Should I give up or stick with it?

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stanley1234

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Do you think that there comes a point when you should just give up? I've been riding once/twice a week at RSs for years and instead of getting better, I just seem to stay the same or get worse. I'm totally realistic about my own very limited abilities and fully acknowledge that I am useless. But I love horses and riding. Today - I did the worst assessment lesson ever (going to a new RS) and it gets pretty demotivating to hear how bad you are all the time. Thing is is that I was very seriously planning to get my own horse (on part/full livery for looking-after support) - just to happily hack, which I am capable of (have done lots of hacking previously). But am I mad to even consider getting my own? I truly think I'll improve with doing more riding but would love to hear about your experiences.
 
My personal view is that you improve much faster with a horse of your own to ride AS LONG AS you buy the right horse which will give you confidence to progress. The wrong horse, or one that is too challenging, has the potential to destroy your confidence.

Don't give up, assessment and critique are exactly that, even advanced riders still have lessons and will have areas that require improvement.

As long as you have a support network around you, and an instructor whose view you trust to help you buy, you can look forward to many happy years of companionship and riding with a horse of your own, and even the odd show eventually.
 
Stick with it. You obviously enjoy it but one thing I would say is CHANGE RIDING SCHOOL. Remember, you are the paying customer and you are there to learn (and enjoy your riding) Surely any Riding School that demorilises anybody in the way they so obviously have done to you should be reported.
Don't give up, find a better instructor.
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Personally feel the more you ride the better it becomes or at least feel more confident and secure.Trick is suppose to get the RIGHT horse for you.Take on too much too soon and confidence and riding can take a right nosedive.Get right one and it soars.So would look around for right one.
Would take someone that knows you and your riding well ,who is honest and you trust.
I would go get horse as long as you have time/money/support to help you as do think it helped me in my riding many yrs ago(not that I'm any good now
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but am more secure and comfortable).
 
Give up, you sound rubbish.
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Only joking.
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Everyone has days when they feel like its one step forward and ten back, you have to not let it get you down. Focus on the good things and think about how far you must have really progressed, even if it seems to be taking forever. If you enjoy your riding stick at it and if you set yourself some small goals you'll see some reward for all your effort.
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I dont think you should give up. You clearly love horses and would enjoy owning your own. First of all there is nothing wrong with being a happy hacker - who says we all have to compete? Also as Watcher says, its often easier with your own as you get to know their little quirks so well. (Besides some school horses are very hard to get a tune out of!!) As long as you have support I think you should get look for a horse and just enjoy it (but just make sure you get a sensible schoolmaster type!).
 
Do you have private or group lessons? Why not try a change if you are only having one type?
Agree with changing riding school or instructor - and get something to work towards i.e. jumping a course of 2'6", learning to leg yield or something like that. It's so easy to get stuck in rut.
Getting a horse taught me more than a RS ever did, so if you feel you are ready and have help I would seriously start looking into that.
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If you decide to get your own I would recomend an older animal, our first horse was 12 year old gelding who had retired from working as a landau horse in Blackpool in the summer and a hacking centre in the winter. He was ideal as a first horse as he was totally bomb proof and looked after us beautifully. If you are nervous you need a laid back animal. We could never have competed on him, but had hours and hours of fun with and on him.
 
change school for sure - you pay for lessons to enjoy them! my first RS told me dad that i would never be able to ride and that he should sell my horse as i was so bad, however 5 years later i was competing at national level! Also stop trying so hard - i moved to a different yard and just hacked out - when the pressure was off i improved as i got more experiance. Good luck!
 
Echo lots of the above! Also, sorry to generalise, riding school ponies/horses can be brilliant for complete beginners and to be ridden by experienced riders but can be hard for people whose ability is in between who need a generous schoolmaster type to progress to the next stage! And yes, be a happy hacker if thats what you want, riding is too expensive to not enjoy it!
Good luck x
 
Hi,

don't give up!! I also rode at riding schools once a week for years and years (probably somewhere around 12 years) and often i didn't seem to improve much. I think you need to remember a couple of different things.....

1) doing anything only once or twice a week probably isn't enough to progress very fast, especially with something as complicated as riding

2) you have probably had different instructors over the years and that can be frustrating as they all seem to want you to ride in a slightly different way

3) if you don't ride the same horses very often it is difficult to learn how each one needs to be ridden to get the best out of it

4) a lot of riding school horses are hard to ride and won't give you the correct response if you ask them correctly anyway, if they don't know what they are doing and you aren't sure what you are doing what hope is there?!

Maybe stop trying so hard and just enjoy riding for a bit. The year before last i went on a riding holiday and it really got me fired up to improve and enjoy my riding again.

Also try and find the best riding school you can, i swapped to a very well known one with very good instructors and horses and i think i made a real improvement (which has probably slipped a bit since i moved away from the area
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).

Why not see if there are any horse shares suitable near you so you can see what it is like to just ride one horse without pressure for a while?

(phew, i didn't mean to have such a rant!)
 
STICK WITH IT! Unless you are riding school masters some school horses don't make life easy for the rider. Remember if they have novices riding them most of the time the horses way of going won't improve. I would suggest a few private lessons at a different riding school where they will motivate you. If you want your own horse then go for it but as someone else said - it needs to be the right horse for you and your level of riding.
I am sure you have and will continue to improve even if you don't feel that way sometimes. It happens to all of us!!
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I think I improved tremendously when I got my own horse - from totally useless to just rubbish. Riding evry day strenghtens your muscles so you can be more effective, and riding the same horse means you don't waste half of each lesson getting in tune with it.
 
If you enjoy it, stick with it! Find another riding school where the intsructor will encourage you and help bring your riding on - try a few different ones.

I agree that riding your own horse is entirely different to the riding school experience, but I think it does help your riding because you have to think for yourself more. Why not see if there are any shares available in your area? I did that and ended up buying the share horse, who was wonderful and gave me so much confidence.
 
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