Leaving the dreaded word ‘novice’

[merlin84]

Would love to hear others’ stories on how you progressed beyond ‘novice’ if you didn’t grow up in a horsey family.

I have been riding at riding schools consistently for past three years but did periods of lessons as a child and an adult before that (had a baby which halted progress temporarily!)

Am currently working on low level jumping (50-70cm) and leg yield on the flat and have done equestrian holidays where I have been lucky enough to do some great gallops!

However I still have days where it feels everything goes wrong e.g. I’ll get a RS horse that is completely behind my leg or conversely had one the other day who was trying to buck his way around the school!

Am sharing a horse at the moment because I seriously want to leave riding schools behind and move more in the direction of a good trainer/clinics and working with one horse consistently not a different one every week but how do you know when you are ready to take the big leap?!

 

[paddi22]

Its always handy to get a private lesson with a good instructor, and have a tailored progress plan of what you are working through.

If its any consolation im riding over 35 years and i still have days where everything feels wrong and I feel useless, that feeling doesn't go, ever!

 

[merlin84]

Yes I mostly have private lessons and I do rate my instructor in terms of teaching but definitely don’t have a progress plan unfortunately as they are a bit disorganised. I really want to just ride the same horse and get to know them a bit as it seems to be a different one every week at the moment. Was doing really well with one ex-show jumper but he is lame atm 😔

 

[merlin84]

I also do feel there is a confidence issue there- I always have the voice on my shoulder saying that the reason something has gone wrong is because you are a rubbish rider!

 

[Ambers Echo]

There are hundreds of definitions of 'novice' but in answer to the main point of when to get your own horse, you sound more than ready to me.

I personally see riding in stages: the learning to ride stage, the learning to educate or improve a horse stage. Then after that maybe the amateur competitive stage (if that interests you or refining the educating a horse stage so you could back a horse or bring on a young horse) and finally pro rider or trainer/teacher stages.

The learning to ride stage goes from Beginner/Novice/Intermediate/Advanced as you progress from learning basic skills and how to stay on to learning to jump courses, do more advanced dressage moves, hack on forward horses at fast paces etc.

So in that sense you would be intermediate/advanced already.

But then you get a horse and start all over again on a different scale! I am 'advanced' as a riding school rider, but very much 'novice' as an educator of horses and as a competitor.

 

[SpringArising]

Horses aren't a linear thing where you do one thing, ace it, and move onto the next level. There are always ups and downs and you'll often find that you're progressing without realising you are, and sometimes vice versa!

The only thing that's true is that you'll never be ready unless you try, practice and persevere!

Paddi is right - no one ever feels like they're awesome 100% of the time. I've been riding nearly 20 years and some nights I still shout to my sister "I feel like a beginner tonight!".

 

[paddi22]

The time you spend riding different horses will stand to you. even if you feel like you are getting nowhere, you are still learning to adapt and get a feel for different types. Even out eventing you can see a ton of people who have only ever learned to ride on perfect schoolmasters, and they look great but a lot are highly ineffective riders because as the saying goes 'a calm sea never made a good sailor'

Knock the voices out of your head, they are absolutely no use. You will be a rubbish rider for ages, we all were when we were learning and ive never met anyone who ever hit a day when they suddenly said 'im brilliant now'. You progress and improve but you always have days when you get dumped at a jump, or can't do a move and feel awful. And the judging voices are no good. the thing you could do now to benefit your riding more than anything, is to get good books on NLP and get rid of those voices -because if anything will hold you back its those voices, and not your actual riding skills. this book is great https://www.booksonhorses.com/products/schooling-problems-solved-with-nlp

It takes time and hundreds of hours of training and mistakes to even get the basics learnt properly. So take the pressure off and just enjoy the learning process.

And every horse can teach you something, even the worst RC school ones. They will never be doing gran prix dressage by the end of a lesson, but you can always learn something. But you need a good trainer you can talk and make plans with, or else you just go around in circles learnign wise. Even if you print off a dressage test and work through the parts, at least you can see where you are struggling. Then why not get some one in to mark you like its a test? or even video it and do one of the online dressage competition? At least then you would have an idea of where you were at and what you needed to improve on.

If you have to change horses all the time, that can be difficult but you have to see the positives on it. The best skill to have is to be able to get a feel for different horses. To be able to sit on and see how the horse reacts to your energy, and what little improvements you can make. Sometimes its a case of staying in walk in a lesson and just working on contact or bend with some horses, but you can still learn loads and make big breakthroughs in your riding and understanding of aids.

 

[merlin84]

Yes am trying to do intro/prelim dressage tests as part of my lessons although one went hilariously badly the other week - hence the negative voices!

I think realising it is not linear is really important and something I struggle with (maybe connected to the fact that I am a teacher?!) as it feels like one step forward and one back sometimes! One lesson we have beautiful leg yield or jump a small course and then the next I can’t even get a canter circle or an active enough walk! I think resilience is an issue as well as I get flustered if the flatwork isn’t going well which then hampers me further. Strangely doesn’t seem to happen when I am jumping- maybe self-preservation kicks in and I just get on with it!

My dream would be to take part in a BE80 but I might get too old and arthritic before my riding is good enough!!!

 

[paddi22]

its easier with jumping, because 90% of the time a horse will get over it and people tick it off as a task achieved well just cause they got from one side to the other. Flatwork has no hiding areas, sj does with a normal instructor. If you videoed one jump, there would be 100 things that were done badly going into and over it but most instructors are just happy once you get over it - they might say a comment or two, but psychologically its easier because most people see getting over it as a goal achieved. When you go to a picky sj teacher and they pick apart 20 things you did wrong over a jump, then you get the same level of feeling of being useless as you do with a dressage instructor lol!

 

[merlin84]

Oh yes I’m sure- even I can tell when I have made it from one side to the other but without folding at the perfect point i.e. with the horse rather than before or behind him!

Would actually love to go to dedicated dressage and SJ coaches but apart from 1 place I’m looking into, most seem to require you to come with your own horse.

Equally I went to a dressage trainer some years ago who refused to even let me walk off the lunge until I had the perfect independent seat. Although I know that is important and do book lunge lessons in for myself occasionally, I have to admit that did suck the enjoyment out of it a bit for me!

 

[paddi22]

Equally I went to a dressage trainer some years ago who refused to even let me walk off the lunge until I had the perfect independent seat. Although I know that is important and do book lunge lessons in for myself occasionally, I have to admit that did suck the enjoyment out of it a bit for me!

yeahs theres a balance of fun and learning. but if you really wanted to crack the dressage you really have to wipe the board clean and start correct at times. I had a trainer who took me back to walk for about 4 months until i understood a point she was trying to make! it does get fascinating once you get into the small details of contact and balance and bend though, you might be surprised and enjoy it!

 

[merlin84]

See I wouldn’t mind that so much if on my own horse and I knew I was helping him and me to have better harmony!

Sadly funds are limited so I need to have fun with it as well as aspire to perfection!

 

[calder]

I feel in a similar position. I also didn't grow up horsey; have had bouts of lessons as an adult; and have now been riding regularly (once a week) for just over three years. While I've progressed further than I ever have before, I don't know whether to call myself an advanced novice or an early-stage intermediate. I have done a number of basic Interdressage tests which, in addition to being a good record of my development, have boosted my confidence and self-image. After many years of fits and starts (and not riding) I am able to see myself as a genuine rider, not just a wannabe.

That's glorious, but like yourself I am a riding school rider who can't always rely on finding a good horse to ride. There are a limited number of horses I can even get on at my yard (I'm six-foot and a bit), and like many riding school horses some of them can be a bit jaded or awkward at times. I'm grateful to them, though, and to the shifting cast of instructors I've had - with very few exceptions I have always learnt something from each of them. My currrent (main) instructor is interested in the process of learning and therefore an excellent teacher. She, like me, has been frustrated at the choice of horses available to me, and has suggested a one-off schoolmaster lesson. I've also enjoyed (if that's the right word) an intensive lunge lesson recently, and have been looking into dismounted exercises to improve my fortysomething balance and posture.

All of this is to say that, while progress is slow and uneven, I don't have any particular goals in mind other than enjoying my riding and becoming a better rider. If I had specific goals, I'm sure I could take steps in that direction and would have a stronger sense of progress. Although I badly want to ride more frequently, I have neither the funds nor the time so to do, but I consider myself lucky to be able to ride once a week, with a terrific instructor. The horse is (as always!) a different matter. I don't aspire to horse ownership or even sharing in the immediate future: I have seen how much work and energy people put into finding and developing their perfect equine partner. I understand that, but it's not for me at the moment. Under the circumstances, I have to be grateful for the opportunities to ride that I have, and for the progress that I'm able to make. Perhaps I'll end up as a 'veteran novice'!