what should I have done? riding question

timefort

timefort

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Last night I had a riding lesson at a school on my beloved (school) pony. Said pony is 13.2hh on tiptoes and is very definitely not a riding school/ kids pony - she makes that very clear!

Last night she was very sharp and spooky even in the stable before riding (normally v. relaxed and quite behind the leg). We warmed up (in open order), concentrating mainly on transitions. We were still at the halt/walk/trot stage when she spooked violently and shot off down the school bucking. Third buck was my point of no return and I sailed overhead and landed in front of her still holding the reins. Fortunately she was polite enough not to stand on me(!). Baffled as this is not normal behaviour I remounted and continued, only for her to do exactly the same thing again, although this time I stayed on. By this point my instructor told me to stay near her and the other horses (big arena and getting dark so perhaps she had a fit of loneliness), but alas this wasn't the problem as she took off bucking for a third time. Again I stayed put (cue lots of "sit back" shouting from the instructor!), but by this point my confidence was on the floor.

So, my question, what should I have done at this point?

What I did do was spend the rest of the lesson in walk on a 20m circle round my instructor and while not panicking if the rest of the class were too close or too far away did lots of walk/halt transitions, turns on/about forehand etc with occasional bursts of trot when I felt brave enough. By the end of the lesson I just managed to trot a whole lap of a 20m circle.

Now I'm feeling rather upset, partly because my confidence is fragile and I don't want to lose it again, partly because I'm not sure whether I should have just persevered and not let her get away with the "naughtiness" (once upon a time I wouldn't have thought twice about this) and partly because I have talked to the yard about buying said pony but now I'm wondering if I'm just nowhere near good enough to even consider that.

Any thoughts? suggestions? things I should have tried/ can try in the future?
As she's a riding school pony I cant really do the usual teeth/back/saddle checks other than ask them to check.

And sorry for the long ramble - stiff drink for anyone getting this far
:D x
 
First and foremost your confidence should be sky high.....turn the situation around. Yes she was very naughty BUT you stayed on the first time for 2 bucks, the 2nd and 3rd set of bucking fits you STAYED ON, you didn't fall off, that in itself is great. I would of fallen off I'm sure. Also you didn't give in, you didn't get off and let the naughty pony win. You won, you made her walk and trot when YOU wanted to. I think you did really well xxx
 
I'll have a Pimms, ta :D

I'm curious to see the response as I know exactly where you are coming from.

Had a lesson a few years back where the horse I was on would just buck but on this particular day, it was every time I asked for a canter. I wasn't strong enough and certainly too scared to be firm with him and in the end I had my instructor chasing me with the lunge whip to make him go and the dragon who owned the riding school yelling at me. Confidence? Out the window, and all the progress I had made felt meaningless. I can't even remember how it ended... Worst lesson ever :(
 
If it was very out of character for her, as it sounds, then it seems that for some reason, physical or mental, it was not appropriate for her to be hired out to you last night. If I had been the instructor I would have wanted to swap you on to another horse once it became apparent there was an issue and she was not going to settle. Expecting clients to ride horses that are at that moment in time dangerous to the rider and to the others in the lesson is not a sign of a well run riding school.

You say she was all ready telling you in the stable that there was a problem, so don't blame yourself, it wasn't your riding that upset her. I don't think she was simply "being naughty". I would be having serious thoughts about whether this school is the best place for you though.
 
Was she in season? Some mares are extremely sensitive at this time - physically and mentally (aren't we all??! :) )
Agree the instructor should have considered changing your horse or at least offering you the opportunity - for both the pony's sake and yours.
 
Thanks for the replies... and extra thanks to tricksy for the confidence boosting! When I returned from my ride I was rather upset as 1) pony hadn't been like that before and 2) I didn't really know the best way to deal with it. Now I'm being a bit more realistic I don't think it was anything I did per se, just "one of those things".

I can see both points of view regarding riding her. The stables weren't (initially) to know she was going to be that silly, and the only way I'm going to improve is by riding horses who can be difficult every now and then. With this pony in particular the school know I like her and her idiosyncrasies, and indeed up until now I haven't had any problems with her. I am only too aware that horses aren't predictable and if I have to ride a horse which has decided to launch into a bucking tirade I would rather be doing it in a sandschool with an instructor than on my own somewhere.

On the other hand, I was rather surprised I wasn't at least offered the chance to swap onto something else (and I'm guessing I wasn't since it was a late ride and they probably only had horses in that they were going to use). In some respects I'm glad I didn't get the offer because I'm sure I would have felt a lot worse if pony had "won" by realising if she gets into naughty mode then riders get/fall off and stay off. Have to admit to being a bit disappointed in the instructor though - her priority seemed to be making sure I didn't come off again or interrupt the lesson, rather than talking me through how to ride it to prevent /discourage repeat performances. I had the feeling that if she could have got me to stand quietly in the middle for 45 mins she would have. That said she's not my regular instructor so had no idea of what I'm capable of etc. (damn my being a scientist and always being able to find the reasonable argument!)

Also, Jojo, I hadn't thought of her being in season - if that was the case I can sympathise entirely(!). I do have a horrible feeling that it might be more the case that she wanted to be in the field with her friends rather than working. (I can also sympathise with that one to some degree!)

Thanks again for your replies
:D x
 
Another thing you could check is her numnah. Run your flat hand across it to see if theres anything sharp stuck in it. I had a problem once with my extreemly chilled horse, doing pretty much the same thing, couldnt find anything wrong, no reason for him to be doing it. I got off in the end, had dad hold the horse while I took his saddle off to check his back and when I put my hand under the nunnah to hold the saddle noticed there was a sharp piece of hay stuck in it. Took it out and tacked him back up and he was fine after that.
 
I think you did really well to perservere.

However, if the question is what could you have done differently if you owned the pony (ie so the instructor didn't call the shots) Here are some thoughts ....

... I would first have just tried to think whether anything had changed which might had affected her (new stables mates, food, new field etc) in which case she might just have been having a strop.

However, I have a mare who can be quite horrible when she is coming into season when I either steel myself and ride through it, go for a quiet hack or more often than not put her on the lunge for a bit to see if she settles down.

The important thing is to listen to the pony so you can be prepared - as in this case she appeared to be telling you quite clearly that she wasn't feeling great! And you are right, she is a horse not a robot so she will have some mood swings!
 
I ride in a riding school too and whilst I would hate them to only have plods available to ride (it would be very boring) I think there comes a point where enough is enough, it isn't your horse, you aren't responsible and you should be thinking of your own safety.

I don't know your level of experience, or how bad the pony was being, but it sounds to me as though your instructor didn't handle it well.

I think that if it was so bad all you were able to do is walk close to her then she should have swapped you. Either putting an experienced client in your group on the naughty pony and you on something safer or getting a member of staff to ride or lunge the pony so that she doesn't think she's won. Assuming that there is nothing physically wrong that means the pony should simply have been put away.

Whilst you want the experience of riding horses and ponies that aren't typical riding school horses you shouldn't be put at undue risk. I can think of two occasions when my instructor has said "that's it I'm not continuing to teach that horse it isn't safe" and others where people have been swapped for safety/confidence issues.
 
A few years ago I had a new horse. He was young. I had only had him for about 10 days, it was a very wild and windy night and I was due to have a lesson. The horse was on his toes and I said to the instructor, I think this is a bad idea and she said, don't be silly get on and ride, you can't only ride in good weather conditions. Well I ended up getting bucked off and breaking some ribs and then being so scared of the horse that I had to sell him and my nerves were shot for a long, long time.

The moral of the story. Sometimes it is better to look at the horse and if it is being silly, back off and ride the next day, or lunge it. Don't risk frightening yourself just because a gung-ho trainer thinks you should brave it. Any decent instructor in a riding school should appreciate this fact. You did very well to get back on. I wouldn't have.
 
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