Should she say anything

The one person I've watched teach a lot is Boyd excel, he's an incredible driver and trainer. There's no sitting watching not paying attention, even the spectators get asked questions! Some end up with shorter sessions, others can be out for much longer, it's all about ending at the right time, and that's often the important part.
I'd be tempted to get another and see how that works out.
 
Maybe they finished early as they had another appointment and were already running really late. Or perhaps the lessons are always that sort of length and you are paying for school hire for the warm up time.

I think if they said the lesson was an hour and she only got 33 minutes with no explanation why then it is not good communication, especially for the first lesson where you would expect they would be trying to make a good impression so your daughter comes back. Even if they felt it was not fair on horse as they were an hour late and the horse had been warming up for so long, they could have given some coaching that did not involve riding for the remaining 27 minutes.

I don't know how old your daughter is but perhaps if she is quite young you could to explain to the instructor that she is paying for the lessons herself and although she did find the time useful it was a shorter lesson than expected and would they think at her stage a 30 or 45 minute lesson may be more appropriate in future.
 
If I was the trainer, I would appreciate a phone call, rather than a text or email - it is very hard to determine tone in the written word and it would be easy for one or other party to take offence.
 
SO1 said:
Maybe they finished early as they had another appointment and were already running really late.
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Cutting short a lesson because the instructor turns up half an hour late would be, to be blunt, no excuse; it would merit a refund for the rest of the booked time.

If I turned up for work an hour late because the trains weren't working, I'd be expected to make up that time: same for getting "stuck in unexpected traffic".
 
spacefaer said:
If I was the trainer, I would appreciate a phone call, rather than a text or email - it is very hard to determine tone in the written word and it would be easy for one or other party to take offence.
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If you can write and you can think, you can re-read your message and word it properly to avoid giving offence.

Or, you make the phone call, get the answering service, mumble and fluff your prepared speech and the other party gets the wrong end of the stick and takes offence...

I'm all for writing.

Polite, clear, no waffle, no interruptions. Just clear communication.
 
MrsJingle said:
I do agree if the instructor had their reasons for curtailing an hour long (paid for!) lesson to just 30 minutes, the reason for her decision should have been explained to you or your daughter. Fair enough if she felt both horse and or rider would benefit more from a shortened lesson then grand, but surely just say so and perhaps suggest that at a later stage of tuition it is more than likely the lesson might run well over the hour (paid for!)
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This exactly.....

I'd be happy as long as the reason was explained.....

If the reason was that the instructor was late, and had to be at another lesson afterwards, then I'd only expect to pay for half an hour...

My instructor charges me for 1hr, even though we sometimes go on for 50 min, but that's my decision as well as hers to end on a good note.....

Fiona
 
Well we won't be going back. My daughter has just told me that as she was explaining about herself and her horse and what she wanted to achieve etc someone came into the school to bring the instructor a cup of tea, (no problem with that) the instructor turned away, started having a conversation with this person and left my daughter talking to herself!
 
StableMum said:
Well we won't be going back. My daughter has just told me that as she was explaining about herself and her horse and what she wanted to achieve etc someone came into the school to bring the instructor a cup of tea, (no problem with that) the instructor turned away, started having a conversation with this person and left my daughter talking to herself!
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I think that sounds like the right decision....

Good luck with finding an instructor....

Fiona
 
StableMum said:
Well we won't be going back. My daughter has just told me that as she was explaining about herself and her horse and what she wanted to achieve etc someone came into the school to bring the instructor a cup of tea, (no problem with that) the instructor turned away, started having a conversation with this person and left my daughter talking to herself!
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So, so rude.
 
StableMum said:
Well we won't be going back. My daughter has just told me that as she was explaining about herself and her horse and what she wanted to achieve etc someone came into the school to bring the instructor a cup of tea, (no problem with that) the instructor turned away, started having a conversation with this person and left my daughter talking to herself!
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That changes everything - very, very rude.
 
I'd avoid too. 33 minutes is fine IF this is what was appropriate for the horse - but it is so short that it would require an explanation. My usual RI has sometimes cut lessons short with Dolly as she is young and tires easily but she always says 'I think that would be a good place to leave it' and has a longer debried/Q&A session instead. In those circumstances it's fine. But in this case, it sounds to me that she was just running late and so shortened your daughter's lesson to catch up which is unacceptable. There is a big name who teaches near me. I have had the misfortune before and others I know take an equally dim view. They pay over the odds because he is famous and feel utterly shortchanged when he spends the entire lesson on the phone! Some top riders are great teachers but many seem to just see it as a way of earning and have little interest beyond the cash.
 
I often find that instructors can forget to teach a warm down as well - like 'jumping is over, you did great, now go cool off'... if they horse had worked well during the jumping, the instructor could then spend 20 mins or so discussing warm up and down techniques (which are just as, if not more important) than the session itself. I would like to know how best to warm down my horse.

I know people 'should' know how to do this - but many have no idea how to do so effectively.

I'd book another lesson and just in case it only lasts 30 minutes again, I'd come prepared with questions to pick the instructors brain about how they warm down their horses, fittening tips, how they train theirs etc..... you're paying them for their knowledge, be a sponge and get as much info as you can from that session and use it. I imagine the trainer would feel flattered and enjoy sharing these and really happy to see your daughter actually using them and improving ready for their next session :)
 
I'm used to private lessons being around 40/45 minutes. If horse and rider are working effectively, this is plenty. I wouldn't want a one hour full on lesson, it would be too much for horse and rider so I'm a bit surprised at the lessons being described as lasting an hour. So on the timing point I would have given the benefit of the doubt and tried again. On the more recent update however, talking to someone else and ignoring the pupil is rude and unprofessional. I want an instructor who is actually interested in me and my horse and our progress. If they are not then I will move on, however good they may be technically.
 
Having just read how rude the trainer was, I'd not go back and I won't tolerate a trainer using the phone when I'm having a lesson and would challenge them if it happened. However, I never think I am paying for a specific amount of time, I'm having a lesson and there are so many reasons why the lesson might be shorter than expected and on occasions, longer. One of my trainer books her clients in every 45 minutes but you are free to go in to warm up for as long as you want before your session and stay to cool down after. If it's an intense session I'm more than happy for it to end early and on one occasion when the horse was being particularly tricky we went on longer but the trainer made sure her clients knew she was running late. TBH I think an hour is a bit long for an individual lesson but that's just my personal view
 
Just to update, my daughter went to a showjumping clinic a few days afterwards and we loved the way the trainer was so 'on the ball' with each of the four people in the group and how she taught. We booked a private lesson and it was excellent. The same money as before for 45 minutes which started after my daughter had warmed up and actually with the chat and feedback afterwards it was more like an hour. This lady, who used to event and has trained some pretty high profile people, does this now for a living so teaching is her priority, she really got the measure of horse and rider. (Superb school too).
So it could be said that we should be grateful for the previous instructor's shortcomings because otherwise we wouldn't have found this excellent lady who I'm sure is going to make a difference!
 
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