Schooling pet hates...

PaddyMonty said:
I think we would get on very well ;)
Click to expand...

I think we would too, I was asked by my coach to email my planned shows & classes, then the training sessions I thought I wanted in between to help me get there. When asked why I had planned a 1m speed class before our first go at Disco I replied that I then wouldn't need to worry about jumping off, Disco jump off still looks quite big to me, pony is 14.2 & we're doing seniors, then got told right idea but wrong reason for doing it.... However at least I have a set plan of where I would like to be, & a vague idea of how to get there, but only because I have fantastic & very supportive help. Sorry for hijacking the thread BTW.....
 
I hate pully pully kicky kicky sawy sawy on the mouth, pull it "onto the bit". People who roll their shoulders round, look at their crotch, straight arms, sitting on their hands all to hold the horse's head in :mad: Using draw reins to pull a horse onto the bit. Encouraging a horse to work onto the forehand and/or lean on your hands. Hind legs in a different county. Intentional overbending (or uncorrected overbending). Laziness on the part of the horse. Horse asked to work in one frame endlessly without any stretching work to break it up. Lots of things annoy me. And I'm not guiltless at all of them myself, though I chastise myself thoroughly if I catch myself doing any of them!


I also irrationally hate people schooling with ridiculously short stirrups. It just looks vile. Though yes, it is irrational :D

PaddyMonty said:
People who when asked the question "what are you trying to achieve in this session" answer "dont know really :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Oh dear, I would never be able to give a concrete answer to this. Mostly because I have plans on what to work on, but I would never actually admit that I might be aiming to improve pony's medium work / walk-canters / counter canter, because I know they'd spend the first ten minutes staring at me thinking "is she mad, the pony barely walks round the school without his ears in her face and keeps buggering off in trot :eek:". I also don't plan very far ahead as things tend to get in the way. Today I wanted to work on his medium canter. Last night it pissed down with rain and my field is now slippy. Therefore I spent most of the session in walk and trot :cool:
 
JFTD, I'm the other way round. People schooling with stupidly long stirrups because it's 'correct'. Especially in jumping saddles. Riding so long you have to heave yourself up and down to rise to the trot makes me feel stabby. At camp, my sister and I go round shortening stirrups :D
 
Lolo said:
JFTD, I'm the other way round. People schooling with stupidly long stirrups because it's 'correct'. Especially in jumping saddles. Riding so long you have to heave yourself up and down to rise to the trot makes me feel stabby. At camp, my sister and I go round shortening stirrups :D
Click to expand...

Schooling so long you can't ride effectively is equally daft :D I hate the "perched on top" look if the stirrups are jumping length and it's nearly always coupled to the "looking down, hunching back and sitting on hands" look. If people just aimed to be within a few holes of "normal" that would be just fine :cool:
 
JFTD said:
Oh dear, I would never be able to give a concrete answer to this.
Click to expand...

I agree with this to some extent, while it's good to have an idea of what you want to work on, I think you do need to retain some flexibility too. Both horse and rider need to be in the right frame of mind to be able to gain any meaningful learning, so sometimes I think it's all right to say 'sod it' lets just go a hack instead! As someone in CR used to have as their sig; set your goals in concrete and your plans in sand.

Obviously this applies more to the amateur rider than pro, although I think it was Blyth Tait's autobiography where he is clear that while plans and spreadsheets are useful, making sure you judge the horse you happen to have under you on the day is even more important.

As to the cantering around and around - in the absence of decent ground I have been known to carry out interval training in an arena - not perfect by any means but without access to all weather gallops or decent grass footing it can be useful IMO :)
 
JFTD said:
Schooling so long you can't ride effectively is equally daft :D I hate the "perched on top" look if the stirrups are jumping length and it's nearly always coupled to the "looking down, hunching back and sitting on hands" look.
Click to expand...
How wude!!!!!!!!!
I will often school at jumping length on the flat. :p
Cant see the point in creating buttons in one place then expecting them to work the same when in the ring with stirrps at jumping length. ;)
 
PaddyMonty said:
How wude!!!!!!!!!
I will often school at jumping length on the flat. :p
Cant see the point in creating buttons in one place then expecting them to work the same when in the ring with stirrps at jumping length. ;)
Click to expand...

I did say it was irrational - and I was thinking exactly that - if you're schooling to jump, it make perfect sense to school at jumping length. If you're schooling for dressage though (which I generally am) it fills me with inexplicable rage :D I also imagine you don't encourage your pupils to resemble hunchbacks on horseback :p
 
Windlassing, with the horses head swinging from side to side with every stride. I actually have to restrain myself from stopping people who do this and telling them off.
I also have to try not to laugh when I see people nodding their heads in sitting trot. Just looks ridiculous.
 
Oh dear I have developed a real hunched position :o comes from trying to keep my self closer to the small pony who takes great pleasure in trying to dump me. I do try to remember to sit up when its safe to.
 
On the subject of stirrup length I get exasperated when people ride so long their toes are just about toughing the stirrups iron if they stretch down & point them.

I really dislike people with stirrups too short whose weight is bouncing up and down too far back in the saddle and whose lower leg is way too far forward and who are then using the horses mouth to balance. I want to say shoulder, hip heel in my best PC instructor voice.
 
The riders who go in the school and know everything, like to bitch about what other people do, clearly think they never do anything wrong and would collapse in a gibbering, steaming wreck if anyone ever tried to give them any kind of criticism.
 
dafthoss said:
Oh dear I have developed a real hunched position :o comes from trying to keep my self closer to the small pony who takes great pleasure in trying to dump me. I do try to remember to sit up when its safe to.
Click to expand...

I think it's very easy to get into the habit of it when you're riding something small for you. But heck I can sit up properly on Fergs and I am literally twice your size... Mind you, I still have to yell at myself for holding my hands so low I bash them off the saddle.

Why is riding so bleedin' difficult? :mad:
 
Suziq77 said:
If it was easy we'd have all lost interest ages ago ;)
Click to expand...

PaddyMonty said:
Riding ISN'T difficult. Riding well IS. :p
Click to expand...

Both true :mad:

I have somehow managed to school the highland to a level beyond my own capabilities :mad: He now has buttons which I didn't intentionally install, but seem to find by almost by accident. It's most infuriating that he is now more established than me :eek:
 
JFTD said:
I think it's very easy to get into the habit of it when you're riding something small for you. But heck I can sit up properly on Fergs and I am literally twice your size...(I wasnt on about knobberts, habit developed from another little darling who on his tippy toes is 12hh ;)) Mind you, I still have to yell at myself for holding my hands so low I bash them off the saddle.

Why is riding so bleedin' difficult? :mad:
Click to expand...

The small I can cope with, thats not to bad. Its when its chucked you once rather nastily and has a habit of doing it that you do become really defensive and it especally dislikes having to do things it finds hard. This one isnt as small as some of the stuff I have ridden. I did get pulled up on it last night though :o so must try harder!
 
People who use a schooling whip to punish the horse, rather than as the aid it should be. And people who lose their temper when the horse isn't doing exactly what they (think they) asked. If I'm tired and getting irritable I change the game, for example, this morning, after a knackering week of 5am starts and 11pm finishes I tried to school my pony at 6am, he wasn't being perfect and I found I was riding in a stiff and angry way so he got worse, so I jumped off, grabbed the gym
 
dafthoss said:
The small I can cope with, thats not to bad. Its when its chucked you once rather nastily and has a habit of doing it that you do become really defensive and it especally dislikes having to do things it finds hard. This one isnt as small as some of the stuff I have ridden. I did get pulled up on it last night though :o so must try harder!
Click to expand...

Haha no I know you meant the little one - but relatively speaking I reckon I'm bigger on Fergs than you would be on a shetland tbh :cool: You're just lucky and I am jealous :mad: I want to ride ickle ponies!

It doesn't help that your current mini is a bit of a knob, though, no! :D
 
People who use a schooling whip to punish the horse, rather than as the aid it should be. And people who lose their temper when the horse isn't doing exactly what they (think they) asked. If I'm tired and getting irritable I change the game, for example, this morning, after a knackering week of 5am starts and 11pm finishes I tried to school my pony at 6am, he wasn't being perfect and I found I was riding in a stiff and angry way so he got worse, so I jumped off, grabbed the gym ball and we played football and Spanish walk games for the rest of the session. Carrying on wouldn't have been productive.
 
cattysmith said:
The riders who go in the school and know everything, like to bitch about what other people do, clearly think they never do anything wrong and would collapse in a gibbering, steaming wreck if anyone ever tried to give them any kind of criticism.
Click to expand...

Second this!
 
people who only ride round and round and round the outside although never go anywhere near a corner!!!! Drives me nuts as they generally create a track. :(
 
galaxy said:
people who only ride round and round and round the outside although never go anywhere near a corner!!!! Drives me nuts as they generally create a track. :(
Click to expand...

Oh god this a million times, I'm getting sick of my horse falling down the trench that meanders round the school. I wouldn't mind so much but it doesn't go into the corners, and it even comes complete with a wobble toward the middle at E past a spooky bush or something :mad:
 
JFTD said:
Haha no I know you meant the little one - but relatively speaking I reckon I'm bigger on Fergs than you would be on a shetland tbh :cool: You're just lucky and I am jealous :mad: I want to ride ickle ponies!

It doesn't help that your current mini is a bit of a knob, though, no! :D
Click to expand...

I'm definatly bigger on them that you are on F.

He might be turning his knobbishness round he did a whole circle of canter on tuesday :cool: only on one rein mind you :rolleyes:.
 
Bare in mind that I am basing this solely on what happens at shows as I keep my horses at home and do everything myself.

People who lunge their horse for in trot or canter for half an hour or so before they get on it just incase it bucks them off. Just get on the danmned thing and hold on!

People who only ever go round the outside and think it is their god given right to go where they please and have a go at you if you get in their way when you are clearly going left to left and they don't want to.

Jumping, jumping, jumping and more jumping with very little else in between.

People using your horse as a brake because they look sane and sensible - and in my case they are ex-racers so please sod off! On the same vein - tailgators who are very nearly clipping your heels.

Tack used incorrectly.

People that scissor cut when they trot! Up - legs go straight, toes go forward. Down - rider thumps down on ponies back, legs snap up booting the poor beast in the guts in the process.

Pony club kicking. Enough said.

Western stopping, spinning and turning on a horse that isn't trained to western thus your are just hauling your poor horses mouth around.

I'm gonna stop now before I get too angry lol!
 
my mum who was meant to be keeping my horse gently ticking over while i was away for a month who ended up lunging her daily for 30 mins or so in trot or canter and then got confused when i she was trying to deal with a very fit horse...

and the girls on the livery yard i used to be on who didnt understand the idea of how to get a horse on the bit and so would haul the horse in so much it would canter in front and trot behind. and then got confused why it couldnt jump out of that canter!
 
Tail gaiters, out of control kids on ponies (not just kids, just ones that get bogged off with regularly and shouldn't really be 'open schooling'). People who have squeaky bits (usually eggbuts, drives me MAD, put some grease on it!!!!!).

My real pet peeve (this is not a horn tooting one)... when a fellow livery watches me eagle eyed when I am schooling and asks me how she can do it on her horse..... PAY FOR LESSONS and pracitce like I do you cheap mo..fo (and before any one jumps on me I KNOW she can afford them, I am more than happy to share my wisdom (or lack thereof) with those less fortunate). :D

Ooh, felt so good to get that off my chest!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top