Lesson report for today - Started off so well... Where did it all go wrong? :(

[Thelwell_Girl]

Evening all

Today has been a mix...

Saw I was on Dawi again. Have ridden him a lot recently, so wasnt raring to go, but he is a sweetie, and on i hopped.

He was AMAZING! Bit sticky at first, but loosened up nicely, and was soon going really well off my leg He even lead the ride without complaining! I was SO chuffed with him, and I now know that a little pat on the neck is just what he needs to know he has done good Had two really nice canters, soft and controlled, my stirrups stayed on the balls of my feet... Dare i say it, one lass even said she saw him in an outline at one point!

He was so so good, I was really looking forward to riding him in the helpers lesson

However... It was terrible

I think I actually forgot how to ride Steering went out of the window, couldnt get any canter out of him... Awful Didnt help that i struggled with sorting his girth out at the beginning, I could feel myself just getting more and more tense

After struggling through, I eventually just turned into the middle to calm down. I knew that my tension and upset was NOT helping D-man either... So I did a few round-the-worlds and learnt how to do a threading-the-needle Felt a bit better, so took my stirrups away and just pootled about, and chatted to my lovely friend T as we cooled down.

I dont know what's wrong with me... This morning's lesson was one of the best I've ever had! Dawi was an angel, worked his socks off, and I felt like a half-decent rider

Then it all went to pot. I could feel myself getting tenser, then D-man got worse... I just couldn't calm down I felt awful for transferring it all onto him, though he didn't seem to mind standing there for a bit while I attempted to compose myself

I am incredibly grateful to my friends... They kept me sane, always ready to cheer me up, calm me down... My absolute rocks I dont know what I would do without them!

~

Thank you for reading my little rant there... Will try and get some pics up of me and The D-Meister

Please feel free to give me a kick up the arse (or a hug)... I think I could do with one

Any tips on how to relax and calm down when really stressed?
~

TG xx

 

[Walrus]

Don't beat youself up about it. You had a great lesson but I bet you worked hard. You were probably tired in your afternoon lesson, I know my limbs will not do what I ask them to do when they're all achey!

I think you did the right thing by stopping and doing some little exercises and stuff - better than flogging away and getting more stressed and then getting the horse stressed and going round in a circle! I have, in the past, got so frustrated with me and my young horse when in the school I have stopped dead at the far end of the school, got off and lead him straight back to his box before I got really mad and made things worse!

Focus on your first lesson - it proves you can do it -well done!!

 

[Millyard Rejects]

aww sorry TG you had dodgy 2nd ride.
But sorry to have to tell you----horses can make you feel ten feet tall and some days they make you feel like...well a flat pancake

Instead of thinking it was awful- think about what you did do that was positive. When you felt tense you came into the middle and thought about how your riding was affecting Dawi. That is a good thing to learn! so many people get on their horses when they are moody, angry, upset etc and never think that the horse might react to that or that it may in fact alter their position and effectivness in the saddle.
And to be honest if all out lessons and rides had gone to plan then wouldnt we all be EDward Gal or Mark Todd? sometimes it doesnt always go perfectly and these are the times you will learn more about yourself as a rider and horses in general.
Dont get yourself down over it- use this new found knowledge to your benefit!
hugs ((((()))))

 

[tinkandlily]

Shrug it off, look forward to your next lesson, you were just having a bad day.

 

[Booboos]

Don't be too hard on yourself! Horses are like that all the time, one day good, next day not so good! You never know he may have been tired from the earlier lesson or a bit fed up for the day, or pulled a muscle, or argued with his friends in the field...it could be a million things! The main thing is for you to remain chilled! If canter doesn't work, then go off and do something else, like you did today, to end on a positive note.

 

[brighteyes]

Yeah, mine was a **** yesterday and a superstar today. It's how it goes. Try a different horse for the helper lesson next time?

 

[Magicmillbrook]

Ah thats horses for you - chin up

 

[piggyinablanket]

Aww chin up! We all get like that.

Today for example, pony has been so good lately hacking on his own (hes a nappy little beggar at times) I tacked up for a solo outing, feeling great cant wait.
Pony naps before even leaving yard, gets him past that with a kick and a growl, he goes 500 yds further sees a pony in a field and then stands stock still in the middle of the High Street. How EMBARRASSING. Bear in mind, Im a 35 yr old on a 14.1 Newfie. Would he move? would he heck. I growled, squeezed, begged, flapped, yelled, called him dog food (lol) But he just stood there! Didnt even go sideways or back. There was NOTHING I could do! Finally HE decided to carry on with his walk, in his own time, y'know I felt like such a *@^$!!!


Next lesson will be better Im sure. I always tell my Daughter that if every time she rode it went perfect, and pony behaved impeccably, she would never learn how to deal with every situation she will come across.

 

[Dobby]

Everyone has their bad lessons, don't worry about it. Sounds like neither of you were in the right frame of mind for a lesson but, that's life!

When you feel stressed, just stop. Take a deep breath and start again. Saying that, when I get nervous before a show I either fall to pieces or get into a really aggressive RIGHT COME ON LETS DO THIS attitude, which makes for some interesting rounds And when I'm playing polo and get frustrated, I swear like a trojan and my riding off suddenly becomes much more effective

Stress happens to us all, focus on your good first lesson of the day

 

[dafthoss]

your not the only one who can have a good ride and a shocking ride in the same day have done it myself before maybe you were putting pressure on yourself to ride as well as you did earlier and it affected your riding. The only show I went to expecting the boy to do ok and possibly jump round the whole course we got eliminated at the first jump looking back it was because i was expecting it to happen and not riding for it where as the clear round we did at the show before he popped nicley as I had no expectations
sorry long ramblings but hugs, it happens to everyone and it will get better
xx

 

[Wobblywibble]

Thing is, horses don't just teach you to ride - they teach you loads of other stuff as well, it isnt always obvious at the time what it is you are learning.

I've been riding for longer than I care to remember, but still have days when I feel like a incompetent sack of potatoes who can't get the horse to do anything right.

Onwards and upwards!

 

[DH1]

Aaah TG, it wasn't a bad lesson really, if you weren't so passionate about riding and getting things right, then a disappointing lesson wouldn't have bothered you at all. So it's good that it did bother you really

I had a disappointing ride yesterday (on my own horse!) but today was much better thankfully.
It's so difficult to get all the different elements (seat, legs, reins, hands, chin up, shoulders back, inside leg outside rein..........) right, but we WILL do it

 

[Thelwell_Girl]

Don't beat youself up about it. You had a great lesson but I bet you worked hard. You were probably tired in your afternoon lesson, I know my limbs will not do what I ask them to do when they're all achey!

I think you did the right thing by stopping and doing some little exercises and stuff - better than flogging away and getting more stressed and then getting the horse stressed and going round in a circle! I have, in the past, got so frustrated with me and my young horse when in the school I have stopped dead at the far end of the school, got off and lead him straight back to his box before I got really mad and made things worse!

Focus on your first lesson - it proves you can do it -well done!!

That is so true - in the evening my legs were useless, and normally I'm the one who can get the slow ones going a bit!

The whole stressed out thing went on for 35mins Then I just gave up and came in, as I knew I wasnt getting anywhere!

Its such a shame about the evening, as D-man was AMAZING in the morning... I have never felt him like it! (And I choked a but on my sandwich when one of the girls said she saw him in an outline! I have NEVER had a horse in an outline! )

aww sorry TG you had dodgy 2nd ride.
But sorry to have to tell you----horses can make you feel ten feet tall and some days they make you feel like...well a flat pancake

Instead of thinking it was awful- think about what you did do that was positive. When you felt tense you came into the middle and thought about how your riding was affecting Dawi. That is a good thing to learn! so many people get on their horses when they are moody, angry, upset etc and never think that the horse might react to that or that it may in fact alter their position and effectivness in the saddle.
And to be honest if all out lessons and rides had gone to plan then wouldnt we all be EDward Gal or Mark Todd? sometimes it doesnt always go perfectly and these are the times you will learn more about yourself as a rider and horses in general.
Dont get yourself down over it- use this new found knowledge to your benefit!
hugs ((((()))))

I kind of surprised myself... Normally I'm almost bursting with happiness when I'm riding, even with my awful concentrating face on, but it was so different last night

Didnt really help that all the other girls are better riders than me... But they are all lovely, and wonderful, encouraging friends! We are a little family!

Shrug it off, look forward to your next lesson, you were just having a bad day.

I will - I know Dawi tried his best in the morning, and I am really proud of him for that! For example, he's a bit of a big lump, doesnt understand bending so well, but we did some really nice circles in the morning, I know he found those hard but he tried

Don't be too hard on yourself! Horses are like that all the time, one day good, next day not so good! You never know he may have been tired from the earlier lesson or a bit fed up for the day, or pulled a muscle, or argued with his friends in the field...it could be a million things! The main thing is for you to remain chilled! If canter doesn't work, then go off and do something else, like you did today, to end on a positive note.

He really didnt seem to want to co-operate last night... Though that was no doubt a reflection of how I was feeling.

We did have some nice hugs earlier, will put pics up soon!

Yeah, mine was a **** yesterday and a superstar today. It's how it goes. Try a different horse for the helper lesson next time?

I'm going to try and ride something else, normally we would have swapped, but the rest of the horses we had were either too small for me, or there was Trigger, who knowing that he can get really nervous, probably wouldnt be the best horse for me to ride, as I need my confidence boosting. He does give lovely shoulder hugs though, if you stand outside his stable

Ah thats horses for you - chin up

It was so different for me yesterday, but I did learn a lesson.

Aww chin up! We all get like that.

Today for example, pony has been so good lately hacking on his own (hes a nappy little beggar at times) I tacked up for a solo outing, feeling great cant wait.
Pony naps before even leaving yard, gets him past that with a kick and a growl, he goes 500 yds further sees a pony in a field and then stands stock still in the middle of the High Street. How EMBARRASSING. Bear in mind, Im a 35 yr old on a 14.1 Newfie. Would he move? would he heck. I growled, squeezed, begged, flapped, yelled, called him dog food (lol) But he just stood there! Didnt even go sideways or back. There was NOTHING I could do! Finally HE decided to carry on with his walk, in his own time, y'know I felt like such a *@^$!!!


Next lesson will be better Im sure. I always tell my Daughter that if every time she rode it went perfect, and pony behaved impeccably, she would never learn how to deal with every situation she will come across.

Oh geez - I wouldve totally paniced if that happened to me!

That is some really good advice - thank you

Everyone has their bad lessons, don't worry about it. Sounds like neither of you were in the right frame of mind for a lesson but, that's life!

When you feel stressed, just stop. Take a deep breath and start again. Saying that, when I get nervous before a show I either fall to pieces or get into a really aggressive RIGHT COME ON LETS DO THIS attitude, which makes for some interesting rounds And when I'm playing polo and get frustrated, I swear like a trojan and my riding off suddenly becomes much more effective

Stress happens to us all, focus on your good first lesson of the day

It did help just stopping and breathing, and also just pootling around having a chat with T. Took my mind off things! Felt really odd, but I really wasnt in the best frame of mind to ride!

What didnt help was Dawi spooking as we were walking them off - and I had no stirrups! Luckily stuck on Silly pony

your not the only one who can have a good ride and a shocking ride in the same day have done it myself before maybe you were putting pressure on yourself to ride as well as you did earlier and it affected your riding. The only show I went to expecting the boy to do ok and possibly jump round the whole course we got eliminated at the first jump looking back it was because i was expecting it to happen and not riding for it where as the clear round we did at the show before he popped nicley as I had no expectations
sorry long ramblings but hugs, it happens to everyone and it will get better
xx

Maybe - I was REALLY looking forward to riding him in the afternoon, cos he was so good in the morning.

Geez, I am a wreck when jumping... I only trust Bonnie (or maybe Albert) to jump on, as I know they'll look after me! Though as a christmas present to myself I am going to buy a private jumping lesson for myself with my instructor, to get my confidence up

Thing is, horses don't just teach you to ride - they teach you loads of other stuff as well, it isnt always obvious at the time what it is you are learning.

I've been riding for longer than I care to remember, but still have days when I feel like a incompetent sack of potatoes who can't get the horse to do anything right.

Onwards and upwards!

That is so true - has made me think!

Aaah TG, it wasn't a bad lesson really, if you weren't so passionate about riding and getting things right, then a disappointing lesson wouldn't have bothered you at all. So it's good that it did bother you really

I had a disappointing ride yesterday (on my own horse!) but today was much better thankfully.
It's so difficult to get all the different elements (seat, legs, reins, hands, chin up, shoulders back, inside leg outside rein..........) right, but we WILL do it

Heh, I suppose so I feel so so lucky to be able to ride, and at the place that I do, the other helpers are like my family! They know me, and they know what to do if I start panicing, I dont know what I would do without them And my instructor is lovely, knows just how to push me within my comfort zone, and without scaring me - I'm a lucky duck!

Thank you for the messages guys, I feel a LOT better now xx

 

[JLD]

dont worry, you do so well and are so positive about things. I think you need hugs not kick up the back side, I did a show a few weeks ago. he was going beautifully and came second in prelim and thought I'd give the riding horse class a go - I couldnt do a thing with him dont know if he was tired or I was but he wouldnt canter at all just ran through his shoulder I tensed up and just wobbled about all twisted up and desparate - I felt a complete numpty, judge took me aside and kindly asked if I had considered having some lessons. - I do every month. I just chilled out and hacked for a month as I everytime I tried to school him same thing happened as I was expecting it to go wrong. just rembember how good that canter felt and keep feeling that in your head not the other bit. you'll be fine.

 

[Thelwell_Girl]

Thank you

Well done on the prelim!

I did Prelim 10... Once... Just about scraped 50%, and didnt get eliminated! No doubt had the worst score, but I was so proud of Dawi that I burst into tears as I saluted!

Horses... Cheeky little buggers, but we still love them!

I will It was an amazing canter, I wish I could replicate that in all my lessons!