I've listened to the advice on here.....

russianhorse

russianhorse

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....... And am going to change my instructor (to one that has been highly recommended, albeit a bit more expensive). When I spoke to her she said that as he's so young we should be making learning fun for both of us but taking things nice and slow etc

However, As per the instructors advice yesterday, I thought I would see how my hairy pony took to the lunge - she said it will be an indication to how much schooling he really did

So, off I tried. OMG, as soon as we hit that school with the lunging he went absolutely berserk :0 - absolutely uncontrollable - luckily I'm pretty strong when I need to be, so managed to hang on long enough to stop him and calm him

Rightly or wrongly, once I had him stopped I stroked him to calm him and took him back. I could see I had also lost some of his trust - he became nervous and headshy again and wouldn't look me in the eye like he does normally. So I spent an hour brushing him and being round him

Luckily tonight he was back looking forwards to seeing me although mooches over rather than belted with excitement. I'm sure that will come back :D

So........ I think (which I do far too much of) that I've pushed him too much and I need to take a step back. The new instructors plan seems to suit what he needs - sloooooowly and gently :D

Added to which, my farmer couldn't believe I had such a bad lesson yesterday as he saw me warming up and said I rode well - not forwards at all :/. He also added she already appeared to be in a bad mood when she turned up so maybe hairy didn't like her much :D
 
No the lunging was awful :o. I wore gloves but they didn't seem to give a toss about saving my skin :0 - I have missing skin on 3 fingers lol

It's nice because she has a Hairy that she's been through this with, but he was a 7 yo. 6 months in and she's got him on side :). She also wants to make it her mission to really teach me the ropes too (like I've always wanted)

1st lesson with her is next Wednesday :)
 
When my daughter was younger and having lessons, she used to be in tears after the lesson. She was ready to give up riding, she thought she was a bad rider. The instructor never told her when she did anything right, but always commented on what was wrong.
I changed her instuctor, who literally jumped up and down when she did well, so she got the positve feedback that was needed. The instuctor rarely said anything negative, just explained again, or asked another way. My daughters riding improved so much with the new instructor. I hope you have good results from your new instructor.
 
That's good and it sounds like she's got a nice positive approach too.
Have you tried just doing some in hand ground work? ..stop start back up and yield exercises with him? That way you can get him moving around you in a circle too if you've got a longer lead rope. You can ease him into Lunging and it won't be such a big scary thing then. And enjoy :-)
 
Firstly, both the horse and the person lunging it need to be taught - you don't just attach a rope and hope for the best. Even the most amenable horse will react badly to being thrown in at the deep end with a task it doesn't understand, and a person doing the task that doesn't know how to do it: at least one of you should know what you're doing. Secondly, I'm wary of all the "change the instructor" advice when people do badly in lessons; perhaps the rider should just listen better and make an effort?
 
Agree re the lunging - I had a number of lunge lessons so my body language, commands were trained to be clear to my mare - She lunges now on my voice & reacts to what I want based on that & my body language. However put someone lunging her who hasn't been shown properly and she will take the P*** - its a good idea to get some lunge lessons with a horse used to being lunged if your pony hasn't been before.

Also Ive been thought that is she throws a bit of a hissy fit I drive her on & let her work things out, encouring them to calm down & stop is rewarding bad behaviour & really doesn't achieve anything in the long run -

Im lucky in that I clicked with my instructor from day one, gets me & gets my horse HOWEVER - she is a firm believer in tough love, I don't want to be told that everything is buttercups & daisys as that is not going to improve my riding - in saying that we always do a debrief at the end of every lesson & there is always something positive to take away from it even if lesson doesn't go to plan.

I do think though without a connection between rider & instructor it can make life very difficult for both.

Cortez said:
Firstly, both the horse and the person lunging it need to be taught - you don't just attach a rope and hope for the best. Even the most amenable horse will react badly to being thrown in at the deep end with a task it doesn't understand, and a person doing the task that doesn't know how to do it: at least one of you should know what you're doing. Secondly, I'm wary of all the "change the instructor" advice when people do badly in lessons; perhaps the rider should just listen better and make an effort?
Click to expand...
 
Oh I didn't just want to whack him on the lunge, but that's what my instructor told me to do yesterday to see if he had been taught it. I said to her shall we wait until next week and we can do it together to make sure I'm doing it correctly. She said no, have a go and see what he's like. Well now I know what he's like so am going to leave his schooling completely for a week :)

Re change of instructor, I know if its just me as an awful rider if she starts to facepalm herself :D I listened to everything she said and really really worked hard, but it just all went to pot :( yesterday I was so deflated I was going to give up my little hairy. Those that are full of encouragement had to endure my extra long self pitying thread :D / to which I still thank them for :D
 
Cortez, I think that's a very simplified view of things. Sometimes, instructors just don't click with you, and things can go very badly wrong very rapidly. A different instructor isn't necessarily hiding the problems or just feeding you good 'white lies'. You just might get on with them better.

I know that Al gets on very well with her instructor atm, who can shout at her for 40 minutes and leave Al filled with confidence and hope. 40 minutes with a different instructor in a clinic, where it was all very civilised and with a much-lauded instructor left her and the horse with no confidence, in floods of tears...
 
Lolo said:
Cortez, I think that's a very simplified view of things. Sometimes, instructors just don't click with you, and things can go very badly wrong very rapidly. A different instructor isn't necessarily hiding the problems or just feeding you good 'white lies'. You just might get on with them better.

I know that Al gets on very well with her instructor atm, who can shout at her for 40 minutes and leave Al filled with confidence and hope. 40 minutes with a different instructor in a clinic, where it was all very civilised and with a much-lauded instructor left her and the horse with no confidence, in floods of tears...
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. I had 6 months of lessons with a very well respected instructor last year and at £1 per minute I was definitely listening to what she said and doing my best to put it into practice. The trouble was, that what she was saying may have worked for someone else, but didn't work for me in combination with my horse. I ended up disillusioned with a horse that was becoming harder to ride not easier and my confidence was completely eroded.

Having changed instructor a couple of months ago, I am seeing results already both in our combined confidence levels and our dressage scores (up several percent - same horse/rider/judge/venue/test, different instructor). On top of that my horse is just so 'happy' and amenable at the moment and going so much softer.

It may be that the old instructor could have achieved this with someone else, but it wasn't working for me.
 
I don't think that is true Cortez, perhaps you have had fortunate experiences with instructors. I have had bad tuition in many areas of life and have persevered thinking it was me (as I usually do) and with something like riding confidence is so important to a rider (and horse) that being pushed too quickly is not helpful at all and in my case results in defensive riding. Yes you need to be pushed to improve but what is the point if you don't have the foundations and aren't confident executing them? It is very difficult to put more effort in and pay attention when you are bombarded by an instructor who does not go at your pace. A lot of it for me is being able to relax and focus, I can only really do that when in doing something within my capability at that time.

Well done OP, I had some intense lessons a while ago and it pushed me too far, I now have an instructor who understands I need to go at my own pace, I don't pay them to make me feel confused and frustrated or to ride in a tense manner!
 
It isn't about a changing instructor it is about finding the right instructor for the job. You need one who speaks your language. They need to be able to teach to your learning style and recognise and react to your confidence level and know how to encourage you.

The best instructor in the world will struggle to teach everyone in a productive and happy way. Some pupils and instructors just don't gel.

As an example at the RS where I used to ride they had several senior instructors, up to BHSI level. But I heard people complain about lessons with all of them. If you analysed those complaints it was clear it was all about learning style and personality. One was very instructional and could take you through things step by step. Some people loved this, others it blew their brains. Another would sit quietly and allow you to work things out. She would talk about feel and encourage you to experiment but some clients felt they weren't getting a proper lesson. It depends so much on your own personality, the instructors personality and training and what you want to achieve. The right instructor won't be the right instructor for every occasion or for every person. Clients and instructors should recognise this and embrace it.
 
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