Riding school horses AHHH

[Irishdiamond]

What do you do about lazy hard-mouthed riding school horses? I've had to change schools where my local one I rode this sensitive, soft mouthed mare who was wonderful!! except for the odd taking off when she felt like it (but always stopped at the end of the ride again so it was okay) I've had to move schools because of my job and I want to take my BHS so I moved to an exam center. Ive only ridden two of their horses but unless I pay for privates I dont think they'll put me on the horses used for the exams. One of them was so hard-mouthed and just straight up ignored everything I asked.

I struggled to even get him to canter without flapping about like a chicken and when I tried to use my voice Clicking etc (I was told to be quiet & that the horse should only ever hear the instructors voice?!' which i don't agree with. I felt like I wasn't in control as the horse refused to listen to my attempts of slowing down or cantering or anything in general. I could feel him grab the bit and lean so heavy in my hands. (Obviously not all horses are like this)

Ahhh what to do!!! The lesson is the ONLY one I can ride in because of my work but I tried to do things the BHS way and was told off saying "it dosent matter, do it this way." This has put me off the instructor completely as I need to be doing things the BHS way to practice it.

Also, What does everyone recommend trying to keep distance in a riding school? I'm really struggling as I use half halts and ride into my corners but still end up right at another horses bum which has me spending the whole lesson trying to slow down but the horse does NOT listen. Even when I tried to use my voice he ignored it all..
Then he refused to slow down when I had no stirrups which was very frustrating as the ride was going at working trot speed and as you can imagine I just about stayed on.
I've been spoilt riding a sensitive horse so now every other horse feels so much more difficult

 

[Merlod]

Don't blame the horse if you aren't equipped enough as a rider to get them working well. Sorry but it's true. I used to be a WP and we rode everything in the school and complaning about your mount was an absolute no (else you'd be kicked out of the lesson) you need to be able to ride and improve the horse you are presented with on the day, some horses are easier than others. Never expect to get on a horse and for it to carry you around perfectly, we had to learn to ride anything effectively (as did they people coming to take their BHS exams) and all ours were stage 2-4 or youngsters preparing for RS and then we'd see a senior instructor get on and it was clear that the horses had the right buttons, but we were still learning how to use them. I would suggest trying a different instructor at your centre, see if another approach will help you learn to ride these horses

As for the distance, ask your instructor if you can work in open order. Then you will be able to circle away and do your own thing

 

[Hexx]

Riding school horses are clever critters. They know exactly how to do as little as possible!

I worked at a very large riding school in the south east and the staff used to ride the ponies once a week instead of their normal livery horses. Those ponies could half pass, pirouette, leg yield, one could piaffe and all could work in an outline to some degree or other.

I used to ride a little cob mare called Polly at one riding school, we just clicked and she always went really well for me. We had a new instructor who refused to believe that it as Polly that I was riding - we almost had a stand up row with her accusing me of lying to her - the others in the class kept saying "No, she is on Polly - that's just the way she goes when H rides her".

 

[Tiddlypom]

Well, I had been thinking of posting a thread in praise of riding schools and school horses! I've had an enforced break from riding after losing a horse, and wanted a quick refresher course before horse hunting again. It'll be 45 years since I last rode in a RS.

Have just had a couple of fabulous confidence giving 1 to 1 lessons from a BHSI on a big cob who also does RDA, which have helped me get right back in the groove. My mount undoubtedly started with the idea of 'how little can I get away with?!' and we both surprised ourselves by powering round the school in balance and harmony at the end.

Three cheers for good RSs!

 

[Equi]

Whilst I agree you need to be able to ride any horse your on, you also need to learn to ride good horses. No one ever learned how to ride properly on a bad horse.

If there is very little you can do about it I would get some private sessions in, so you can learn how best to work this particular horse.

 

[Shay]

RS horses are different from privately owned horses of course - but merlod is right. BHS exam horses are not any different - unless you are a complete beginner in which case you might get something more super safe. The trick in BHS exams is to get a tune out of what you are given. The examiners don't look for the perfect mount and a passenger. They look for a more complex mount and someone who can ride it.

You've been lucky to have a forward going horse before. Now you need to learn how to get anything going well. If you want to take your BHS exams at that center the enroll on their BHS courses or take private lessons with the express intent of practicing for Stages. The more experience you have on a broad type of horses the netter chance you have of passing.

And no - don't click! Examiners hate it!

 

[teapot]

Sounds like a typical stage one horse that has learnt how to do the least possible!

A clever RS horse can be a far harder ride than the more sensitive types. Assume you had a stick? And the best possible thing to do when they lean is not to give them anything to lean into, especially if they're a typical RS type. As for distances, circle away from the ride if you have to, don't sit there and fight to slow down or have your half halts ignored.

 

[Wishful]

The horses at the RS I go to are almost as good at instructing as the instructors themselves. All of them will go in an outline if you're good enough, as well as doing RDA and beginners (other than a few of the more sensitive ones). Of course a lot of the "beginners' horses" are less easy to get going well.

I think a lot of RSs have a safe and steady "tester" who can go nicely but will try out a new to them rider and show who can ride and who just thinks they can. The place I go has a mareish grey mare who can be nappy and will wave a leg the first time you use the whip. If you ignore her and ask her to go forward she has a really lovely rhythmical trot and not a bad canter. If you don't get after her or back off she shuffles around looking half dead then parks in the corner or naps to her best frenemy...

Quite a few like to lean - not giving them anything to lean against - soft hands and release before asking again to slow or soft. Same with leg aids - release and ask again.

Other horses in the yard will drop out of canter if you forget to breathe or get tense as you get tense. Some rush if it gets too tense, others go nowhere. Some take advantage by tanking off, others by stopping but if you prove you can ride, you mean what you ask and won't be bouncing around and catching them in the mouth then you can get the stuffy old cob into a lovely powerful trot and it feels like such an achievement.

It is easier once you get to ride in open order as you can manage distances and napping better.

 

[View]

OP, not all horses are the same, and it's your job as the rider to find out how to get the best from the horse you are riding.

Given the number of horses required for a centre to run a Stage 1 exam, I would be astonished if the horses used for exams aren't used in normal lessons.

Does this instructor know that you want to sit Stage 1? If not, you need to have a discussion about your ambitions.

BTW, in my experience there is no BHS way - with one exception which is to work and ride safely.

As an example, when I sat Stage 1, there were people changing trot diagonals only when the change of rein was complete and others changing across the centre line, and the same with whips.

And please do get out of the habit of clicking- that is not encouraged.

But I have found that so long ass you can give a reason to the examiner, your action is likely to be accepted. Having said that you should get out of the habit of clicking, I found myself in stage 2 being very vocal when my second horse in the jump unit started backing off two strides out from a fence. That close I wasn't going to unbalance him by using the whip, my legs weren't enough, so used my voice - and this was accepted by the examiner.

Riding school horses are interesting - in many cases how they go is a reflection of the rider. As one BHS examiner put it, the horses are the real assessors.

 

[Happy Ponies]

Riding school horses really know how to get out of doing work, they do the same so much they have grown accustomed to doing it and how to get out of it I have ridden all kinds of riding school horses, some are very sensitive and would have a spook (some quite serious as well!) others I dreaded to ride as they were like slugs.

It's always best to try and not sit nagging, it switches them off to your leg very quickly. If it isn't responding to your leg, tap with a whip behind your leg to wake them up (I know that my riding school have a 1 kick rule when doing transitions). Voice use can be okay but in lots of circumstances it's not prohibited, such as dressage competitions, so it is best to not use it although I am very vocal to keep myself breathing so not sure I'd fit in at your particular school!

There were a few who used to feel like they were 'leaning' on me but were instead putting themselves in an outline or traveling on the forehand. A little left right wiggle or you not pulling against them will help.

Although you may want to pass BHS exams, I think the most important thing is to be able to ride the horse in that situation correctly, because that way you are working them better for the lesson. You can't expect every horse to respond the way you want, at the end of the day each horse is different and has different reactions so won't have what the BHS want.

In reguadds to distences, if you are too close and it's a big issue, just circle away. Likelihood is that you will just annoy the horse by constantly slowing them which can make things worse (I've had it happen). Your instructor can't moan if you are too close as saftey is important in a group situation. If you've only ridden the horse once, they are probably testing you, one at my yard was always doing it to new riders but as soon as he knew your skill he worked appropriate to you.

 

[gnubee]

Have they told you these horses are never used for exams? Many places will have horses they use more often for that kind of thing but I'm not aware of any that would hold an entire second string for lessons, and most wouldn't have anything over 14.2 that they wouldn't think suitable to use if necessary.
I think the issue might be more with your riding than the horses, particularly if it's happened with 2 different ones. New riding schools are always difficult as you get to know the horses and the pattern of the lessons. I suspect part of the problem you have had is that because you don't know the horses you are getting in the wrong place in the ride. Even people who can get a decent tune out of a hard mouthed horse are not likely to have much fun if they spend most of an hours lesson trying to keep it out of the behind of a smaller slower horse. As you learn the lessons and the horses you will get better at finding the right place in the ride and more confident at sticking yourself in the front of it (which tbh was my favourite trick - can only work for one person each week but if you ride your horse well enough to never hold up the ride and be able to demo exercises you can selfishly work your way to far more than your fair share). I also used to find coming into check my girth/ adjust stirrups to be a convenient way of finding a new space in the ride of the first one I had wasn't working out.
Rather than looking at this as a delay in getting your stage 1 I would look at it as an opportunity to learn to ride. I spent a LOT of time in riding schools and can honestly say that before I got my own I was at a place where I could sit on any horse at any of the 6/7 places I was a regular (of a variety of qualities) and w t c pop a small fence as part of a group lesson. There were horses I found harder and ones I found less fun and didn't gel with/ ride as well as some other less experienced people had them, but I could muddle my way through on anything. I have no qualifications because the bit I'm not great at is making it all look pretty. With your lessons on your well schooled and responsive horse I suspect you are very good at making it look pretty. The really good riders hit somewhere between the two. They know what it should look like, but also know when to break the rules to get the job done. Try thinking of the BHS way as the ideal, but fundamentally if a horse is not slowing down from your seat and a half halt you need to think outside the box, be it see sawing, bending the head, turning a circle , singing hakuna matata or whatever else works for you with that horse in that moment. Once you figure it out you can refine it and look for better ways, but if what you see as the BHS way isn't working, you need to find something else. I remember a new girl starting with my jumping instructor who always looked perfect. It was months begore he let her ride the tricky horses or jump the big fences. Big lightbulb moment for me when I realised it was because he didn't trust her to get out of her perfect seat and take a pull or kick on to get a horse out of trouble.
IME the horses they put new people on are on the lazier side but def not the laziest or most hard mouthed they have. There will be a lot worse out there for you to learn to get on with. I would strongly advise you don't pay for privates to get a horse you like and instead try trusting the instructor to teach you to ride the horse you're on. That said, whilst I believe there is great value in being able to ride anything you're put on, I don't believe it is possible to learn from any instructor. I firmly believe in voice aids, and if she continues to leave you feeling like the problem is with the horse rather than giving you useful advice on how to ride it better you may need to look for something else. Sounds like at present you would get as much benefit from learning to adapt to different horses and lesson formats as from being at the exam centre do if the instructor isn't right for you shop around and come back when you are further down the line and won't need so much input from her to help you ride their horses.

 

[fatpiggy]

Reminds me of the horses I had to ride for my stage 1. I'd been riding 30 years by that time on every shape and size and type of horse you can imagine. I was stuck on a 16hh coloured (I prefer something a bit smaller as I'm not very tall) and it was trying to shift a bus with the brakes on. Like the OP I tried everything in the book short of yelling at him. He was laterally stiff, dead to the leg, dead to the hand and as bendable as a battle ship. I failed the exam. The examiners said I should have used my whip. I'm reluctant to hit a strange horse because 20 minutes isn't long enough to find where the buttons are and a friend of mine smacked a horse in her BHS test and got bucked off immediately. Mind you I wasn't all that bothered apart from the expense of doing the test and the expense of driving to Shropshire and back for it. I did my stage 1 and 2 stable management tests on the same day and the examiner had never heard of Aubiose or anything like it so I wasn't very impressed.

 

[[69117]]

I am an instructor at a large and very busy riding school, and I'm afraid my pet hate is clients who blame the horses for their mistakes.

I spend far too much of my time getting on horses whilst teaching to prove to clients that the horse they have been given isn't 'incapable of going forward' or 'refusing to listen' or 'dangerous' or just 'downright awkward'.

Case in point, one particular horse, a lovely little mare whom all the staff adore. She will only give if asked correctly. The rider has to be in charge, if she feels for a second that you will let her just stand in the middle of the school and have a snooze, she will snatch the reins out of your hands and do just that. The amount of people who tell me that this horse is dangerous or unsuitable for a riding school is astonishing. She is one of the safest and most fun animals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She hunts, jumps, does mounted games, hacks sensibly in a large group or alone, will take someone who has never sat on a horse before wobbling round on the lunge, or will jump a course of serious fences with a more experienced rider. The difference between those who enjoy riding her and those who hate her? Those who enjoy riding her have learnt HOW to ride her.

I know I can only speak for the yard where I teach, but if a horse was truly difficult it would not be in the riding school. That would be ludicrous. All of our horses are schooled regularly by the staff. All can go beautifully, work properly, and are light in the hand and quick off the leg, when ridden by people who know how.

Part of the BHS exams is being able to get onto a variety of horses and work them out in a short space of time, so this riding school sounds like it is trying to help you get there.

We have one sweet little horse who is almost too easy and responsive for his own good. I give a lot of people their first canter on him because all they have to do is pop their outside leg back and he's off. However, that does not make them good riders, they all then struggle when they come off him and move onto something you have to 'ride' more. He is very easy to work out and get going, so I do sometimes find that people have an inflated sense of their riding ability when they have been riding him for a while. When moved onto another horse they blame the horse and say it isn't forward or responsive when in reality their riding isn't yet strong enough to get a tune out of a less responsive, less easy horse.

Gosh, sorry to rant. Can you tell this very scenario drives me bonkers?! Haha! Good luck and stick with it, it sounds like you're doing the right thing working towards your stages, but stick with the horses you are given. There will be a reason they have given you that particular horse on that particular day.

 

[soulfull]

While I understand the learning to ride any horse, I seriously sympathise with OP. What I can't understand is how learners are meant to keep their position as well as get them forward lol

I'm over 50 now and have health issues which mean I am quite weak I no longer go to riding schools as I just don't have the strength to ride these horses. Which I would have done while, e looking for my next horse

I am horse hunting right now and the amount of people that have told me I should buy a kick along has driven me to want to scream at them.

What I need and will buy is a quiet but sensitive and forward cob. Young and green is fine so long as he/she understands the basics of go and stop, even if initially it requires a tap with the whip

I absolutely can't cope with anything that requires strength. Rs seem unable to provide this

 

[ester]

Is it strength or technique though?

 

[[69117]]

See, I'm inclined to say it is technique, not strength.

For instance, I teach two people who regularly have their lessons on one particular horse. One is a 6ft rugby playing man, and the other a tall but incredibly slender girl who looks rather like a strong gust of wind would blow her over. The horse is lazy and backward in the school for inexperienced riders, but is regularly out competing with our more experienced clients. The man cannot get this horse to stay in trot for love nor money, yet the girl rides him beautifully.

The man is significantly stronger, but his technique isn't there yet, so the horse responds far better to the girl who knows when and how to use her aids effectively.

You will never win in a battle of strength with any horse. It is nothing to do with strength, it's all about technique.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I rode this sensitive, soft mouthed mare who was wonderful!! except for the odd taking off when she felt like it (but always stopped at the end of the ride again so it was okay)

This part of the OP stands out to me as it is quite revealing IMO. If you are being taken off with and rely on the horse pulling itself up when it reaches the end of the ride, you are a passenger and not a rider IMO.

 

[soulfull]

For me it's strength and stamina. Don't get me wrong I have ridden horses in schools that have tried it on Being lazy and if you get after them early and sharpish the rest of the ride is fine. Others that even a well timed aid followed by back up from stick and still only get minimum effort. Some even a good position with leg aid (no griping) and a smack, and still won't go!! Those are the sort I cannot cope with.

I do agree with faracat about having to rely on running into the back of ride. I would put up with that!!

 

[View]

OP, don't be too down hearted.

Perhaps a couple of private lessons where the instructor can concentrate on you while you are learning how to ride such different horses?

But Faracat is right - there seems to a theme here in you having difficulties for whatever reason in slowing the pace (either within the pace or downwards transition).

How is your core strength? Improving this may help your ability to influence your mount.

Just a thought.

 

[conniegirl]

I am an instructor at a large and very busy riding school, and I'm afraid my pet hate is clients who blame the horses for their mistakes.

I spend far too much of my time getting on horses whilst teaching to prove to clients that the horse they have been given isn't 'incapable of going forward' or 'refusing to listen' or 'dangerous' or just 'downright awkward'.

I know I can only speak for the yard where I teach, but if a horse was truly difficult it would not be in the riding school. That would be ludicrous. All of our horses are schooled regularly by the staff. All can go beautifully, work properly, and are light in the hand and quick off the leg, when ridden by people who know how.


We have one sweet little horse who is almost too easy and responsive for his own good. I give a lot of people their first canter on him because all they have to do is pop their outside leg back and he's off. However, that does not make them good riders, they all then struggle when they come off him and move onto something you have to 'ride' more. He is very easy to work out and get going, so I do sometimes find that people have an inflated sense of their riding ability when they have been riding him for a while. When moved onto another horse they blame the horse and say it isn't forward or responsive when in reality their riding isn't yet strong enough to get a tune out of a less responsive, less easy horse.

Whilst this may be true of your school, many BHS and often very reputable riding schools have some god awful horses that should not be used for teaching on.

I have ridden all sorts of horses for the last 25 years, I have an electric bum and am well known for getting even the slowest, most backwards of horses going forwards, I'm perfectly capable of riding a medium dressage test and I back and break my own youngsters.

I decided to treat myself to a lesson at a very reputable riding school in Hertfordshire. I was put on a coloured cob, I could not get the bloody thing going forwards at all, I could not get trot at all. I ended up feeling useless and in tears, the instructor got on the pony and proceeded to beat the living day lights out of the horse with her schooling whip (and I mean leaving massive raised wheals) and still struggled to raise a trot.
I learnt absolutely nothing at all from the lesson and in fact it did exactly the opposite and damaged my position and confidence.

In contrast the best lesson I've ever had was on an advanced dressage schoolmaster in a riding school in Scotland, I was told by the instructor (BHSI) when I got on that I had to ask perfectly or I wouldn't get and that sometimes she struggled with canter on him. In the 45 mins lesson on him, I had the instructors jaw on the floor when I got canter from him first time every time. Because the horse was so good the instructor could focus on perfecting my position and starting some of the more advanced movements, the lesson was so much fun and I learnt so much from her and the horse (who was far from an easy ride, believe me I ached for days afterwards)

 

[rachk89]

I agree with starzaan about it being technique not strength. You are never going to win a battle with a horse based on strength. They outweigh you for a start. They have stronger muscles for another. And if they want to they will use both against you and win everytime. I have seen a Shetland pull a 6 ft tall man over before.

It's all technique and OP doesn't quite have it yet for the more lazy (or clever) horses. But you will get it don't worry. It takes time. I used to be in riding schools for years and have ridden all sorts of horses. One did use his strength against me. He wasn't bad really but they had all had a week off in spring and we took them out to the cross country field on their first day back. It was bound to end badly haha. He had a tantrum that I wouldn't let him eat grass so he threw me off for it. It happens.