Riding school pony - shot off in canter and bucked

Imagine running a riding school, what a nightmare, it's a risky activity, and licensed school will have made every attempt to provide a "safe" conveyance for clients. But falls happen, and inevitably people take to the Internet. Soon no one will want the hassle of teaching people to ride, it's a shame.
 
wench said:
Personally I fail to see how people can make judgement that a pony is clearly not suitable to be in a riding school whatsoever and should be removed immediately, from a post on the Internet...
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I agree, this pony may be perfectly suitable to be in the school ridden by older children, small adults, it is obviously not suited to a 6 year old novice but that is more down to the instructor being unable to recognise that the child is not ready for such a big pony than the fault of the pony or proving it should not be there doing lessons.

ElizabethAngela said:
Imagine running a riding school, what a nightmare, it's a risky activity, and licensed school will have made every attempt to provide a "safe" conveyance for clients. But falls happen, and inevitably people take to the Internet. Soon no one will want the hassle of teaching people to ride, it's a shame.
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Running a RS is a nightmare, which is why so many have closed down, falls do happen but every care should be taken to prevent them especially when a very young child is involved and it would be so easily avoided by keeping her on the lead or lunge until either another more suitable pony is available or the child becomes established enough to cope, not that I think that will happen very quickly on a pony this size.
 
ElizabethAngela said:
Imagine running a riding school, what a nightmare, it's a risky activity, and licensed school will have made every attempt to provide a "safe" conveyance for clients. But falls happen, and inevitably people take to the Internet. Soon no one will want the hassle of teaching people to ride, it's a shame.
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Oh for goodness sake, I've said that falls happen, I haven't slagged them off in fact I've said they're a good yard, responsible and I trust them, I've said I'll discuss it and resolve it with them! I just wanted a second opinion!
 
Was more if a reflective comment on the modern response, ie seek advice from strangers online and how that would impact upon ones desire to run a business such as a riding school. Hope you resolve the issue and child has fun.
 
wench said:
Personally I fail to see how people can make judgement that a pony is clearly not suitable to be in a riding school whatsoever and should be removed immediately, from a post on the Internet...
Click to expand...

As a retired riding school owner I can assure you that if I had a pony that behaved like this it would be gone - there is no place for a bolting bucking pony in any riding school. Its size alone makes it unsuitable for a child of just 6 to be riding.
 
ElizabethAngela said:
Was more if a reflective comment on the modern response, ie seek advice from strangers online and how that would impact upon ones desire to run a business such as a riding school. Hope you resolve the issue and child has fun.
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Thank you. I have no horsey friends/family which is why I asked strangers online. I would love to be able to talk to ppl in real life about it.
 
As a riding school owner I can confirm that little ponies can be a nightmare which is why good ones are worth their weight in gold. Personally a one off incident wouldn't overly concern me as every pony can have a spook or some such incident however continuing to behave like this would worry me and the pony would be removed from lessons until, at a minimum,some serious schooling was undertaken, assuming a small member of staff was available. Some little ponies just take advantage of little riders and behave like saints when a more capable rider is on board, in which case they should only be used for the more capable riders; others are just little ratbags and have no place in a riding school. As a proprietor I would welcome a calm discussion with a parent who had worries and would be finding a solution in the shape of an alternative pony for this rider. The parents that rant and rave and refuse to accept that the odd fall will inevitably happen at some point are the ones that aren't wanted as clients. The best one that springs to mind is the child that literally rolled off a saint of a pony in halt for some inexplicable reason and the parent claimed the pony was dangerous and should be shot!
 
I've not read all the way through, so forgive me if someone has already said this, but if the rider is only 6, and only rides at a riding school, i.e. not every day, could it be that we're all seizing the wrong end of the stick here? We're all focussing on whether or not the pony is suitable, but IMO it is the activity of lunging with a rider on board that is not suitable for a 6 year-old at this stage. I know that riding schools may feel under pressure to be making progress, to get children riding independently, and to add variety to private lessons, but at 6 I still had my niece firmly on the lead rein when trotting, and she rides often and on a bomb-proof pony. Riding on the lunge is the worst of all worlds IMO - insufficient control at either end of the lunge, AND having to go on a circle. When I got my niece going off the lead-rein we started with straight lines, one person at M and one at F, then trot from M to F. Then the same down the other side of the school. Much easier for little ones and also much easier for ponies that may not be terribly well schooled. I think, OP, unless and until your daughter's seat is secure and she's confident, I would be asking for her to be kept on the lead rein - but of course, that means that someone has to run around rather than stand in the middle of a circle and instruct at the same time....
 
I'm not sure age is as important as experience... At 6 I was hunting off the lead rein and making my pony 'bolt' ie (I pointed at them and pony club kicked a lot )towards the jumps I wasn't allowed to jump!
 
LinzyD said:
I've not read all the way through, so forgive me if someone has already said this, but if the rider is only 6, and only rides at a riding school, i.e. not every day, could it be that we're all seizing the wrong end of the stick here? We're all focussing on whether or not the pony is suitable, but IMO it is the activity of lunging with a rider on board that is not suitable for a 6 year-old at this stage. I know that riding schools may feel under pressure to be making progress, to get children riding independently, and to add variety to private lessons, but at 6 I still had my niece firmly on the lead rein when trotting, and she rides often and on a bomb-proof pony. Riding on the lunge is the worst of all worlds IMO - insufficient control at either end of the lunge, AND having to go on a circle. When I got my niece going off the lead-rein we started with straight lines, one person at M and one at F, then trot from M to F. Then the same down the other side of the school. Much easier for little ones and also much easier for ponies that may not be terribly well schooled. I think, OP, unless and until your daughter's seat is secure and she's confident, I would be asking for her to be kept on the lead rein - but of course, that means that someone has to run around rather than stand in the middle of a circle and instruct at the same time....
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Thank you, that's a really interesting comment. To be quite honest my heart has been in my mouth watching her on the lunge or off the lead rein because she is unbalanced in trot (although much improved) and her leg position isn't great, she doesn't have her leg properly under her. She can actually do ok sitting trot but rising much more wobbly and she sticks her feet out in front of her when she rises because her lower leg is in the wrong place.

Very good suggestion to keep her on lead rein until better balanced and secure and will help build her confidence after the fall. I'm in no rush for her to "progress", I want her to learn correctly at her own pace, as safely as possible. also I think I will book her on a little lead rein hack with me too so she can relax and just enjoy it.
 
EventingMum said:
As a riding school owner I can confirm that little ponies can be a nightmare which is why good ones are worth their weight in gold. Personally a one off incident wouldn't overly concern me as every pony can have a spook or some such incident however continuing to behave like this would worry me and the pony would be removed from lessons until, at a minimum,some serious schooling was undertaken, assuming a small member of staff was available. Some little ponies just take advantage of little riders and behave like saints when a more capable rider is on board, in which case they should only be used for the more capable riders; others are just little ratbags and have no place in a riding school. As a proprietor I would welcome a calm discussion with a parent who had worries and would be finding a solution in the shape of an alternative pony for this rider. The parents that rant and rave and refuse to accept that the odd fall will inevitably happen at some point are the ones that aren't wanted as clients. The best one that springs to mind is the child that literally rolled off a saint of a pony in halt for some inexplicable reason and the parent claimed the pony was dangerous and should be shot!
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Thank you for replying - I promise I won't rant or rave or demand anyone is shot :-) definitely just a sensible conversation about best course of action.
 
I rode in a RS for years, and B is an ex-RS horse (although he wasn't suitable, and I got him after having a few falls/mishaps with other RS horses and YO happened to be considering selling him as she didn't think he was happy as part of a RS)

I was lucky enough to learn on lovely steady ponies, however it can be hard to find reliable and steady smaller ponies that are immediately suitable for a RS. The instructor may have felt that the first time the pony shot off was a one off, and as your daughter stayed on that it may just have been the pony spooking. The second time sounds like the pony is just a bit too sharp, or not suited to a beginner rider off the lead/lunge. I would speak to your instructor about it, and see if you can possibly change ponies for your daughter as your concern is her confidence. You may find your instructor has already realised this after the second time it's happened, but a good instructor-rider relationship does involve a degree of talking and airing any concerns and if you feel your concerns are ignored, you're talked down too, or you're given a brush-off or an explanation that doesn't sit right or feel right, it's time to change instructors.

On the note of badly behaved RS ponies, I did once ride a typical RS plod type pony, who was a chestnut mare but usually wasn't mareish and would just do typical RS pony tricks. She was 100% beginner safe and bombproof, yet one day for some reason shot off in canter, did laps of the school and bucked. She had been going over trotting poles, so I have no idea what caused her behaviour, and had been her usual grumpy self all lesson. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, other than she was having a moment, and whilst I was able to jump and canter off the lead rein, I must have only been riding about 2/3 years at the time. To this day, I have no clue why she acted as she did, and she's not done it with anyone since.

Whilst every rider can fall off even the safest of horses, when a rider in a RS is having repeated falls off a horse and it's not due to rider error but horse behaviour, that's really when you should speak to your instructor. Some horses really are not suited to certain riders as well, a spooky or nervous pony with a nervous rider is never a good combination, and neither is a green pony with a beginner rider, and even some very very naughty/cheeky ponies with beginner riders can be a disaster as well once they realise how much they can get away with!

I only have a horse after the horse I usually rode in lessons, who did buck/misbehave but I knew this and was 100% happy to ride him and actually asked to ride him several times (I was 14 and at the age where it was fun lol) couldn't be ridden any more as he was undergoing investigation into various health problems. I then rode a different RS horse, who I found very difficult and nearly triggered an asthma attack. Whilst YO wasn't my instructor at the time, she had taught me a lot in the past and had asked me was there one specific horse I wanted to ride, as since my usual horse was lame I'd been moved from horse to horse and didn't seem to be riding as well in my lessons. I told her I quite liked B, and it was then she said about how she was considering putting him up for sale as B didn't seem happy in the RS, and she felt he needed one on one care and love. She said I could try him, and then could have first refusal. I don't think his ad was ever posted in the end - so building a good relationship with your instructor (we were at a smallish RS with 4/5 instructors who ended up knowing everyone anyway!) can also lead to some great opportunities. I also did have a lot of trouble with my horse after the first year of having him, and it was having an instructor I could talk to, discuss any issues I had with and would explain things that also really helped me and made me feel more confident in my riding and also helped a lot dealing with some of the issues that B had.

I also used to ride with my mum, it was great fun and a great way to bond until I got B and then had a fall and broke my arm, so mum rode him instead. And then when I was riding again and my confidence had improved, she said she didn't want to swap onto another horse! I was also glad to have had a good relationship with my instructor then, who managed to stop any arguments over who rode what horse lol.

I hope you and your daughter are able to keep enjoying riding, and that her confidence isn't too badly knocked and you can sort it out with the RS as it sounds like you otherwise really like them, and would rather stay there (and seem to have found a nice place) - I wouldn't worry too much about the height of the pony, but more about if it's suitable for your daughter atm to learn on.
 
LinzyD said:
I've not read all the way through, so forgive me if someone has already said this, but if the rider is only 6, and only rides at a riding school, i.e. not every day, could it be that we're all seizing the wrong end of the stick here? We're all focussing on whether or not the pony is suitable, but IMO it is the activity of lunging with a rider on board that is not suitable for a 6 year-old at this stage. I know that riding schools may feel under pressure to be making progress, to get children riding independently, and to add variety to private lessons, but at 6 I still had my niece firmly on the lead rein when trotting, and she rides often and on a bomb-proof pony. Riding on the lunge is the worst of all worlds IMO - insufficient control at either end of the lunge, AND having to go on a circle. When I got my niece going off the lead-rein we started with straight lines, one person at M and one at F, then trot from M to F. Then the same down the other side of the school. Much easier for little ones and also much easier for ponies that may not be terribly well schooled. I think, OP, unless and until your daughter's seat is secure and she's confident, I would be asking for her to be kept on the lead rein - but of course, that means that someone has to run around rather than stand in the middle of a circle and instruct at the same time....
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The second incident was off the lunge/ lead, I guess you haven't taught many children in my experience of teaching both children and adults lunging is the best, not worst, way to learn as long as the pony is reliable and the instructor is capable, the rider can get a sustained trot and feel of the pony moving properly forward, they can become more balanced, ride without reins or stirrups, do exercises while the instructor can remain in full control as well as see what is going on 100% of the time.
I have used this method with many new riders and can usually get them riding confidently and taking full, or almost full, control before they are let loose and have to take charge of the pony, it is not an easy option but is more realistic than having 2 people for every 1 client although it is harder work for the pony.
 
LinzyD said:
I've not read all the way through, so forgive me if someone has already said this, but if the rider is only 6, and only rides at a riding school, i.e. not every day, could it be that we're all seizing the wrong end of the stick here? We're all focussing on whether or not the pony is suitable, but IMO it is the activity of lunging with a rider on board that is not suitable for a 6 year-old at this stage. I know that riding schools may feel under pressure to be making progress, to get children riding independently, and to add variety to private lessons, but at 6 I still had my niece firmly on the lead rein when trotting, and she rides often and on a bomb-proof pony. Riding on the lunge is the worst of all worlds IMO - insufficient control at either end of the lunge, AND having to go on a circle. When I got my niece going off the lead-rein we started with straight lines, one person at M and one at F, then trot from M to F. Then the same down the other side of the school. Much easier for little ones and also much easier for ponies that may not be terribly well schooled. I think, OP, unless and until your daughter's seat is secure and she's confident, I would be asking for her to be kept on the lead rein - but of course, that means that someone has to run around rather than stand in the middle of a circle and instruct at the same time....
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Linzy - I am an retired riding school owner having taught for near on 50 years - lunging a 6 year old is how we started all our kids - they had 10 lunge lessons before joining a group - in this instance the pony supplied is totally unsuitable in behaviour and for someone so little in size as well.
two groups of riders ready to lead out for their weekly lesson - every child here had ten lunge lessons before joining the groups.
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Ok, sorry folks. I don't want to argue about it or get a lecture on the role of lunging, which of course has its place. It was just a view on things. In the RS that I have most experience of it was leading first with tiny ones, then lunging.
 
It seems to me that, regardless of the suitability of the pony, one important point that appears to be being missed is the possibility that the OP's daughter is, perhaps, not ready to be off lead rein. I'm not sure how much "a few" lessons equates to but, from what I've seen of young children being taught, there's no way a child would be trotting off lead after "a few" lessons. A child needs to be balanced and not relying on their hands before being given their reins in trot, let alone going it alone.

This would be my main query when speaking to the instructor. I don't understand why some riding schools push children on too quickly before they're ready. The only conclusion I can come to is that parental pressure to progress comes into it, rather like insisting that children are given reading books beyond their ability at school. (Not that I'm suggesting this is the case with you, OP).
 
blitznbobs said:
The other side of the coin is that ponies are animals not machines they are not perfect and occasionally they have a bad day. If you can't accept that and that you will fall from time to time (at 6 I was on the floor more than I was on the pony) then choose a different sport
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This ^ accidents will happen, that is part of learning to ride ponies surely? I know things are different now with insurance issues etc from when I learnt to ride but falling off was expected. Ponies are not machines and can be spooked/unpredictable.
 
Here's my tuppence-worth. I always started all children and some nervous adults on the lead - with me leading but on a slightly longer rope so that I can be closer to the rider. It allows you to chat and ask questions of the rider, and hear their replies or questions because little children tend to be very quiet and shy. The whole idea is to put them at their ease so by chatting you are getting them to breathe, not be too stiff and a lot of the chat isn't about riding, by the way. You want to make the pupil realise that you are interested about them and not just getting them through stage1 of learning, stage 2 etc. Being led means they have confidence that nothing bad is going to happen, your are close to them and close to the pony to stop it jumping forwards. I encourage them to feel how the pony moves underneath them, even close their eyes to feel even more and independently of what information they get from their eyes. We do lots of bending and direction changes so that they can feel how their body is moved and make sure that they don't lean when the horse turns. We do lots of halt-walk-halt transitions so that they can feel the engine working behind them and how quite quickly a pony can stop, even from walk. Moving about is interspersed with standing (on a lunge line) and doing seated exercises to supple them up, and show them you can lean forward, backwards and down to your ankles without falling off. Then do some standing up and staying up to make them feel what their leg muscles are going to have to get used to , and the balance required. At the end of lesson one I have them holding the reins correctly and they practice lengthening and shortening the reins. At the next lesson we revise quickly what we learned in the first lesson and I can see how much they actually remember, then move on to doing the exercises while standing still and then walking in straight lines. We count beats in walk in preparation for learning to count beats in trot. Towards the end of the lesson they go on a slightly longer lunge line and learn to stop the pony themselves and how to open the door to turn and use their legs individually and together. In the last few minutes I introduce a few yards of trot with me leading in a straight line, they hold the pommel and feel the movement and try to count the beats. Lesson 3, revise lessons 1 and 2, and add more exercises to build up balance and leg strength for trotting. I always start with sitting trot, then move on to standing up and sitting down in halt and walk, still holding the reins correctly but gripping a handful of mane in front of the pommel to keep the shoulders forward a little. Lesson ends with me leading in trot while they try to stand and stay up then up and down for 4 beats then 2 beats. Next lesson is building strength and stamina in trot and doing the in-saddle exercises in walk on a lunged circle. Lesson ends with coming off the lead rein completely and practicing turning and stopping from walk on their own, me just walking close by. Lesson 4, sitting trot on the lunge and the start of trotted exercises like backward circles, one arm out, hand on head with a swap etc. Then swap to rising trot practice with me leading at a distance but still in straight lines and if they have got their balance etc, they go on the lunge properly and learn how to cope with centrifugal force - even my 5 year old pupils can tell you about that particular deadly enemy and love shouting out its name! Work up to more trotting exercises on the lunge, more complicated steering independently around an obstacle course and learning about serpentines and correctly shaped circles. Once they are happy trotting on the lunge for several circuits and able to swap from sitting to rising and back again we introduce short bursts of independent trotting in straight lines again and learning about transitions, their types and how to create the energy required. This is followed by learning about diagonals and practicing identifying the correct leg and how to change the diagonal. I'm a stickler for correct terminology and theory because it also encourages learners to think for themselves and ask questions as they progress - that is a good indication of proper learning. Forwards again to walking and then trotting over poles to feel how the pony adjusts its stride and to get used to the extra lift in trot. I teach turn on the forehand at this stage too so that they learn that ponies can go sideways without necessarily going forwards and how their legs move the pony over. Once they are confident and secure doing all manner of exercises on the lunge in rising and sitting trot they can go fully independent and do more work on their transitions, school figures and consolidate what they have learned so far. I ALWAYS mention that when we ride there is always the possibility of falling off and we learn emergency tactics like leaning back, legs down to the ground and holding the pommel or mane and how important our voices are. I also regale them with tales of some of my spectacular falls and point out that I never ever got hurt, and describe how to curl and roll. If the arena surface is dry and not hard like a field we have a little practice from low height (knees bent) at parachute rolls once they have dismounted at the end of the lesson, and how to not put your hands out but to aim for landing on the upper arm and shoulder. I always say that you get better at falling off safely if you do it a lot. If anyone does come off in a lesson you can usually tell straight away if they have done themselves any harm and I mock tell them off for dismounting before the end of the lesson. Anything to break the spell of the surprise. Get them back on, go back a step or two and work up again to rebuild confidence. When it comes to cantering I'm fit enough to lead for a few steps so having discussed 3 beat rhythms, practiced working the core and waist while stationary, and mentioning about leading legs, they get their first taste of cantering, literally two or three steps and then learning how to cope with the downwards transition again into what might be a very fast trot. Once they have this confidence they go back onto the lunge so that they can concentrate on sitting it and not have to worry about steering and brakes. First their first independent canters they hold the pommel with the inside hand, reins with the outside hand so that they have basic brakes for them selves. Then build that up again to keeping the canter going for longer and letting go of the pommel .

I'm sorry if this seems a really long monologue but I believe that people of all ages should learn PROPERLY and in depth, not just getting up to canter as soon as possible without knowing how to string their knowledge together. They also learn that cold weather can make ponies a bit sharper, if its hot we should be considerate and not work them so hard and how to treat their ride kindly and say thank you to it at the end. Time spent practicing is never wasted. Not everyone who rides wants or will achieve great heights, but even being a happy hacker should be done properly, not slopping along. Even the little children get taken out on lead-rein hacks to make a change and we practice riding position over obstacles such as stiles, and up and down slopes. If we need to go on the road we talk about road safety and they do their own hand signals, looking behind etc and they are properly dressed in fluorescent tabards and told why this is so important. I hope that by making it fun they learn well and in full.
 
BlackVelvet said:
This ^ accidents will happen, that is part of learning to ride ponies surely? I know things are different now with insurance issues etc from when I learnt to ride but falling off was expected. Ponies are not machines and can be spooked/unpredictable.
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Have you actually read any of my replies because I have repeatedly said that I understand falls happen. I'm not a complete idiot. I ride myself and have been bucked off on several occasions, flown off due to a sudden dirty stop, fallen off when pony refused a fence, sat plenty of spooks, had a nasty fall where my girth slipped out cantering on hacks resulting in me being on crutches etc etc.

Falling off being part of riding doesn't mean that some ponies not are better than others for teaching very young beginners.
 
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Thanks you to everyone for taking the time to reply, I've got some really interesting perspective and I'm clear that I want daughter to take a step back and really establish basics/strength before going off lead rein on this pony (and possibly all ponies!). I'll chat to the instructor at her next lesson.

I'm not going to come back to the thread again because it's going round in circles a bit now.

I'll update you on how she's getting on in a few weeks if anyone is interested!
 
fatpiggy said:
Here's my tuppence-worth. I always started all children and some nervous adults on the lead - with me leading but on a slightly longer rope so that I can be closer to the rider. It allows you to chat and ask questions of the rider, and hear their replies or questions because little children tend to be very quiet and shy. The whole idea is to put them at their ease so by chatting you are getting them to breathe, not be too stiff and a lot of the chat isn't about riding, by the way. You want to make the pupil realise that you are interested about them and not just getting them through stage1 of learning, stage 2 etc. Being led means they have confidence that nothing bad is going to happen, your are close to them and close to the pony to stop it jumping forwards. I encourage them to feel how the pony moves underneath them, even close their eyes to feel even more and independently of what information they get from their eyes. We do lots of bending and direction changes so that they can feel how their body is moved and make sure that they don't lean when the horse turns. We do lots of halt-walk-halt transitions so that they can feel the engine working behind them and how quite quickly a pony can stop, even from walk. Moving about is interspersed with standing (on a lunge line) and doing seated exercises to supple them up, and show them you can lean forward, backwards and down to your ankles without falling off. Then do some standing up and staying up to make them feel what their leg muscles are going to have to get used to , and the balance required. At the end of lesson one I have them holding the reins correctly and they practice lengthening and shortening the reins. At the next lesson we revise quickly what we learned in the first lesson and I can see how much they actually remember, then move on to doing the exercises while standing still and then walking in straight lines. We count beats in walk in preparation for learning to count beats in trot. Towards the end of the lesson they go on a slightly longer lunge line and learn to stop the pony themselves and how to open the door to turn and use their legs individually and together. In the last few minutes I introduce a few yards of trot with me leading in a straight line, they hold the pommel and feel the movement and try to count the beats. Lesson 3, revise lessons 1 and 2, and add more exercises to build up balance and leg strength for trotting. I always start with sitting trot, then move on to standing up and sitting down in halt and walk, still holding the reins correctly but gripping a handful of mane in front of the pommel to keep the shoulders forward a little. Lesson ends with me leading in trot while they try to stand and stay up then up and down for 4 beats then 2 beats. Next lesson is building strength and stamina in trot and doing the in-saddle exercises in walk on a lunged circle. Lesson ends with coming off the lead rein completely and practicing turning and stopping from walk on their own, me just walking close by. Lesson 4, sitting trot on the lunge and the start of trotted exercises like backward circles, one arm out, hand on head with a swap etc. Then swap to rising trot practice with me leading at a distance but still in straight lines and if they have got their balance etc, they go on the lunge properly and learn how to cope with centrifugal force - even my 5 year old pupils can tell you about that particular deadly enemy and love shouting out its name! Work up to more trotting exercises on the lunge, more complicated steering independently around an obstacle course and learning about serpentines and correctly shaped circles. Once they are happy trotting on the lunge for several circuits and able to swap from sitting to rising and back again we introduce short bursts of independent trotting in straight lines again and learning about transitions, their types and how to create the energy required. This is followed by learning about diagonals and practicing identifying the correct leg and how to change the diagonal. I'm a stickler for correct terminology and theory because it also encourages learners to think for themselves and ask questions as they progress - that is a good indication of proper learning. Forwards again to walking and then trotting over poles to feel how the pony adjusts its stride and to get used to the extra lift in trot. I teach turn on the forehand at this stage too so that they learn that ponies can go sideways without necessarily going forwards and how their legs move the pony over. Once they are confident and secure doing all manner of exercises on the lunge in rising and sitting trot they can go fully independent and do more work on their transitions, school figures and consolidate what they have learned so far. I ALWAYS mention that when we ride there is always the possibility of falling off and we learn emergency tactics like leaning back, legs down to the ground and holding the pommel or mane and how important our voices are. I also regale them with tales of some of my spectacular falls and point out that I never ever got hurt, and describe how to curl and roll. If the arena surface is dry and not hard like a field we have a little practice from low height (knees bent) at parachute rolls once they have dismounted at the end of the lesson, and how to not put your hands out but to aim for landing on the upper arm and shoulder. I always say that you get better at falling off safely if you do it a lot. If anyone does come off in a lesson you can usually tell straight away if they have done themselves any harm and I mock tell them off for dismounting before the end of the lesson. Anything to break the spell of the surprise. Get them back on, go back a step or two and work up again to rebuild confidence. When it comes to cantering I'm fit enough to lead for a few steps so having discussed 3 beat rhythms, practiced working the core and waist while stationary, and mentioning about leading legs, they get their first taste of cantering, literally two or three steps and then learning how to cope with the downwards transition again into what might be a very fast trot. Once they have this confidence they go back onto the lunge so that they can concentrate on sitting it and not have to worry about steering and brakes. First their first independent canters they hold the pommel with the inside hand, reins with the outside hand so that they have basic brakes for them selves. Then build that up again to keeping the canter going for longer and letting go of the pommel .

I'm sorry if this seems a really long monologue but I believe that people of all ages should learn PROPERLY and in depth, not just getting up to canter as soon as possible without knowing how to string their knowledge together. They also learn that cold weather can make ponies a bit sharper, if its hot we should be considerate and not work them so hard and how to treat their ride kindly and say thank you to it at the end. Time spent practicing is never wasted. Not everyone who rides wants or will achieve great heights, but even being a happy hacker should be done properly, not slopping along. Even the little children get taken out on lead-rein hacks to make a change and we practice riding position over obstacles such as stiles, and up and down slopes. If we need to go on the road we talk about road safety and they do their own hand signals, looking behind etc and they are properly dressed in fluorescent tabards and told why this is so important. I hope that by making it fun they learn well and in full.
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Thank you for posting such a detailed reply, very much appreciated. Approach has been quite similar to what you describe, daughter is probably about lesson 4 stage (although she's had more than 4 lessons, i don't know if riding is her forte! She's not particularly strong or coordinated).
 
numptynovice said:
Have you actually read any of my replies because I have repeatedly said that I understand falls happen. I'm not a complete idiot. I ride myself and have been bucked off on several occasions, flown off due to a sudden dirty stop, fallen off when pony refused a fence, sat plenty of spooks, had a nasty fall where my girth slipped out cantering on hacks resulting in me being on crutches etc etc.

Falling off being part of riding doesn't mean that some ponies not are better than others for teaching very young beginners.
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ed
Ha,ha.....I love this reply......beautifully put! Good luck to you and your daughter - I would have exactly the same attitude if one of my children were involved. I look forward to the updates, particularly how the RS handled it.
 
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