What should they learn at riding school?

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Dry Rot

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No, not intending to go to riding school myself but wondered what is normally on the curriculum of most riding schools?

Recently had a young teenager here who was apparently having riding lessons. As far as I could discover, all she was doing was hacking out. Attempts to bring a very quiet pony in from the field involved advancing towards it with the head collar held at arms length, like someone offering a feed bucket! She told me she did not do catching, nor tacking up, nor much else by the sound of it, apart from riding.

Am I expecting too much?
 
Sadly yes. In my experience, unless they sign up for horse care management or have done lots of own a pony days, they literally turn up and ride. Some teach the basics of tacking up, but most only teach riding skills.
 
Well the last time my daughter went she turned up, got on the pony, rode it round with about 10 others in circles. Waited while they all did individual trots by which time the half hour was up at a cost of £18!
So we went back to 'forget I am your mother, pretend I am an instructor'
I think as and when either myself or my daughter need lessons it will be one on one.
 
How to fall off properly, and not to blame the horse for your own mistakes. Catch in and turn out safely. Tacking up, maintaining tack, etc. Lead in hand properly. Posture. Beet must be soaked. All mud must be brushed off prior to tacking up. Never leave them without forage and water. Wear a hard hat. Keep muck heap tidy. How to rug appropriately. Never stand in front of the rear door of a loaded horsebox as you close it. And do not run and scream near horses. The yard cat is more important than you are.

I have no idea if these things are still taught but they should be.
 
unfortunately most riding schools its get on, ride, get off. Unless they want stable management lessons (at an extra charge) it doesn't happen. I learnt basic care at own a pony days and as I got older I would help on a Saturday and that really had help.
 
I had lessons but after that went onto volunteer at my local Rda, there was about 5 of us aged 11-13, we cared for 40+ with minimal supervision after being shown the ropes. Mucking out, bringing in, pulling beds down, mixing feeds, feeding hay, hosing down clarty legs, grooming, tacking up, cleaning tack, leading in lessons, keeping muck heap tidy, poo picking, cleaning field shelter,helping stack the hay and straw in barn. Sweeping yards and aisles, soaking the indoor arena before lessons. Putting fly spray on in summer on the few that needed it, along with rugs for those that lived out. We took the ponies to do pony rides at local events so used to hack them there. We were worked long and hard 7-5/6 at weekends in the winter. We had an hour lesson a week, mostly. I think lessons are about riding, everything else, unless the school runs stable management courses, you need to volunteer, but then that is hard work and if all you're interested is , is turning up in your immaculate boots and your designer riding gear to look pretty on a pony......
 
The yard/riding school I used to work at used to do one in every four lessons as a hack - found kids learnt far more outside of an arena than inside! The older riders if time allowed used to help with bringing in, tacking up etc. Everything I know is spent from the long summers and muddy weekends at that place, bringing in five at a time, feeding the cat, cleaning tack to an inch of its life... those were the days.

Whether it happens these days with health and safety in everyone's minds I don't know. Guess that's what the 'own a pony' days are still used for though.
 
Sadly it's a sign of the times that insurance and health and safety limited what pupils, including those on work experience can do. We were once told by a local authority that pupils that were sent to us on work experience could not actually handle horses because they were dangerous, they couldn't come into contact with feeding or bedding in case they were allergic but they could teach our clients!!

Our regular pupils are encouraged to help tack up and untack but quite a few choose not to and just want to ride, others that are keen to learn can do so at courses we run in the holidays but given the logistics of supervision on a normal busy weekend day there really isn't much scope to safely have a complete novice being taught on those days, those with a little more experience can become more involved if they choose to do so.
 
Unless she has made an effort to learn some stable management, she won't have specifically been taught any. I know not all riding schools allow pupils to do this, but most I have know still allow pupils to stay up for the day after/before their lesson and do some stable management. I know girls of 11/12 who have learnt to groom/tack up/rug up a quiet horse independently at a riding school.

At this riding school, the majority of the ponies and horses are kept in quite large herds in big fields, so the younger ones are not usually able to catch in/turn out just in case they end up in a dangerous situation. They are taught how to do this in theory though in the indoor school, and they are taught to lead safely too. There are girls of about 13/14 who are allowed to help with catching and turning out in the big fields, though. Usually, the more experienced teenagers, over 16, supervise the younger ones and teach the novices how to do things.

I think generally, most riding schools do regard most of the stable management as seperate to the riding, so if a novice wants to learn both, they have to make an effort to learn the stable management too. Some of it will be less exciting chores, such as mucking out, sweeping the yard, cleaning tack and filling hay nets, so some do get put off by this. If someone only turns up for a hack once a week, they won't be taught any stable management unless they ask.

If she has done no stable management at all, then I think you may have to start with the expectation of her knowing nothing at all. She may be able to lead the horse safely, but that is it. I would also insist on checking her girth is tight before she rides, at first as she may be used to an instructor helping her with this, too.
 
My riding school seems to be the exception these days. In my lesson I turn up, tack up the horse I'm riding, have my lesson, if my horse isn't being used in the lesson after then we are expected to pick out feet, untack and clean the bit, groom and rug up in winter when they're clipped. In summer we'll sponge off their sweaty bits and turn them out in the field. The amount of horse care we do increases as the lessons advance, but even in the beginner lesson we are expected to pick feet out and groom. Over 13s can also stay to help out, leading beginner riders, tacking up, showing beginner riders what to do. The riding school I go to is run exceptionally well, and as a result of this extra responsibility given to the rider the horses are looked after fantastically, given the personal attention many riding school ponies miss out on and the rider is educated in the all-important practical side of horse care.
I went on an own-a-pony holiday a few years back and spent most of it showing other riders in my ability group how to tack up, pick feet out and even telling them what type of brush was most suitable for the task. Things I completely took for granted that I've known since I begun riding!
 
The riding school where my pony is at livery runs all sorts of courses, including pony days where the kids do a bit of everything - lesson, hack and stable management. If they sign up as helpers they catch (under supervision), lead, look after the horses etc. But they (with their parents' consent) do need to sign up to do that and they are expected to turn up regularly on their appointed days, so it needs a degree of commitment. It's perfectly possible for a pupil of any age to do nothing but turn up and ride, hand the reins back and leave, and many do. As for hacking all the time, you'd hope that the person taking the bookings would notice after a while that the client never took lessons, but at the end of the day it's meant to be fun so it's whatever you enjoy I guess.
 
My local school wasn't bad; at the start, you'd just turn up to ride, and after you'd gotten over any nerves you had, you'd be shown how to untack and lead correctly, and you'd be encouraged to give the tack a quick dust off but wouldn't be expected to do much more. Eventually, you'd be shown how to tack up, and would be expected to turn up 15 minutes before your lesson to ensure your horse was ready, and how to rug up properly. With some, you might have to turn out.

I used to volunteer on Saturdays from 8-7, and learnt quite a lot more from that. Unfortunately we did still miss out on some things (mixing/giving hard feed, for instance), but it was a good way of learning the basics.
 
I started riding when I was 10, and was taught by a proper old school old woman. She was great, she had her own wee riding school (not even ten ponies) and her granddaughter was on hand at the beginning/end of lessons to help.

After being shown numerous how to tack up if you didn't tack your pony up in time and correctly then you didn't get to ride! Same with afterwards, if you didn't untack and pick out feet properly you weren't allowed to ride the following week!

If we didn't rug up properly we weren't allowed to take the ponies for a bareback canter up the track to the field.

We all learned pretty fast ;)

Such a shame riding schools these days don't always allow keen pupils to learn properly. Probably why so many muppets end up with horses they don't have a clue how to care for.
 
The first riding school I went to had the horse ready and waiting, all tacked up. Id ride and afterwards somebody would take the horse off me to untack, etc. We did hack sometimes. I did a few day courses there, where id groom the pony, tack/untack and ride a couple of times. The next riding school I went to was far better. Right away we were sent to tack up our own horses (With help if needed) then after the lesson we'd untack, pick out feet, give the bridle a clean, rug up and put into the field. Here I helped out which was much more rewarding - mucking out, giving out hay, cleaning the automatic water dispensers, cleaning tack, bringing horses in/taking them out, rugging/unrugging, sweeping, grooming, bathing the horses, leading in lessons, assisting in lessons, etc. Though I've since got my own part loan horse and I've learned more with him and his owner in the 1 year 4 months ive had him than I did riding at schools for 10 years!
 
A riding school close to me runs a ~Stable Club~ during holidays & on weekends - turn up & sign in you can then help out around yard - usually filling wheelbarrows & taking to the muck heap & filling haynets , the older girls were normally in charge & got the little ones to do as much as possible whilst they tacked up & ensured horses / ponies were ready for lessons, if your horse wasn't being used again you could ask to turn it out but if it was someones favourite they would turn it out & you could go with them x
 
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