New rider uncomfortable lesson

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Morton90

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Hello,
I have been having lessons for a couple of months as a beginner adult rider.
At my recent lesson I was on a horse who I was told doesn’t like being around other horses and appeared to be on constant alert to his surroundings and didn’t seem relaxed, during the group lesson he attempted to rear with me on his back all of which made me feel very uncomfortable.

My question is, is it natural to sometimes feel uncomfortable around a horse or is it my riding inexperience? I love horses & think they are truly a beautiful animal but feeling a little disheartened by my recent lesson.
 
I believe, as someone who taught adult novices for years, that an adult novice is to be protected until they are confident at walk, trot and canter. I mean secure, able to use legs and hand independently, and have knowledge of horse behaviour.

I used to start with lead rein the lunge lessons. People stayed on the lunge until they could survive all 3 gaits, including without stirrups. They would also have to give rudimentary aids. Only when they were in control of their own bodies would they be expected to take charge of the horse.

Sadly, for this, it means private lessons initially. That said, it could be done within a week for some people, at one lesson a week Mon to Fri. By the end of the second week I would expect them to be confident in a group session.

A novice on a horse rearing, where the horse is known not to like other horses near, in a group situation, is not ideal, no.

ETA- a couple of months doesn't mean much as it could be daily or once a fortnight!
 
Thank you.
I attend once a week and looking to have some additional private lessons.
The RS I attend starts beginners in group lessons on a lead rein.

I have felt happy and comfortable on all of the other horses, just on this particular one I felt uneasy.
 
Thank you for your replies, it is very helpful as I was unsure if this was a me problem.

Luckily the instructor was near and pulled the lead rein down which I think stopped him going fully up.
 
Thank you, I was upset I felt the way I did and questioned if it was a lack of confidence on my part.

I suppose it’s natural for a new rider to have those feelings in this situation?
 
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Morton90 said:
Thank you, I was upset I felt the way I did and questioned if it was a lack of confidence on my part.

I suppose it’s natural to for a new rider to have those feelings in this situation?
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I wouldn't expect a rider of your amount of experience to be confident at riding but you need to feel you can have confidence in your instructor.

I'm picturing this is a relatively small establishment that doesn't have a lot of options for safe horses that are suitable for adult-sized beginners. If so it's understandable that they struggled to give you a suitable horse this time but there was a point when they decided they valued your payment above your safety.
A school you could be confident in would have said "we're so sorry, Dobbin is waiting for the farrier to replace a shoe & Daisy is a bit lame so I'm afraid we need to cancel your lesson this week".

Which is a long winded way of saying I agree that you need to go elsewhere!
 
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Morton90 said:
Thank you, I was upset I felt the way I did and questioned if it was a lack of confidence on my part.

I suppose it’s natural for a new rider to have those feelings in this situation?
Click to expand...


For a real novice you did well not to wet your breeches 😁

It's not a situation you should have been put in.
I've ridden for 55 years and I wouldn't want to ride a horse I didn't know on a group lesson if I was told the horse didn't like other horses around

You did well. You were let down by the riding school.
 
Red-1 said:
I used to start with lead rein the lunge lessons. People stayed on the lunge until they could survive all 3 gaits, including without stirrups.
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I am a great advocate of lunge lessons. At my second RS, I had many lessons on the lunge, for balance, including eventually bareback.

But one needs to be realistic. As an older adult beginner, I have never cantered without stirrups. I doubt if I could. When I enquired, the RI said it wasnt worth the risk.
So I dont meet your minimum requirements yet I have hacked and cantered for over 20 years now. Both escorted and on my own.
 
ycbm said:
For a real novice you did well not to wet your breeches 😁

It's not a situation you should have been put in.
I've ridden for 55 years and I wouldn't want to ride a horse I didn't know on a group lesson if I was told the horse didn't like other horses around

You did well. You were let down by the riding school.
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Do people even wear breeches these days!!!!! 😂😂😂

As for the riding school, Did the horse try to rear or did it bunny hop/ bounce?

If the school is otherwise good and look after their horses and you then I would quietly raise this with them and ask not to ride that horse until you
are more accomplished.
If not I'd look for another place to ride.
 
Thank you everyone for your responses.

It happened quite fast, I was stood still waiting for my turn to trot, the horse moved backwards and I felt a lift from the front. The instructor moved quickly to pull the lead rein firmly down towards the ground, she asked me several times after if I was okay.
 
When I was a child learning to ride, maybe 6 or 7yo, I was riding a cob that went vertical when a tractor went by, nearly pulled the instructor off her feet. I stayed on and don’t even remember being frightened, but it’s clearly stayed with me.

I don’t believe novice riders should be put on unreliable horses, it can really have an impact on you. Hope you’re ok and find a more suitable pony to enjoy learning to ride on.
 
Years ago and as a novice it wouldn't have phased me, I did learn as a fearless kid though. Now as an adult and ex instructor I think Id have gotten off. One thing I wont tolerate is rearing horses. I'm older and wiser and know someone in a wheelchair from a horse that reared and went over on her.
 
Skib said:
I am a great advocate of lunge lessons. At my second RS, I had many lessons on the lunge, for balance, including eventually bareback.

But one needs to be realistic. As an older adult beginner, I have never cantered without stirrups. I doubt if I could. When I enquired, the RI said it wasnt worth the risk.
So I dont meet your minimum requirements yet I have hacked and cantered for over 20 years now. Both escorted and on my own.
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I said survive the gaits, not ride them for any length of time. My reasoning is that, quite often, a rider will go foetal in position when worried and lose a stirrup. I want them to know that a lost stirrup in canter is not the end of the world and be able to stay aboard whilst the execute a plan to either re-find the stirrups or survive a downward transition to trot and pull up, without bouncing sideways to the floor. I like them to learn this skill whilst the horse is still under my control, so they can out a hand under the saddle to stabilise themselves. I think it is relatively safe to do this, on a quiet and obedient horse, who is kept balanced and rhythmic, while the rider practices a safe conclusion to a common mishap. I would initially use a horse who could go walk/canter and canter/walk so, if the rider was unbalanced, I could keep them safe.

I had very few falls. Never from the lunge.

Most horses used for lunge lessons are not trained to a degree where they remain balanced and rhythmic. Mostly, at riding schools, I see unbalanced horses, leaning in, heads out, rushing... Lessons on a schoolmaster riding school horse are nothing like a schoolmaster dressage lesson, but those trained horses are worth their weight in gold.
 
Red-1 said:
Most horses used for lunge lessons are not trained to a degree where they remain balanced and rhythmic. Mostly, at riding schools, I see unbalanced horses, leaning in, heads out, rushing... Lessons on a schoolmaster riding school horse are nothing like a schoolmaster dressage lesson, but those trained horses are worth their weight in gold.
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Its also very hard on the horses, and the instructors. I worked somewhere that taught most people on the lunge. I had days where for 7 hours I did lunge lessons. My back and neck have never recovered and the horses, even though they only did 2 hours a day max, really suffered for it.
 
I'm still a novice rider, OP, or rather I will be again when I start riding after a break of about a year.

It's really not safe, as others have written, to put an absolute beginner on a difficult horse.

As GM wrote, your RS might not have many "safe horses that are suitable for adult-sized beginners" and really should have suggested that you skip a lesson when a suitable horse isn't available.

Lack suitable horses certainly is the case where I had my Saturday morning lessons. Add to that some better ones being kept back for competition the following Sunday. So I regularly got "the difficult ones", but I quickly learnt to ask the instructor to tell me if the horse had any particular quirk or behaviour that I should know about.

I often got the horse who "doesn't like other horses" in a group lesson, but in a big (I think 40m x 60m) this was manageable, especially when there were only about eight of us.

As for rearing, I've luckily never had a horse do that on me. But a few times I was given a horse who had a way of going into trot that surprised and unsettled me the first couple of times. On being asked for transition from walk to trot he would lift his entire front end up and almost jump forwards into the trot, but then settle into a nice rhythm straight away. Scary the first time, curious the second time and then I didn't give it any thought after that. I had asked about quirks, but that one wasn't mentioned.
 
Skib said:
Similar to you. Our RI had an exercise on the lunge which simulated a spook. You were in walk and had to shut your eyes and the RI made the horse canter. I did it once, and didnt lose a stirrup.
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I like to replicate 'minor emergencies' in a safe environment, so the rider can stay thinking when a real emergency does happen.
 
As a former RS owner I can categorically say if a horse reared it would no longer be RS horse. Small bucks/bunny hops from excitement would be tolerated occasionally from horses ridden by experienced riders but if repeated or anything more would lead to a thorough vet check and schooling programme before returning to lessons.
 
Thank you. I hope I don't seem I am being dramatic, I wondered if I was just being silly feeling as uncomfortable as I did.

I really value the input of experienced riders it helps with my learning.

I am going to speak to the instructor at my next lesson.
 
Horses are horses and non is guaranteed to be 100% reliable .
I think Op I would think of this as a valuable step on the learning curve what you have felt for the first time your sixth sense telling you all is not well .
Talk it through with your instructor next time .
Enjoy your riding journey .
 
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