Lesson etiquettes?

Some clinicians have a WhatsApp group for their clinics, and people often pop that kind of question in. Some like you to be tacked up 5 mins early and walk around to start warming up as the previous session is summing up, especially if it's a large enough venue. As SEL does, I always pop my head in and say hi, and find out if things are on time.

But really don't worry about it - if your instructor is worth having lessons with, they will be welcoming and accomodating to a newbie :)
 
I always arrive at least 30 mins before a lesson or clinic, earlier if the horse is young to give them a chance to get relaxed. I'm slow to tack up which is why I get there early, I also like to walk my horse beforehand to warm up. There is nothing worse in life than rushing and being flustered because you're late, I don't understand people who screech into venues on two wheels with their horse swinging in the trailer, tacking up at a million miles an hour and rushing the horse into the arena 🤯
 
I arrive everywhere about 20 minutes before I need to be on board, tack up on the trailer (saddle, boots etc. but leave bridle off). If it’s a clinic I’ll watch the group before me and when they’re walking off/finished I pop bridle on and head over to the arena. I’ll ask the instructor if it’s ok if I come in, usually they like people on and walked round a bit so they can crack on, so don’t be shy and hang around by your lorry until you’re called in.

If it’s a private lesson I just tack up and head over to the arena for my booked time. If the arena is empty I’ll get on and walk around/start to warm up and wait for my instructor to appear.

IME trainers like you to be on-time and ready to work so as long as you’re not barging into the arena before your allotted time you’ll never be in trouble for being ready to go!

I mean that’s my official response….in reality I’m normally on, warming up and see trainer casually jumping a youngster in the next arena who shouts over “I’ll be with you in 5!!” 🤣 But we have a good relationship and if he’s running late he always tags it onto the end of my session!
 
Identityincrisis said:
I always arrive at least 30 mins before a lesson or clinic, earlier if the horse is young to give them a chance to get relaxed. I'm slow to tack up which is why I get there early, I also like to walk my horse beforehand to warm up. There is nothing worse in life than rushing and being flustered because you're late, I don't understand people who screech into venues on two wheels with their horse swinging in the trailer, tacking up at a million miles an hour and rushing the horse into the arena 🤯
Click to expand...
I HATE being late! I had to divert unexpectedly once for a local venue (10 min trip turned into 30 min) and honestly my stress levels....

Leading into a venue recently and a just arrived lady asked if I could wait until she'd tacked up. She'd just got out of the car with 5 mins to go. My no was polite but firm.
 
Arriving 30 mins before a scheduled lesson or clinic would be cutting it fine for me. What’s the issue with arriving early? What if you get held up by roadworks or traffic on the way?

When competing (affiliated dressage) I always aimed to arrive 1.5 hours before my first test. 45 mins to get my number, have a wee, have a coffee from my thermos, then tack up horse in a relaxed fashion. Allow another 45 mins for warm up including lots of walking around on a long rein with the length of the warm up ‘proper’ dependent on how the horse felt on the day.
 
One big thing to check before going is if there is a requirement to produce current vaccs record.
Some trainers are asking for record to be sent over when booking.
Venues round here are now asking for this to be produced before unloading for a clinic.
Definitely find out if this is required (and for me - if not, why?)
 
I usually aim to get to a clinic/lesson about 30min before my allotted time. By the time I've tacked up, got myself ready and got on, then it's time to go in!
 
SEL said:
I HATE being late! I had to divert unexpectedly once for a local venue (10 min trip turned into 30 min) and honestly my stress levels....

Leading into a venue recently and a just arrived lady asked if I could wait until she'd tacked up. She'd just got out of the car with 5 mins to go. My no was polite but firm.
Click to expand...
I had a brain fart when planning my last outing, somehow in my meticulous list making I had turned a 40 minute drive into a 10 minute drive.
Luckily I leave spare 'faffing' time in my schedule so I arrived 'on time' and stuck my head in the arena and asked that they bear with me. I fully expected to lose 10 minutes of my lesson as I was late arriving but she managed to tag it on the end.
 
It's a long time since I did a clinic, but for my regular lessons I turn up early (often very early as I tend to stable overnight so will get there in time to unload, unpack, do some emails!), have tack on 15 minutes before lesson time to walk to the arena and get on. I like to be at least partially warmed up before we start so the lesson can get into the meaty stuff and not lose half the time loosening up. It's generally accepted in dressage places that the next person will enter the arena to warm up before their lesson starts.

That will be different when I get my new horse as I'll probably want more advice on warming up, at least for the first couple of lessons!
 
Tiddlypom said:
Arriving 30 mins before a scheduled lesson or clinic would be cutting it fine for me. What’s the issue with arriving early? What if you get held up by roadworks or traffic on the way?

When competing (affiliated dressage) I always aimed to arrive 1.5 hours before my first test. 45 mins to get my number, have a wee, have a coffee from my thermos, then tack up horse in a relaxed fashion. Allow another 45 mins for warm up including lots of walking around on a long rein with the length of the warm up ‘proper’ dependent on how the horse felt on the day.
Click to expand...
For a competition, I leave more time as it is a public venue and usually more 'exciting' to a horse. An hour to an hour and a half before dressage would be good. For eventing, I would aim to be there 3 hours before dressage. There was much to do as no events were close enough to walk the course the day before! Plus larger distances to various places at the venue.

My 30 minutes is because it is often a private venue where owners are also residents and perhaps haven't unlocked gates or finished with their own chores earlier. It is all more low key and I am just being respectful to the privacy of the owners.

With a young or fizzy horse I would let them know if I intended to be early.

In response to another poster, I don't mind someone being early and spectating when it is a group lesson, but hate that if it is a private one. After Mr Red died I barely wanted to ride at all and went to quite a few venues only to burst into tears. Or, my horse would do well, I would wish I could share the news with him and... burst into tears. I did private lessons for a while to re-gain my equilibrium and re-gain the want to ride. Having someone watching would simply have been awful.

If I'm early and a group lesson is on, I will go and watch too. But not a private.

I used to be earlier than half an hour when I was doing more competitive stuff as I'd likely have travelled further, plus it used to be at a major facility with many comings and goings. I'd still not crash a private lesson though.

Nowadays it is small stuff and local, so half an hour seems polite and respectful, especially as I have a really easy and laid back horse. He would run out of steam in a one hour concentrated lesson, so warm up is part of the actual lesson for me.
 
Something to bear in mind is how much parking is available. I used to go to a regular SJ clinic at a private yard and they only had enough parking for two visiting boxes/trailers i.e. the one currently in the arena and the next one. If someone else had turned up more than 30 minutes early or someone hangs around after their session, parking would have been an issue.
 
I have to ride to another yard for my lessons (10-20 mins ride depending on what field we're in). I always get there early and warm up in separate school, especially as she does her best work after 30 mins of trotting.

(Horse is very fit).

I like to concentrate instructor time on fine tuning rather than the warm up
 
Parking tends to be tight at the yards I got to for clinics - if I arrived an hour beforehand the previous group would still be leaving, and the current group still there - I don't think they really allow for more than 2 overlapping groups at a time and expect you to arrive and be ready promptly and also leave fairly promptly to keep things flowing. (Actually people hanging around for hours after a clinic chatting amongst themselves is a bugbear of mine - wash your horse off and go home, stop blocking up the parking - but that's another thread 🤣)

If I arrived at my trainers yard ages before my lesson I'd just be in the way! And I don't expect my horse to hang around on the box for an hour for no reason, plus frankly I have other things to do with my day 🙈

Competitions are different as you want plenty of time to settle horse in, find your feet, warm-up etc. But clinics and lessons I aim to be in and out!
 
There are a couple of venues where I only go if I can be in the first clinic slot - to get the best parking 😁 I'm considerate but lots aren't and I dont want to be executing a 50 point turn to squeeze in somewhere during my tacking up time.
 
Always good to check. The arena hire I use sometimes with my instructor/freelancer the turning space is in the arena so she leaves 15 mins between clients and asks people 'not to arrive before xxxx' to allow one lesson to finish and the next to arrive and turn round before unloading. She helps tack up so by the time you are ready your horse normally is too - its a bit of a shock when you first go, but you soon get in the swing of her set up. It's also good for mine to be handled and tacked up by a different person as it's usually just me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top