Riding instructor alway late

[Mary3050]

Hi guys,

My nieces is having issues with her instructor always being late .
How would you approach your riding instructor always being late. Usually it’s about 5 minutes of clients running over but sometimes it can be 15 or 20 minutes. She won’t always get the time back . Just to add she never get told she is running late which in winter means her horse is tacked up getting cold until she ready .

She can’t swap instructors as she had to have to have the YO who is good. My niece often has lesson on her lunch break so only has 1 h 30 . She makes the extra up at the end of day . Often go help her tack up and watch her ride. She often get the time back if I am watching but not on her own .

Any suggestions on how she can approach this ?

Thanks

 

[Leandy]

I'd tackle this just as with any other service provider ie have a sensible conversation about timekeeping and expectations and communication and sometimes feeling shortchanged. Perhaps the instructor is unaware of your niece's time constraints. Having said that, as with anything involving animals, I do think a bit of flexibility is required on both sides. Working with horses is not amenable to strict time keeping. Sometimes things take longer than expected. Are there also times when the instructor goes over the time your niece is technically paying for also because the lesson requires it? I'm not sure why the horse is getting cold waiting though, that is not the instructor's fault?

 

[Surbie]

If I understand it correctly the instructor is also the YO? I'd talk to the them and be clear about the time issues or short lessons.
But the horse needn't be cold - surely your niece could continue the warm-up so she is ready to crack on when they arrive?

 

[Mary3050]

If I understand it correctly the instructor is also the YO? I'd talk to the them and be clear about the time issues or short lessons.
But the horse needn't be cold - surely your niece could continue the warm-up so she is ready to crack on when they arrive?

She disabled so not really supposed to be riding without instructor. Most of the time she can’t go in the arena because the other horses isn’t sensible enough as told by instructor. If I am there I walk him around the yard but not a lot else we can do . Thank

 

[ruth83]

Have a frank discussion with them about it. I am a coach and feel like I spend my coaching life running 5-10 minutes late! I'm usually early for most other things I do! As has been said above it can be hard to stick to time when working with animals. As a travelling coach traffic is also a challenge - you can guarantee there will be an extra set of roadworks which weren't there this morning if you're running tight to time.

I agree with the above, make sure coach knows the time constraints and is also made very aware when they have short changed on time. Perhaps open a conversation about how to get the horse warmed up if your niece is unable to get on without supervision.

It sounds like a difficult situation because you have Hobsons choice, but nothing will change if the discussion isn't approached

 

[Annagain]

Rather than take an extended lunch, could she start work a little later and have a lesson very first thing, say 8 or 8.30? At least that way there'll be nobody in front of her to run into her time slot.

 

[teapot]

Challenge it - she's paying for a service at the end of the day. Why we let standards slip just because it's 'horses' is beyond me.

Also second what @Annagain has suggested too.

 

[Red-1]

When I was teaching, I would generally leave 15 minutes between lessons. Seems rude not to really, as you have to get one person put of the arena and the next in, not to mention a toilet stop or whatever.

If doing a few lessons, I may do two back to back, but always have 15 minutes then. Makes for a much more relaxed feel, you can actually take an interest and pass the time of day. Maybe lend a hand to load or have a cup of coffee or a snack. I actually hate it when trainers snack during my lesson time.

My lessons are £60 for 45 minutes, so I prefer not to pass the time of day during that time LOL.

 

[Lois Lame]

If the time is never somehow made up, I wouldn't be impressed.

Oh I see you actually wrote: 'she won’t always get the time back.' That's not as bad as I thought.

 

[Mary3050]

I mean with the time . Say If they are due to start at 12 . She doesn’t turn up until 12:15 . It’s supposed to be 50 minutes. They sometimes finish 12:50 or sometimes they will go 5 mins later but never usually the full 15 .

 

[AmyMay]

Just stop the lessons, and when asked for the reason tell them why. It may make them buck up their ideas.

 

[Mary3050]

When I was teaching, I would generally leave 15 minutes between lessons. Seems rude not to really, as you have to get one person put of the arena and the next in, not to mention a toilet stop or whatever.

If doing a few lessons, I may do two back to back, but always have 15 minutes then. Makes for a much more relaxed feel, you can actually take an interest and pass the time of day. Maybe lend a hand to load or have a cup of coffee or a snack. I actually hate it when trainers snack during my lesson time.

My lessons are £60 for 45 minutes, so I prefer not to pass the time of day during that time LOL.

They live on site so should be an issue. She pays £50 for 50 minutes . Often find the instructors gone to make a quick tea and doesn’t come back for 15 minutes

 

[Mary3050]

Just stop the lessons, and when asked for the reason tell them why. It may make them buck up their ideas.

Some who I doubt that as they are booked up a few weeks in advance . I do wonder if she does it with the other clients or if it’s just my niece .

 

[AmyMay]

Some who I doubt that as they are booked up a few weeks in advance . I do wonder if she does it with the other clients or if it’s just my niece .

Even so, just stop the lessons.

 

[YorkshireLady]

Does your niece enjoy the lessons? That is the first question - if yes then work with them to sort.

If no...you may be looking at difference scenarios

 

[MuddyMonster]

I agree that starting lessons late is unprofessional and I think in the first instance, I'd have a polite, quiet word. If she only does it when you're not there, your niece probably needs to learn to do this on her own.

Although, my lessons are rarely ever the full length of time - our consensus is, if the horse has worked hard & we're ending on a positive note, it doesn't really matter about 10-15 minutes. If the lesson is always set up to end on a positive and generally productive, I'd be less concerned personally.

Is the horse your nieces or is she having a lesson on a horse beginning to YO? Who tacks up the horse? If its a RS set up, I would expect the staff to be tacking up & keeping horse warm.

 

[Mary3050]

I agree that starting lessons late is unprofessional and I think in the first instance, I'd have a polite, quiet word. If she only does it when you're not there, your niece probably needs to learn to do this on her own.

Although, my lessons are rarely ever the full length of time - our consensus is, if the horse has worked hard & we're ending on a positive note, it doesn't really matter about 10-15 minutes. If the lesson is always set up to end on a positive and generally productive, I'd be less concerned personally.

Is the horse your nieces or is she having a lesson on a horse beginning to YO? Who tacks up the horse? If its a RS set up, I would expect the staff to be tacking up & keeping horse warm.

sometimes they don’t seem to finish on positive notes sometimes it’s like Urm that enough trying for today . It’s my nieces horse, not a riding school . It’s depends usually it’s usually One of our family members or my niece on her own . Either the yard staff help and take the horse down or I do it

 

[Cob Life]

Id speak to them

its not unusual for my instructor to be 5mins late but i always get the time back and often a extra 5 or so minutes, she knows I’m not in a rush so it’s not an issue for me, but 15-20 mins is taking the piss

 

[Winters100]

As someone who is always on time that would drive me nuts. Personally I would advise your niece to have a word, to politely explain that her schedule is busy, and to ask if it would be easier if they scheduled the start of the lesson a little later to avoid the problem of not starting on time. Hopefully raising it as an issue would be enough to stop it from happening.

 

[Bonnie Allie]

I would not tolerate that at all. I would be having a direct unambiguous chat about how disappointed you are on the professionalism shown by the instructor.

Ask the instructor directly if she treats all of her clients this way or does she consider people with disabilities to be somehow less important?

And then I would sack her.