On a massive downer after a lesson today :(

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electric_circus

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I had a lesson today on my old boy as the instructor who teaches OH on his horse suggested I joined in. I haven't had a lesson for a couple of years, though did previously have regular instruction from a BHSI, as my boy got rather creaky with his arthritis and we have just been hacking. He has hugely improved recently and the vet said he could do more, which is great :)

Anyway, I basically ended up in tears. My boy is so much weaker than he was last time we had a lesson and I didn't feel as though I could do anything right. The only remotely gratifying bit was that she got on him and didn't really get much more out of him than I could. He is reasonably well-educated but hates the school and would much rather be having an active retirement hacking and hunting; I just don't know why I did it :( My husband loves his lessons with this instructor, so think it is probably just me, but I feel absolutely horrible and like a terrible person for not wanting have lessons any more, like I think I'm too good or something :( Bit pointless, but I just wanted to share as OH is not really interested!
 
electric_circus said:
I feel absolutely horrible and like a terrible person for not wanting have lessons any more, like I think I'm too good or something :( Bit pointless, but I just wanted to share as OH is not really interested!
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We do this for fun so do what you and your old lad enjoy. You don't have to have lessons if they give you no pleasure there is nothing wrong with not wanting to have lessons.
Enjoy your old lad its not a crime to be older and creaky .If he (and you) love hacking and hunting then do that .You could always watch hubby's lessons and join in that way.
You want to look back on your lads autumn years with joy not in tears over something that doesn't matter
Hugs !!!
 
I haven't had a lesson for about three years!

I don't enjoy them and would rather do my own thing. You learn as you go with horses and the longer you have them the more you develop your own sense of what is right and how you prefer to do things.

I don't agree with a lot of the methods I see instructors dishing out, nor do I think that a lot of them are really that good.

Don't feel bad!
 
I think I feel so bad because she was saying that working him in the school (I do ride him correctly even out hacking) would prolong his working life and keep him strong for longer - which is what we all want for them, right?! He loves hacking and hunting, and, while I would gladly do dressage, his heart isn't in it. I love what makes him happy. Think he and I need to go on our favourite hack tomorrow and cheer up xx
 
Not sure I agree. If he is "creaky" the school may be quite hard for him in terms of bend. The thing that will keep him going longest in my view is regular work that keeps him supple but doesn't cause discomfort, and after all, riding (and horse owning is meant to be fun) I would do what you both like. Instructors don't always know best for you and your horse. He is yours so you get to choose !! Hope you enjoy your favourite hack :)
 
Tbh i think shes talking rubbish, if youre riding him correctly, hacking is probably way better for him both physically and mentally, just be careful on hard ground
 
Horses do most exercise left to their own devices in a field (according to a recent study that compared horses living out to horses stabled and worked daily in a school)... So if you just want to prolong his life (not working life - just life in general), taking him out for a hack or hunt is not going to harm him. As for prolonging his "working life", that's going to depend very much on what you want his "work" to be. If you want his work to be hacks and hunts, that's all you need to do. If you want him to have the strength and musculature of a dressage horse, he'll need schoolwork. But it sounds to me like you are both happy out in the open doing your own thing. There is no "right" activity to do with your horse and no specific height we should all be aiming to reach. Some people want their horsey lives to be about hacking - that's as good as anything and don't let anyone tell you you'd be a better horseperson if you schooled instead.
 
Thanks guys, this really does make me feel better.

He's done so many things in his life, and I used to school him 3/4 times a week as well as hacking for fitness and competing, but had quite a serious accident about 18 months ago and it was frankly a miracle that he came sound at all, let alone resuming the work he had done previously. After that I had decided (so I thought) that he didn't owe me anything and we would just do things he likes, ie hacking and hunting, in an active retirement as he really isn't the sort to just hang about in the field. He's pretty fit, hacking about 30 miles a week in all paces, ground permitting. I do make him work properly and we trot up every hill we come to! He is out 24/7 now, unless the weather is dismal as he is miserable in the wind and rain, and will come in at the end of October for the winter but still with daily turnout. I hired some local gallops a few weeks ago, which he adored - I honestly thought that this sort of regime was most likely to keep him going as long as he reasonably wanted to and would be more beneficial than schooling in circles.
 
You know your horse better than anyone, sounds like you were both enjoying things exactly as they were, you just had a wobble and let someone put doubt in your mind. Use this experience as proof you were right and go back to doing precisely what you were, as that is what you and horsey enjoy x
 
electric_circus said:
I think I feel so bad because she was saying that working him in the school (I do ride him correctly even out hacking) would prolong his working life and keep him strong for longer - which is what we all want for them, right?! He loves hacking and hunting, and, while I would gladly do dressage, his heart isn't in it. I love what makes him happy. Think he and I need to go on our favourite hack tomorrow and cheer up xx
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She is talking a load off poop....my 20 yr old doesn't go in the school anymore because he is getting stiffer. He can't cope with the constant bending but out hacking he is up for anything, although does go through stiff phases. I stopped schooling him last year when he started backing off.

Enjoy what you both enjoy.
 
Rubbish, you get out and enjoy your horse in the way you both see fit! If I took my 23 year old in a school now I'm fairly sure he would appear unlevel on a circle, he'd be heavy and definitely grumpy, as it is he's still walking the legs off anything we hack with. Keep on enjoying your boy OP.
 
Its the sort of thing instructors say, don't worry about it, do your own thing, walking is best thing for fitness, and mutual enjoyment, in my opinion. Though I love a canter in the woods.
 
There is a woman on my yard who keeps going on at me to school my horse or lunge him - drives me mad :mad: He is 20yrs old had 6 months off last year with an operation on his hind-legs. I love hacking him, he loves hacking and why would I want to risk him in the deep going in the school?!

We've done up to elementary and he has won lots of stuff over the 10 years I've had him and owes me absolutely nothing I can't see the point in schooling really. I do a bit of leg-yielding and shoulder in etc. whilst hacking on good ground to try to keep him supple and a bit more yielding to the rein as he has become a bit set but I don't want to spend much if any time in the school.
 
electric_circus said:
I think I feel so bad because she was saying that working him in the school (I do ride him correctly even out hacking) would prolong his working life and keep him strong for longer
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I really doubt this! The yard I was at with the highest proportion of old, working horses (about 20% were over 20) was a trekking yard. The horses only worked May - Oct and spent the rest of the time turned out on a mountain. When in work they were mostly ridden by total beginners, so not even vaguely correctly, with lots of walking. About once or twice a week they would get a better rider and go for a blast on the beach or pop some small logs. As far as they were concerned the indoor school was just a place to mount up when it was raining. There was one old boy of around 35 who was still going strong.

Okay I know the Spanish Riding School has lots of fit, working older horses so taken to that level and done correctly from the start it may be true that schooling extends the working life, but for your average horse and rider combo I'm really not so sure. You can always add in some lateral work in walk whilst out hacking or from the ground if you are worried about his suppleness.
 
I stopped having lessons because I felt the trainer was pushing both horse and me too hard and I stopped enjoying it once we got to elementary. Since, we have enjoyed TREC, Western, and just general pootling about and I really hope to show her this summer even just once. Do your own thing and let your horse be the judge.
 
Barnacle said:
Horses do most exercise left to their own devices in a field (according to a recent study that compared horses living out to horses stabled and worked daily in a school)... So if you just want to prolong his life (not working life - just life in general), taking him out for a hack or hunt is not going to harm him. As for prolonging his "working life", that's going to depend very much on what you want his "work" to be. If you want his work to be hacks and hunts, that's all you need to do. If you want him to have the strength and musculature of a dressage horse, he'll need schoolwork. But it sounds to me like you are both happy out in the open doing your own thing. There is no "right" activity to do with your horse and no specific height we should all be aiming to reach. Some people want their horsey lives to be about hacking - that's as good as anything and don't let anyone tell you you'd be a better horseperson if you schooled instead.
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Barnacle - do you have the link for that study, I would be really interested in reading it ....Thanks
 
I feel so sorry you had a horrid time yesterday, and are sad still today.

I think the trainer missed the point of your lesson, by the sound of it. I dare say you wanted to be social with your OH, give your horse a treat of something social in the school, do a bit of stretching and see where you are at.

I have had a few "oldies" for that type of lesson. If your horse had not been on the school for a while we would have started with a long rein stretch, then seen where he was at off you leg and relaxing to the contact, in walk. Maybe see how good he was in halt/walk. Adjust the walk long/short with as light an aid as possible. Looking at lateral suppleness would be in there, but working from where you are at, not from where you were several years ago. We would have trotted some, but heck, it is not about "performing" to some pre determined standard, it is about seeing where he is at, seeing what you would both enjoy working on, and being out in the open air having fun.

I don't think you are wrong not to go on the school if you don't want to go, but if you have a school available... then someone else helping you, or just by you yourself, may get a lot of fun, even on an oldie, having a play. It is about celebrating the small achievements of the horse, especially when they are loyal old faithfuls.

BTW I celebrate someone who is confident and competent to go out hacking and hunting. Many people are confined to a school not because this is what they prefer, but because they do not have the confidence and extra skills to do just what you are happy doing. That is cause for one huge celebration IMO. If I had to choose I would prefer hacking and no school at all to schooling and no hacking at all. I am sure your horse is happier too.

I believe Mark Rashid is still in England. I would thoroughly recommend going and seeing a clinic he runs if you can. Loads about softness and communication, and many riders stay in walk for the entire private lesson. It is fascinating nevertheless. Totally absorbing. I don;t think I have ever seen him pound a horse around the school.

I took my eventer to Mark Rashid one year, and although we did trot and canter, much of our work was actually done in halt! The school is just a convenient place to concentrate without distractions, it is not somewhere you have to fly about on. My current horse was sharp and scared of stuff. The school was a convenient place to concentrate on this, as ground work. It was hugely fun and absorbing getting him used to plastic, throwing beach balls at him etc. All in a fun and celebratory way.
 
electric_circus said:
Thanks guys, this really does make me feel better.

He's done so many things in his life, and I used to school him 3/4 times a week as well as hacking for fitness and competing, but had quite a serious accident about 18 months ago and it was frankly a miracle that he came sound at all, let alone resuming the work he had done previously. After that I had decided (so I thought) that he didn't owe me anything and we would just do things he likes, ie hacking and hunting, in an active retirement as he really isn't the sort to just hang about in the field. He's pretty fit, hacking about 30 miles a week in all paces, ground permitting. I do make him work properly and we trot up every hill we come to! He is out 24/7 now, unless the weather is dismal as he is miserable in the wind and rain, and will come in at the end of October for the winter but still with daily turnout. I hired some local gallops a few weeks ago, which he adored - I honestly thought that this sort of regime was most likely to keep him going as long as he reasonably wanted to and would be more beneficial than schooling in circles.
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Sounds wonderful - I can't imagine why you think it's a problem not wanting lessons! Who's to say what will prolong his working life - this sounds pretty good to me. Even if he'd last longer with schooling in a school (as opposed to riding out) and I don't think for one minute that he would - I'd rather go for fewer happier fun quality years for you and your boy with your current regime.
 
I would agree with the comments that correct schooling would prolong your horses working life as he is using himself properly...but you don't need to be in a school and you say you do this out anyway. Correct riding shouldn't only be for a ménage! Bad teacher to not look at what was in front of him/her or pay attention to an unhappy combination.
 
Mine has an operation in July; she had a tear in her meniscus; she loves loves hacking. She's brilliant at it! We go in the school once a month; just walk/trot no more than 40 minutes; usually a lesson too; my instructor is brilliant & realises she can't do what she used to do. Yesterday she did the best trot work ever; but canter she struggled so we called it a day: Maybe abit of canter if she's feeling ok - straight lines only as struggles on a circle. She canters on a hack sometimes; and she's always fine! We occasionally do a Intro dressage test & walk over the odd poles. We're actually moving to a different yard; which is just stables & grazing. As being at a competition yard is toxic when you have a horse who can't do it!

She may go to Boxing Day hunt if I feel she's up to it. At the minute she's not. She owes me nothing; done so much & even though she's only 13; she loves nothing more than being out in her field with horses & if she can't be ridden in 5 years than at least I know I can give her the retirement she deserves!
 
Arzada said:
Even if he'd last longer with schooling in a school (as opposed to riding out) and I don't think for one minute that he would - I'd rather go for fewer happier fun quality years for you and your boy with your current regime.
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This sums up quite a lot about life in general I think - just because we can prolong life doesn't mean it's the best thing - it's the quality of that life surely! X
 
I have just made the same decision for my horse. I am of the opinion that schooling can shorten working life through the stress it puts on them physically if we ignore signs of them struggling with it.
 
Thanks everyone, your comments really have made me feel better about this and that my decision that he's not going to do lessons is the right one :) We were both unhappy yesterday - he was trying, and he can do it if you really push, but finding it so much more difficult and it made me feel awful. He has always been so giving and it felt wrong to be trying to 'extract' the work that was once freely offered. I personally like schooling and lessons, but I can't really believe that many horses would choose to do schooling over hacking, given a choice - he has always tolerated schooling, but my view is why should he 'tolerate' something now that he is older when he has given me so much when he was young? I don't want to grind every last bit of work out of him, he deserves to enjoy his life now and if that's 'just' hacking/hunting for now then that's ok by me! I am going to hack him up to a local xc course to do play over some of the mini fences too over the next month I think. He's certainly not a decrepit old horse, but his age is starting to show and his enthusiasm for the school is rather diminished.
 
My mare and the last horse I had hated being in the school, both loved hacking. Don't beat yourself up, enjoy what you both love xx
 
Marydoll said:
Tbh i think shes talking rubbish, if youre riding him correctly, hacking is probably way better for him both physically and mentally, just be careful on hard ground
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What she said. You can do lots of things while you're out hacking to help him stay strong, but if he doesn't enjoy schooling (which means you don't either), why persevere? Hack him, hunt him, take him to the gallops or the beach - keep him moving . . . but don't feel any pressure to do dressage just because someone says you should - have fun together :).

P
 
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