My riding is regressing. What should I do?

[Rivonia]

I started riding just under two years ago, as a 38 year old total beginner, exclusively in individual lessons. I must say I have very little talent, but I just love it and I might go as far as to say I'm slightly horse-mad, which is quite funny on a grown woman My only goal is safe trail riding.

Anyhow, I was progressing at a pace of an energetic snail but I was going forward and I was very happy with it. I even went on 30km trail rides in mountainous terrain, complete with galloping along a mountain ridge - pure perfection.

About ten months in I went abroad for work, found a barn and continued riding. The new horses were large and very hard mouthed but apart from that highly trained and I would just think of doing something and it would magically happen.

Now I'm back to my home country and it all fell apart. I switched from my original barn because the arenas there are shared with no rhyme or reason. Trying to learn how to canter properly while trying to avoid total beginners, dressage and jumping practices at the same time is just too stressful and I stopped enjoying it. Up to 10 horses all doing their own thing is just too much for my riding level.

I tried a couple of other barns and I found only one horse I can ride up to my standard. It might help that she is 20, very experienced, and I think it helps that she is rather large which seems to offset my balance mistakes. (Just to add, I'm not heavy, 55kg, but I'm sure my balance could be a lot better). Other than that mare, my riding was atrocious. Like drunk leading the blind. I have to add that I get a feeling that other horses were not that well trained but I'm no expert so I might be wrong. One mare I rode was only 3 years old and I only managed to keep her on a proper circle five or six times... (Breaking horses so young is not unusual in my home country). It migh be that my hands are just too hard because I rode those hard-mouthed horses. I just have no idea what is happening.

So, what do I do? Go back to the old barn and stick with my old instructor and chaotic environment , try to find horses which are suited to my level, ride unsuitable horses (it might improve my riding but it might completely confuse me which is happening now) or even buy my own horse (finances and expert support are fortunately not an issue)?

Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors, I am not a native speaker.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Your Engish is fine, perfect
I think you are ready for your own horse if you can commit time and cash, but you need to find the one which is right for you, which is tricky in any country, but it seems that a lot of the horses you have seen so far are not suited to beginners to learn or better riders to enjoy.
You have support, does that include an arena a stable and a field and a companion as horses usually like to be kept in a herd.
As you are a lightweight you can consider a pony type certainly something less than 16.00hh.
Re your balance, can you go to pilates classes, perhaps you need to strengthen up your core muscles, I think you would have struggled with balance in other activities eg riding a bike, skating or ski-ing if you had a basic problem, other than that it might be a mix of lack of confidence, tension and speed of reaction.

 

[Rivonia]

Funny you should mention riding a bike, skating and skiing, I never learned any of those. But I have been walking on very high heals for almost 25 years with no issue I don't have balance issues in the loosing-my-seat sense, but I often catch myself leaning too much into the bend. That's why I mention that my balance might be a problem for smaller horses.

And you are right that finding the right horse might be a problem. My home country doesn't have a very large equestrian community. Most of the horses for sale are logging or work horses. I'm looking for a horse which knows how to collect, the adverts are offering "knows how to pull a plough, we rode him once to the village fair"

You are also right about me having a problem with turnout - not usually done around here. Horses are almost exclusively stabled or even tied in the old-fashioned communal stable. Arena and stabling will not be a problem.
Thank you for your response.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I think you need to get over this very simple riding balance thing, until you have done so will not be able to school your own. It will be a problem for both a pony and a horse to have an unbalanced rider, imagine you are learning to do ballet steps carrying a very tiny child on your shoulders, you will be able to do the basics as long as the child sits perfectly still, if it starts moving about you will have to adjust your whole body to cope and your basic dance steps are out the window.
It might be a good idea to book a week s holiday in a training centre abroad, do a full on week, learn practical horse management, stable management, feed management, and ride once a day and do lunging [you learn to lunge a horse] for half an hour. It will cost a lot at somewhere like Talland http://www.talland.net but it is a lovely part of the country and they have all the facilities required for teaching at your level. They can probably tailor packages to suit you, and will discuss you future plans, if you do go somewhere make sure you are as fit as you can be as you get more benefit if not struggling, they will be able to recommend some background reading, it helps a lot to understand the theory if you are going to do a lot of practical stuff.
There will be other places that can train you, but I know this one is long established, and has international reputation, plus lots of things going on, and accommodation.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

PS
Talland and others might be able to find you a suitable horse, but I think the stabling thing is a no no as far as I am concerned, horses need company and turnout, it is just not fair to keep them like a 1960's zoo animal, apart from welfare, there are behavioural issues.
I once owned a little mare which would have suited you, unfortunately I did not realise what a star she was tlll I had already sold here [long story], so they do exist but are few and far between. She was a schoolmaster, that is what you probably need, something that knows everything and won't take advantage of a beginner.

 

[Rivonia]

Talland looks lovely, thank you for the suggestion. My poor husband will have to sacrifice a vacation

You are quite right, I couldn't school a horse to save my life. Reading your post has clarified it for me, horse ownership is off the table for me at the moment. I love them too much to destroy one. And I'm sure I would

Stabling bothers me as well. Unfortunately, it's just how thing are done around here. I would have to buy my own property and a small herd to do it properly and, as you can see, I'm nowhere close to being capable of taking that on.

How would you think I can recognise horses which are suitable for my lessons? Just keep trying them out until I find the ones I can ride decently? Or do I stick with trying to ride the ones which I'm struggling with so that the gaps in my riding show and I focus on fixing them? As I said earlier, I can ride some horses nicely (for me) but it doesn't translate well to most.

I have to admit that I am not the most ambitious of riders and I have basically reached what I my brain sees as "good enough" (again, only on some horses). I know I should be more demanding of myself but I just do not have the drive, nor do I get any enjoyment from further arena schooling. Horses which I have to fight with or can't get through to due to my lack of skills have started to irritate me and the ones I can ride are now boring me. All I want to do is go on hacks and enjoy them. I think I actually need an attitude-adjusting stern talking to rather than my own horse

Thank you for your response, it got me thinking and helped me a lot.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

There are trail riding holidays, they have to have horses for all levels and the horse know the job, they will often ignore what is happening on top!
You can probably take hubby along if you can find something where he can do his own thing and you do yours,
my bro did a safari on horseback in South Africa [one day!] and he was over 60 and not horsey.
I know I used google to find a place that does beach riding and carriage driving and bread making in Portugal, a weird mix, but they do exist!

 

[Rivonia]

I should have said: "poor husband will have to sacrifice a vacation AGAIN"
I love those places and that's when I enjoy riding the most.

The next one I have planned is a spa, golf and Lippizaners hotel in Austria.

I will look at Portugal, it sounds like fun.

South African Safari sounds fabulous, but I lived there and unfortunately, wildlife is the least dangerous part of it. Annnnd... now I miss it a lot.

 

[Barnacle]

I would say that you should stick with the horses you are having trouble with. It sounds like the horses you were riding before were actually a bit too "easy" for you and now you're dealing with more of what I call a "real" horse and you just need time to adjust. If you keep at it, keep practicing, you'll improve much more quickly on those "difficult" horses than on the easier ones and you'll be able to ride a much wider range as a result.

You also sound like you have a fine attitude by the way. Not everyone has to be aiming for a competitive career! Going out on hacks is probably one of the most effective ways to improve your riding and you should go for it. Particularly if the horses you ride aren't perfectly schooled and will occasionally spook or wander off-course. Riding out, you'll rapidly develop balance and a better feel. If you have opportunities to do this with your instructor, you should also see if they'll let you lead the ride as it can be quite a different experience to following.

 

[Polar Bear9]

My mum always says riding seems to vary between periods of massive improvement and periods of plateau where it seems like nothing gets better. Shes a complete novice but I think she's right. Ive always found I improve hugely over a period of a few months then have little or no improvement for an age. It sounds like you are in one of these down periods.

I don't know where you are so can't offer any practical advice beyond looking at other places. Difficult horses are the best once you crack them though, that sense if achievement might be the making of you

Don't give up, you will get it if you keep at it. I would place a bet that in 3 months you will be back on here telling us how you've finally cracked it, found the perfect place and feel like you are back in the improvement stage

 

[Rivonia]

So, "green on green..." reporting back:

- Buck-at-Crop-and-Reverse-into-Horses-to-Kick-them ... handled. I still hate riding the little git. He is rather talented, but since I have no need for that squirrelly flying change at every step... whatever. I just do not like him at all.

- Unschooled-Good-Off-the-Leg: handled. She had a serious spook at a bird which was 50m away, my bum was very much out of the saddle but I somehow stayed on (read: grabbed anything that was grabable)

- All-other-Usual-Suspects... handled, more or less.

So, for anybody else in my situation, I decided to stick with "real" horses out of necessity and I am back to enjoying them. What helped me is to lower my expectations of my riding. And I think your mother is right (as mothers are want to), there are plateus which we need to get through.

Thank you everyone, you have helped me a lot.

 

[Rivonia]

Sorry, I forgot, I stopped aiming for collection, even in horses I know how to collect. I have no need for collection and I figured out that I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself trying to achieve it.

 

[Polar Bear9]

So, "green on green..." reporting back:

- Buck-at-Crop-and-Reverse-into-Horses-to-Kick-them ... handled. I still hate riding the little git. He is rather talented, but since I have no need for that squirrelly flying change at every step... whatever. I just do not like him at all.

- Unschooled-Good-Off-the-Leg: handled. She had a serious spook at a bird which was 50m away, my bum was very much out of the saddle but I somehow stayed on (read: grabbed anything that was grabable)

- All-other-Usual-Suspects... handled, more or less.

So, for anybody else in my situation, I decided to stick with "real" horses out of necessity and I am back to enjoying them. What helped me is to lower my expectations of my riding. And I think your mother is right (as mothers are want to), there are plateus which we need to get through.

Thank you everyone, you have helped me a lot.

Fab Mums.... always right. Plus it didn't take the 3 months I predicted last week

 

[Sarah W]

Have sent you a PM