Slightly odd question...helping others with their riding

B

bex1984

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 February 2007
Messages
5,745
Location
Leicestershire
Visit site
I'm just wondering how many of you help others, informally, with their riding?

Someone at my yard has asked me if I would give her lessons on Murphy and she'd pay me for it. I've said that I can't teach her, because I can't ride myself
blush.gif
and wouldn't take any money for it, but I'm happy for her to ride Murphy once a week/fortnight and I can give her some advice on how to ride Murphy specifically, and give her some exercises to do with him.

I've asked her to get her own rider insurance - is there anything else I should consider? She's really lovely and it will be fun for me to have someone to ride with once a week, and what she really needs is confidence and Murphy is the best confidence giver around
smile.gif


Do other people help others out with their riding? I kind of feel bad because I'm such a useless numpty rider myself and I don't want to be giving the impression taht I know what I'm doing when I don't
crazy.gif
 
I think everybody has experience of certain issues and quirks that horses have, that regardless of how good you are can be helpful for other people. There's a girl at riding club who is a much better rider than me, and has a lovely horse but started going through a stage where the horse would not canter on the left leg. She had a back person out who found a problem but even after it was sorted the horse wouldn't canter on the correct leg. I always had this issue with my old boy on one rein so I told her what I did to sort it out (get my outside leg back as far as it would go - almost on his quarters!) and it worked! I don't claim to be an expert on any issue to do with horses but if I can offer advice based on any experience I do have, I'm always happy to help.
 

oooo I will be using that tip - Murphy doesn't do canter on the left rein so I'll try what you suggested
smile.gif


The thing is, Murphy is very lazy and you have to ride him a certain way, with a certain attitude - so I can help her to get him listening to her and hopefully riding him will build her confidence (she has her own horse who is only just backed and has been turned away for a few months). But the way you have to ride Murphy isn't really 'correct'!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not qualified or anything but I help my next door neighbours kids on their ponies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same. Just the basics of position, rising trot etc, and the first stages of jumping. I have a retired welsh pony that is an angel on the lead rein, and once the kids graduates past that level they go and get lessons from someone who knows what they're talking about!
 
Not qualified in any sense but friends ask me how I do things on my horse and I tell them.
They watched me do a few tests and were impressed(???!) I wasnt particularly - but if people ask I will tell them. I also quite happy to admit I am a crap rider, in many ways but to me the basic principles of getting a horse going forward in to a light contact with a bit of impulsion, are not rocket science!!
Friends who have paid out a packet in lessons, have said "oooh,nobody told me that before".

Be careful about giving a formal riding lesson in someone elses sandschool, like a riding school. If you are not a pro there may well be insurance issues if your pupil has an accident.
 
theres a lady on my yard who is fantastic at helping me ride when i'm in a faff and especially jumping because she knows how to talk to me to make me do it and she is saying everything from experience not qualification... she's a great confidence giver which at times is what i need and she's is willing to come with us and take us to little competitions and hiring courses for practice!!!


its great having someone around who does all this and bex if u can do it then i'm sure it will help her loads
smile.gif
 
A friend helps my daughter with her riding. She's given her (and the pony) loads of confidence.....much more than the instructor I pay a fortune for. She obviously likes you and a bit of mutual respect can mean so much when it comes to learning. I'd go for it and enjoy!
 
I end up teaching my OH whether he likes it or not, as he rides my horse and it bugs me how he blames the horse for everything. Generally he gets on and within a few mins my schoolmaster apparently won't do things...so we do a lesson on how to ask correctly.

The other night was that Roo is lazy in trot so I pointed out that he kicks everytime he sits from a rise so Roo has (very nicely) chosen to ignore his leg when trotting rather than bugger off and deck him for being annoying. It causes huge arguments though as OH's (men) just won't be told!!! and I have to be apologetic for asking him to do something differently. Just get fed up of getting Roo back to "factory settings" before I can get on with my riding.

Also I will help if I am riding with someone and they are struggling and ask me what is going wrong. I wouldn't comment unless they ask and I always tell them to bring it up with their instructor on their next lesson. Not a great rider myself, but if I can help I will and if I don't know then I say so.
 
I don't think I'd dare try and tell my OH how to do anything...he thinks he knows how to ride because he just gets on and gallops around...I leave it to Murphy to teach him when he's getting it wrong by threatening to put him on the floor!!

I just know what it's like to need your confidence building, plus I have such a perfect pony for people to get their confidence on, so I'm happy to help out if I can...just don't want people to think I know what I'm talking about when I don't!!
 
my friend gives me "lessons" with my schooling because in that area I am still very novicey, I don't pay her and it is helping her to practice her teaching because in the near future she will be taking her instructors test.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top