Pictures Too big for riding school pony

[ponymad25]

Sounds like the height of the pony is the least of your worries if you're not being adequately equipped with a helmet (well done for getting that sorted yourself though) and the qualified person (assuming they are) is leaving the teaching to unqualified helpers!

I'd get shopping around for somewhere else - at best you're not going to progress much further and wasting money on non-lessons (how much are they charging for this out of interest?), at worst you could end up hurt!

My instructor would rather drink coffee than teach and hasn’t ridden any of the ponies in ages anyway. Lessons are about £35 I think for an hour or so of just plodding around.

 

[ponymad25]

Sounds like the height of the pony is the least of your worries if you're not being adequately equipped with a helmet (well done for getting that sorted yourself though) and the qualified person (assuming they are) is leaving the teaching to unqualified helpers!

I'd get shopping around for somewhere else - at best you're not going to progress much further and wasting money on non-lessons (how much are they charging for this out of interest?), at worst you could end up hurt!

I did fall off and hurt my back when I first started because my instructor took no notice of my pony misbehaving and refusing to walk on so he got his foot stuck in an already broken piece of equipment that was on the floor and spooked.

 

[Shilasdair]

I have taught riding in the past - and what you are describing would never have happened in any of the yards I worked in.

You need to find another riding school - and stop going to this one.

Look at the BHS website for approved schools - or post on here, or FB horse groups for your area, seeking recommendations.

 

[neddy man]

Show this thread to your parents, everyone's comments and concerns should highlight its time to change riding schools.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

So they’re paying in multiples of £35 for an instructor who doesn't instruct on unsuitable ponies? Is this a joke? They’re aware you aren’t actually being taught/making progress??

 

[ponymad25]

So they’re paying in multiples of £35 for an instructor who doesn't instruct on unsuitable ponies? Is this a joke? They’re aware you aren’t actually being taught/making progress??

My parents don’t actually see what my lessons are like as they only know from what I say. I’m going to ask them tomorrow about moving riding schools.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

My parents don’t actually see what my lessons are like as they only know from what I say. I’m going to ask them tomorrow about moving riding schools.

Not sure how old you are but well done for picking up there's something not quite right and for checking it out with other people. If I were your parents I would certainly want to know I'm paying for lessons which are firstly safe and also going to teach you something (and that you're enjoying them!).

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Please tell them what you’ve told us, you said your siblings are there too? Madness to let them spend this much, you could buy a horse and keep it yourself for less, I reckon.

 

[ponymad25]

Please tell them what you’ve told us, you said your siblings are there too? Madness to let them spend this much, you could buy a horse and keep it yourself for less, I reckon.

I will, my siblings don’t know any better as they’ve only ever ridden those ponies and been to that riding school. Yep probably could keep a horse myself as i live near a farm which keep horses there . I also know the basics of horse care and ownership as well as first aid, bandaging, poultices etc. Haha I’ve been horse obsessed since I was 5.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Please tell them what you’ve told us, you said your siblings are there too? Madness to let them spend this much, you could buy a horse and keep it yourself for less, I reckon.

Uh oh, parents might appreciate that suggestion a bit less! (mine would have anyway, not that I needed it suggesting to me obviously)

 

[Cinnamontoast]

It’d probably be cheaper!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Uh oh, parents might appreciate that suggestion a bit less! (mine would have anyway, not that I needed it suggesting to me obviously)

But she says she and her siblings so minimum 3, at £35 each (per week?) is £105 a week. Far cheaper to have a horse on diy! ?

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

But she says she and her siblings so minimum 3, at £35 each (per week?) is £105 a week. Far cheaper to have a horse on diy! ?

I am very sure I presented that argument to my parents approximately 1 billion times haha! Often accompanied with my highly detailed costings of all the things it would need. Then dad would say something like 'what about vets bills?' and I'd be like '....dammit!'. Never did get that pony - I am totally over it *eye twitches*

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I am very sure I presented that argument to my parents approximately 1 billion times haha! Often accompanied with my highly detailed costings of all the things it would need. Then dad would say something like 'what about vets bills?' and I'd be like '....dammit!'. Never did get that pony - I am totally over it *eye twitches*

Mine wouldn’t let me have lessons, let alone a horse. All because the neighbour’s kid knocked out her front teeth in a fall. I’m still resentful, I was-still am-utterly obsessed!

 

[fredflop]

Mine wouldn’t let me have lessons, let alone a horse. All because the neighbour’s kid knocked out her front teeth in a fall. I’m still resentful, I was-still am-utterly obsessed!

I wasn’t allowed anywhere near a horse as my mother “had a friend that had been run over and killed by a lorry that scared her horse.”

later on in life I suspect this was an enormous lie, and a cover up as my mother didn’t like horses and therefore I wasn’t allowed to either

 

[MiniMilton]

Aside from the safety issues (hats etc!), riding ponies too small for you is detrimental to your position. I have a very experienced 5'7 friend that rode a 13.2 pony for about 2 years and you could see her position deteriorating over that time. Thankfully back to riding bigger ones now she is back to her wonderful self. But if this had been earlier in her riding career it may have caused longterm bad habits.

I have 1 small pony for my children, and the eldest can't even sit on him properly anymore. He just looks wobbly and unbalanced. Getting a decent position is impossible.

Best of luck I hope you find a lonely new school with a bigger range of ponies

 

[Mule]

It sounds like a place that started up near me years ago, they did get their act together and are now run fairly well as far as I know but there are many RS's where the owners just lose interest, they enjoy the money it brings in but have little interest in the actual teaching, it is a shame but not uncommon.

That's the sort of place I started at too. It actually worked out fine because the girl who gave the lessons for the owner (unqualified teenager who also rode at the riding school) happened to be a good teacher. Obviously that was just good luck.

The owner and supposed instructor used to spend all his time watching racing on the TV instead of teaching. The teenagers ran the yard! It was potentially disastrous at times as everyone used to climb to the top of the hay barn to smoke Presumably the owner hadn't a clue what was going on.

 

[mini_b]

£35??? ?
Shameful. Definitely look for somewhere else! Even if you have to travel further.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I did fall off and hurt my back when I first started because my instructor took no notice of my pony misbehaving and refusing to walk on so he got his foot stuck in an already broken piece of equipment that was on the floor and spooked.

Yet your horsey mum continues to take you there? ??‍

 

[Keith_Beef]

But she says she and her siblings so minimum 3, at £35 each (per week?) is £105 a week. Far cheaper to have a horse on diy! ?

That might work for one horse, but if we go on the calculation of three youngsters of different ages, a horse big enough for ponymad25 might be too big for the other two.

The description of the school, especially the YM and the episode in post 32, makes it sound like sooner or later somebody is going to have a really nasty accident. I wouldn't let my kids ride at a school like that.

As far as the helmet thing goes, I don't think anybody should ride more than once or twice in a school helmet, just to try out riding, and you should wear a paper hair cover between you and the helmet padding. I doubt they they're cleaned in between sessions... you're just asking to catch head lice.

 

[ponymad25]

That might work for one horse, but if we go on the calculation of three youngsters of different ages, a horse big enough for ponymad25 might be too big for the other two.

The description of the school, especially the YM and the episode in post 32, makes it sound like sooner or later somebody is going to have a really nasty accident. I wouldn't let my kids ride at a school like that.

As far as the helmet thing goes, I don't think anybody should ride more than once or twice in a school helmet, just to try out riding, and you should wear a paper hair cover between you and the helmet padding. I doubt they they're cleaned in between sessions... you're just asking to catch head lice.

There will be an accident at some point, I’m very sure of that. Also my brother pays for his own lessons (he’s older), me and my sister are the same height but we have different body types( I have v long legs and short upper body, my sister has slightly shorter legs and longer upper body)
And they don’t even clean the helmets or use paper hair covers ?

 

[gnubee]

I’m not sure which bit of the country you are in, but round here £35 For a group lesson would be the best riding school in about an hours radius, so I’d hope you can find some other good options locally. Even without the obvious issues with the instruction and set up at your current school I’d always recommend going to a few different places semi-regularly before you get your own horse do you are exposed to different horses and different ways of doing things. I also have weirdly found that whilst all horses are different, different riding schools seem to have horses that ride different ways - I assume it’s to do with their pattern of keeping/ using them, the type of horses the owners like, the standard of riders and the exercises they do regularly. It seems really weird, but it has really held up as an observation for me across a large number of places I’ve been over the years.
Having said all that, it doesn’t hurt to experience riding at some less reputable places too- if your siblings aren’t ready for a full move just yet maybe consider doing alternate weeks with your current place and another school.