boys a pony, they spent three yrs at local RS. They were taught how to do diagonals, sit to trot, trot with no stirrups, to steer gently, to squeeze not boot when urging pony on and to find their seat. They never jumped but did trotting poles. They were just about sitting to canter. Now with own pony, no cantering yet until sitting trot is 100% established. No point in rushing them. My local RS was excellent. It is not good to hear that others are not so diligent in their teaching.
 
SplashofSoy said:
I dont know where you are but this comment certianly does not apply to the centre where i am all the kids to the c+ tests etc and are progress to and pass the B test which on only riding school ponies riding once a week and rallies is pretty good going.

"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."

Again its dont tar everyone with the same brush time
Click to expand...

From the PC Website:

"You may also take Progressive Tests at Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum in Riding and Stable Management. These are smaller tests at all levels which may be taken on their own or together with the Standards of Efficiency. "

As you can see these *can* be taken on their own, and our local LARGE and very popular RS are taken on their own, they do NOT do Efficiecny Standards and so, as I was at pains to point out, are in fact quite likely to think they are the dogs' wotsits since no one tells them there is anything more earth shattering that passing these tests.

And once again, to give ones opinion on a certain establishment and its output is NOT TARRING EVERYONE WITH THE SAME BRUSH (overworked cliche of the week)!

I didn't say YOUR riding school carried on like this, I said the one near us does. That is called giving an opinion based on ones own experience.

As you can see, YOUR comment doesn't apply to the centre where WE are so are you tarring me with your brush?
 
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