kerilli
Well-Known Member
On the other hand, is no tuition worse than bad tuition?
The only thing I regret doing with my old cob was having a couple of lessons (about a decade ago) with a fully qualified BHS instructor (actually used to teach at an Equine college) who encouraged me to "saw" him onto an outline, pull at his mouth, bit him up and put more and more weight on him to improve him for the show ring. I did it for a very short period, didn't like it and went back to working him on a longer rein and focussing on hacking and having fun rather than that sort of schooling. I genuinely believe he would be a lot less sound now had I persisted with her tuition.
Oh, I've been in a similar situation too. There was the FBHS who had me on the lunge as a teenager, cracking the whip under my mare's tail to make her suddenly shoot forwards (because she said the mare wasn't forward enough, and then yelling at me when I socked her in the chops, but refusing to let me hold onto the mane or a neckstrap... no win situation, right there.
Or the BHSI who tightened her own horse's crank noseband with her foot against its jaw for leverage (yes, really, I witnessed this) and informed me that unless it was that tight she 'couldn't get him on the bit'. I didn't let her do that to my horse...
Trying to sort the rubbish from the good from the great is very very difficult... which is probably why I get rather evangelical about great trainers!