sj & lessons

[sj_xc_hannah_]

i had a bit of a bad day today and my pc rally, with my riding instructor. i think/thought that he is very good.

but, today in my lesson he kind of kept picking on me, not in a nasty way but would point out all the bad things i did to the other people.

i got a new jumping saddle yesterday, and i settled into it quickly luckly, (lovely pessoa

) for my birthday not til the 4th of feb.

we were having a nice bouncy canter into fences, i was putting her in the right places and folding well etc which i have only just got the hang of really, until we started to do some of the distances, one was 5 stides, a pony (14.2) got in the 5, but they are always going quite fast and shes had the pony for a while. when i went round we did the same but with a bouncy canter and got in 6, and it felt really nice. but the teacher told me to go round and do it again until i got 5, but the problem was when was doing the distances what we were being told to do was making us go really fast, half out of control, i wasnt able to fold, see a stride or anything while we were doing it and my horse was bucking as she didnt really like it and couldnt tell what she was doing wrong so was getting upset.

i know that i should be able to get the strides in, but going really fast rather than being incontrol, bucking, and not being able to ride properly isnt the way to teach it, it should of been tought to lengthen the stride rather than going really fast i would have thought.

so, going maybe too slowly, and fitting in an extra stride shouldnt be too bad, and we are not lacking inpolstion.

i just wanted to know what everyone thought as it really upset me and i didnt enjoy my lesson, i took on board what he has said, and i know that i need to fasten up a bit but i have only just completely got to grips with her (i have had her for 6months) and i have gone from a slow NF gelding who refused alot to a young tb mare who hardly ever stops, and we have been getting placed etc and getting confident but its just my mare wasnt very happy about it.

sorry about the essay, i dont really know what i want people to say but just want to hear some views or something. xxx

 

[lucemoose]

good days and bad days,,,we all have them. understand what you are saying about the striding thing tho, used to ride very short striding horses-i felt happy about the canter but instructors didnt!used to add extra strides in all related distances easily..its not a case of suddenly getting this 'longer' canter, but working on it over time so u fell comfortable riding it. took me a whole summer on one of the horses!
a good thing to think of is what the canter should feel like,u mention a bouncy canter -good- but perhaps you have lost a little forward motion with the bounce? if u visualise ur bouncy canter to be circular in shape, then think of it becoming oval or elliptical?so plenty of impulsion, without losin the forward motion.
sorry for the essay back!but i had a lame lesson last nite so emphathise!!

 

[buckybee]

If your horse was doing it nicely in six strides i don't really see why there was anything wrong with that, and I don't think this instructer guy went about it in a very good way.

Every horse is different and a lot of horses will put in an extra stride in to a longer related distance so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It's a shame your ponio got upset about it all, I don't like group lessons very much, I don't think it gets the best out of a horse standing there for ten minutes with thier mates and then expect them to go and do stuff.

don't be fed up about you or your horse, it sounds like you did really well!

 

[sj_xc_hannah_]

thanx both of you, hes a good instructor but today i just thought i am hating this, and i don't get how this is helping me. i didnt blame my horse at all she did what i was asking her to do she was a good girl for not getting me off, thank you i'm glad that its not just me who thought that.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

A steady rythmical canter is what you strive for, yoiu appear to have that, & that is good. You have only had your lass for a short time & you have done very well. You will eventually need to be able to lengthen & shorten the stride pattern but there are ways of teaching it & your instructor appears to have been a little thoughtless about how he's gone about it.

Stick with it, a steady canter is far better than a charging, out of control lass. It will all come right in the end. Good Luck

 

[PapaFrita]

Ooh, I think you and I might have the same instructor

What with PF being on the small side and getting a bit excitable when going forward I would rather put an extra stride in if I can. BOF however makes me do it both ways and he's right (damn him!) Course it IS important to be able to think on your feet and put in as many/few strides as necessary so you're not wrong to do 6 if you can. Clearly your instructor believes you can do it in 5 so I'd think of it as a positive rather than a negative that he's so demanding

Are you quite sure you've not got PF as well???