Peoples comments

[LuanneCat]

Sorry am post mad tonight

. So throughout your riding career however long that may be are there any comments by others that you remember and or have affected you?










At age 11 a top dressage judge said to my mother about me "ahh, what an accomplished little pilot". Remember this as am often so insecure about my abilities and am reminded I can pull it off.

er also overheard someone say from outside the ring roughly a few years later as muppet pony was riding jumped the wing and decked me great style, "Well lets hope that useless kid never moves on to horses"

Lol.

Also remember at aged 8 falling off little pony as she slipped going around bending poles and instructor just looking at me and shouting "What are you doing down there!!! get back on that pony!!". Crack up every time remembering that now

.

 

[RunToEarth]

Hmm, when I was about 8 my instructor told me if I didn't stop leaning forwards I was going to end up having a nasty fall, that prompted my sometimes defensive seat, I have a typical hunting seat when it comes to jumping hedges

Also boxing day 2005- Robert Whitaker was out on Mac (finn) and commented on what a great seat I had, that made my year!!!!!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Child stating 'Big Arse' just as I rode past him and his dad on my coloured cob...........I hope he was talking about the horse!!!

 

[the watcher]

An early trainer commented that what I lacked in skill and balance I made up for with bravery - sadly these days I'm not too brave either

 

[Tinkerbee]

my instructor always says "you may not be the best, by by God your ass sticks on"

er...thanks?

lol, thats why the always chuck me on the nutters...

then helen fine tunes them

 

[Taboo1968]

I remember an old instructors words to a lady he was teaching once and it has always stuck with me especially when I see the same thing happening.....

The words were "Stop Sh***ing that bloody saddle and ride the horse properly"

I also earnt the name velcro bum a few years ago!

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

An instructor commented to me, about me and my arab.....

'You look as though you were born to ride that horse, and he was born for you to ride him'.

 

[angiebaby]

Well, as I had never sat on a horse until I was 40 ( was so scared I was sick!) every time I ride is an accomplishment for me!

:However, now, after 5 years I ride my daughters NF gymkhana pony who is bonkers, I jump him and everything, He's brill. My riding instructor says; "Every week you amaze me by riding better and better and with more confidence"
Such a teachers pet!

 

[saskia295]

During my 23 years of riding, I've constantly heard the words "well sat" which always makes me chuckle. Sometimes I amaze myself at how the hell I manage to stay on sometimes!

I also had a rescue horse when I was about 14, completely reschooled and retrained her and she ended up being a top WH. I was hacking her out locally one day and this woman who was walking her dog said "You've done wonders with that horse". I took said horse to a small local show and the judge was having a look at her and said "My God, is this Pearl?" and when I said yes she said "What an incredible job you've done".. HOORAY! Always nice to know when you've done something right!! What a horse she was

RIP sweetpea.

 

[Baileysno1]

Recently I had

(at the top of her voice)

''FINALLY Clare you're riding that horse instead of sitting there like a lettuce''


If you had my trainer you'd have been very proud and smug like I was! It really made me think hooray I'm getting somewhere.

 

[MagicMelon]

I had someone who'd bought one of my "project" ponies say "you must train horses really well" which made my day

 

[BeckyD]

I think the best thing said to me (apart from a lot of "well sat!"'s over the years) was when i was having lessons at a riding school/BSJA yard. I was lucky enough to be taught by the head teacher and he used to tell me tales about his BSJA riders. I would have loved to have had enough money to stay there to learn to SJ at good level (which is what people did) and I was saying this to him one day and he said the nicest thing ever, along the lines that I didn't need to as I already have more riding talent in my little finger than they'll ever have

I was sooo happy, I have so little confidence in my riding ability but that really gave me a boost. I didn't agree with it or believe it but it was nice of him to say it. He was very plain speaking and wasn't afraid to tell me when I was riding like a numpty.

I've had lots of terrible things said about my riding too! My old YO said very loudly to some new clients (when showing them round) "a clear case of over-horsing" and pointed at me. I was 15, about 5 goot 4 and riding a barely 16hh TBx who was very much NOT over-horsing me. I can't ever think of a time when I was incapable of riding her, we used to have great fun and I only fell off her once (in 7 years!) when I was jumping a grid without stirrups or reins and she ducked out one way and I went the other (landed on my feet though!).

Oh, and lots of bad comments about my right shoulder not being where it should be, my hands not being matched as a pair, looking down etc etc.

Oh! The worst ever comment was from my favourite riding instructor when I was riding my fave pony and he was uncharacteristically starting to refuse. She shouted at me and told me I was ruining him and teaching him to refuse (by dropping the contact before a fence) and she wasn't going to let me ride any good poines until I learnt to ride them properly! I was gutted. I've kept that with me ever since and am now paranoid about droppping the contact before a jump. I'm glad she said it though as sometimes you just need to be told bluntly.

B (with apologies for the length!)

 

[pinkcatkin]

I've never had a huge amount of confidence about my riding ability but at one point made a huge effort to start jumping and had some lessons from a local producer and eventer who in most people's opinions around here is a top man. I was very flattered when I heard him say to my (very accomplished) friend that I was a pretty good jump jockey. Same chap said I should be very proud of myself after watching me do a dressage test at Gt. Witchingham. Praise indeed. I think it's all been downhill since then.....!!!

 

[Broodle]

I remember being in a group lesson when I was about 10 or 11 and desperately trying - but failing - to get my pony to canter. In a very childish manner I ended up getting really cross and calling the pony a "twit" out loud... Instructor called me in to the middle and told me in no uncertain terms that I was the twit not the pony and that I must always remember this. She made me chant it out loud during my next attempt just to drum it home. It was a very good humbling lesson to learn and has always stuck with me!

 

[Shilasdair]

I've had endless lessons....and endless comments...a few memorable ones being
'The trouble with you, is you get so much bl**dy impulsion, then you don't know what to do with it'
and
'How the Hell did you stay on that?' (when a cob I was riding down a grid of approx 3ft literally went down on it's chest between fences) - as that was from a well known person I was quite smug...

Most instructors are quite kind...although a certain eventer/dressage judge with the initials NB told me to 'Stop sticking your a**e out; you look like a duck'
S

 

[Cop-Pop]

Not sure what my best comment was but certainly one of the worst is when my very skinny instructor informed me that people as fat as me shouldn't be allowed to ride as it was disgusting - I was v depressed afterwards.

I can remember riding my first pony in a gymkana - he was an ex RDA pony and all the other ponies shot off and Pip just plodded down to the end stood like a rock while I got into teh fancy dress constume and plodded back up again - we came 3rd because everyone as still trying to get back on their ponies. The lady presenting the rossette gave Pip a polo and said he was the sweetest pony at the show

I always remeber that when I'm training a new horse.

 

[spider]

"Now I've seen you sit a buck I'm not afraid to tell you to whack him". First lesson with new instuctor while riding nappy pony. I obviously looked like I would fall straight off!

"Perhaps you'd like to try the clear round jumping" accompanied by muffled giggles over the PA system after we refused the first jump about 6 times. Thing was we'd jumped the clear round 3 times with no problems. I haven't entered a jumping competition since.

 

[BroadfordQueen]

I've been told, "you are an extremely effective rider" from a very advanced showjump trainer. Also am known as being "the brave one who will attempt to jump ANYTHING if you ask her to!"

 

[rara007]

mmmm

"she's a determined little sod isn't she". Trying to persaude my welsh A just gelded pony strainght from the show ring the the flag race was fun.

My teacher when I was 7 loved me...I was 'her best pupil' (so she said) and I was also her only child pupil.

Neat little rider

One thing that really annoyed me, was when I was 7 I went to a BYRD's training camp, with my ex BSJA 11.2, and they told me I should 'strap her down'.

 

[sugarnspice]

Hmm, current instructor has said lots of lovely things (don't mean that as arrogantly as it looks!).
As daft as I am going to sounds the one that comes to mind first was probably when LizzieJ off of the fourm came down to see us at camp having a XC session, he was being a sod the whole day through Flatowork and then again XC and eventually got me off.
She broke him in you see, so I really felt she must think what an awful home he was in and he could do much better for himself. But she said "I rode him well" (or similar).
That really stuck with me and gave me the courage to try him the second day, when he was foot perfect

.
Also, someone else said "You were very good, you didn't get angry with him, just quietly corrected the bad behaviour without losing patience". That made me feel a lot better as well

 

[Hemirjtm]

The one that sticks in my mind "pick him up, your riding really badly" this was from an instructor who when she was leaving the yard came up to me and said "I'm sorry you felt i was hard on you, keep going adn keep your chin I the only reason i was hard on you was because I can see what you have, and want you to get somewhere"!!

And then one day i was jumping a really stroppy mare who would jump anything until you didn't say she had to, or she felt she could get away with it, and this day we were jumping without reins and my instructor decided that instead of jumping the 'silly' 2ft6 jumps that the others were doing at the end she would put it up to 3ft6...and see what would happen! Well, still without reins i popped her over the first two parts of the triple and the third one she was just trying to go off to the left to run out, I put my left leg on and over we went! And the OWNER of this horse had just come into the school to see how her mare was doing and said something (to my mum) along the lines of...."I hope her mum's here, she should see what her daughter can do with that stroppy mare of mine, if i tried doing that with her (this woman was competing her to a good level....1.25m + I think) she would have me on the ground in a flash!" When my mum came up to me afterwards i was so chuffed as I have no confidence in myself and always believe that i can't do things

The woman we bought Hemir from "you are the best teenage rider i have seen in a long time, you listen, do what i told you to do and then made it work for you and him, thats what makes a good rider...you may not have all the best riding teachers in the world and not all the techniques but you can get on any horse, and make it do what you want it to do" The next day she let me take her 6yr old out for a hack (and she said she NEVER let anyone out on him, as he would take the pi** and dump that person...I came back clean

and one last one "Why did you buy THAT horse?" makes me smile when i think how he was at the begining andd how he is now!!!

I have so many comments that stick with me, some are good, some are ok, and some are nasty. But none have ever made me go big headed or feel really bad about myself, i don't think i'm a very good rider, but thats my feelings about it, wheras all my riding instructors have said otherwise

 

[Seahorse]

When I worked for Bar Hammond I used to ride her retired GP dressage horse, and she once said that I rode him better and with more quality than she ever did

not bad seeing as they came 6th in the Nationals!
Pity he was so old....

 

[jenbleep]

one thing that wasn't a nice comment - made me lose my confidence with jumping as well. i was working for a showjumper in Cornwall and was riding one of her schoolmasters.......she said 'i'll put you on something else next time..........i don't want you ruining my horses'.

it's taken me about 4 years to get over that! she said it in front of 4 people! now all i want to do is get back down there and have another lesson.........yeah shove that in your pipe and smoke it love

about 3 months ago i was having a lesson at a yard in Dorchester......i wasn't feeling so particularly good about my riding at that point and i was waiting for my lesson on a horse, when the manager came out (she's ridden BSJA, BE) and said 'put jenny on (whatever his name was) she's a good pilot and can sit on him'.

it just reminds me that although i do have bad days, im generally not bad and i have to stop being so hard on myself!!