Ample Prosecco
Still wittering on
Obviously without seeing lessons or knowing the people, it is hard for anyone to advise, but I was just wondering if people had any thoughts. I am struggling to know who to use consistently for dressage lessons. I don't want to keep instructor hopping but equally I don't want to commit to lessons long term with the wrong person! There are 3 instructors who come to our yard weekly and I have had lessons with all of them at one time or another but am not sure who to stick with. Or if I actually should go off site for lessons. Though that is obviously far less convenient.
Alongside the regular instruction, I have just started using a biomechanics trainer who I think is brilliant. I plan to have a session once a month with her too. She focuses on me not the horse, but Toby went beautifully in a lesson with her.
Instructor 1:
The most popular dressage instructor on the yard. Events at Novice, with mid 20s dressage. Has some students doing well including instructor 2. My best lessons have been with her. But also my worst! She seems very good at tweaking little things early in a lesson to address something and then the rest of the lesson feels great. Eg outside flexion to straighten him, or small circles/leg yields to get him off the inside leg. Or turns on forehand to activate back end. I cannot feel what needs doing so I can't replicate those tweaks in schooling. I can do all the exercises but it's the knowing what to do when that I struggle with. She gives totally contradictory instructions from one week to the next which I am sure are always for good reasons but she is not good at explaining why. Eg 'slow him down he needs to find his own balance, then once in balance ask for more trot' versus 'more leg, more leg, move him forward, he needs to be more forward' during the warm up. So some warm ups he is barely in trot at all and others he is 4 times faster! Or 'soft hand, forward hand, let his neck out' versus 'more hand, leg into hand, whatever pressure you feel in the rein, double it!' when I start to pick up a contact. Several other people have stopped having lessons with her because she contradicts herself all the time so people are left having no idea how to practice in between lessons. She can occasionally be rude and can seem to get cross with the horses and students. She is very popular but equally quite a few people have stopped using her because of her rudeness and a few people have ended lessons in/near tears. She wants me to put Toby in draw reins.
Instructor 2
Events at Novice. Low 30s dressage. I have started having jumping lessons with her recently and she does lot of flat with me before we start jumping and I do like how she teaches flat. A few people, disgruntled with Instructor 1 have switched to her and recommend her though I am not aware of any results yet. A good friend with a sharp youngster has gone from a spooky nightmare every lesson to calm and focused in about a month. She has transformed Katie's jumping by working on the flat with her and Dolly. But even though I like her manner and style, Toby has never gone particularly well in a lesson with her. But she is focusing very much on me. She says she has felt I needed to go back to basics even in the Amber days so though Amber and I did ok together, I was a bit of a passenger on her. She says I am not far off being a much better rider, but some fundementals need to be in place first. I agree with all that so it is tempting to think she can be the one to teach them to me, but she does not really have a track record teaching dressage and I have not made much progress in the few lessons I have had with her. She does not advise draw reins, saying he needs a softer, gentler, slower approach.
Both instructors 1&2 really like Toby and think he has loads of potential.
Instructor 3
Events at Novice. Low-mid 30s dressage. PC senior instructor with lots of pupils doing well eg qualifying for Badminton grass roots. Not had any flat with her but wondered if she is worth a try. I used to have jumping lessons with her on Amber and initially on Toby. I liked the way she taught and I felt we made progress in that I went from popping round 60s on Amber to eventing her at BE90. She doesn't rate Toby and even though that should not really matter, it does to me. She thinks he's a sweet RC horse but nothing special and I'd be better off taking advantage of the crazy market and moving him to on for a 'better' horse. Which really puts me off having lessons with her at the moment as I like my instructors to believe in us! Katie has stopped her jumping lessons with her because she feels she is learning more from instructor 2. But two friends have recently switched from instructor 1 to instructor 3 for their flatwork and are both going better than I've ever seen them, getting low 20s dressage now on quite tricky horses which is a massive improvement in quite a short space of time. She is not a fan of me using draw reins.
Any thoughts?
Alongside the regular instruction, I have just started using a biomechanics trainer who I think is brilliant. I plan to have a session once a month with her too. She focuses on me not the horse, but Toby went beautifully in a lesson with her.
Instructor 1:
The most popular dressage instructor on the yard. Events at Novice, with mid 20s dressage. Has some students doing well including instructor 2. My best lessons have been with her. But also my worst! She seems very good at tweaking little things early in a lesson to address something and then the rest of the lesson feels great. Eg outside flexion to straighten him, or small circles/leg yields to get him off the inside leg. Or turns on forehand to activate back end. I cannot feel what needs doing so I can't replicate those tweaks in schooling. I can do all the exercises but it's the knowing what to do when that I struggle with. She gives totally contradictory instructions from one week to the next which I am sure are always for good reasons but she is not good at explaining why. Eg 'slow him down he needs to find his own balance, then once in balance ask for more trot' versus 'more leg, more leg, move him forward, he needs to be more forward' during the warm up. So some warm ups he is barely in trot at all and others he is 4 times faster! Or 'soft hand, forward hand, let his neck out' versus 'more hand, leg into hand, whatever pressure you feel in the rein, double it!' when I start to pick up a contact. Several other people have stopped having lessons with her because she contradicts herself all the time so people are left having no idea how to practice in between lessons. She can occasionally be rude and can seem to get cross with the horses and students. She is very popular but equally quite a few people have stopped using her because of her rudeness and a few people have ended lessons in/near tears. She wants me to put Toby in draw reins.
Instructor 2
Events at Novice. Low 30s dressage. I have started having jumping lessons with her recently and she does lot of flat with me before we start jumping and I do like how she teaches flat. A few people, disgruntled with Instructor 1 have switched to her and recommend her though I am not aware of any results yet. A good friend with a sharp youngster has gone from a spooky nightmare every lesson to calm and focused in about a month. She has transformed Katie's jumping by working on the flat with her and Dolly. But even though I like her manner and style, Toby has never gone particularly well in a lesson with her. But she is focusing very much on me. She says she has felt I needed to go back to basics even in the Amber days so though Amber and I did ok together, I was a bit of a passenger on her. She says I am not far off being a much better rider, but some fundementals need to be in place first. I agree with all that so it is tempting to think she can be the one to teach them to me, but she does not really have a track record teaching dressage and I have not made much progress in the few lessons I have had with her. She does not advise draw reins, saying he needs a softer, gentler, slower approach.
Both instructors 1&2 really like Toby and think he has loads of potential.
Instructor 3
Events at Novice. Low-mid 30s dressage. PC senior instructor with lots of pupils doing well eg qualifying for Badminton grass roots. Not had any flat with her but wondered if she is worth a try. I used to have jumping lessons with her on Amber and initially on Toby. I liked the way she taught and I felt we made progress in that I went from popping round 60s on Amber to eventing her at BE90. She doesn't rate Toby and even though that should not really matter, it does to me. She thinks he's a sweet RC horse but nothing special and I'd be better off taking advantage of the crazy market and moving him to on for a 'better' horse. Which really puts me off having lessons with her at the moment as I like my instructors to believe in us! Katie has stopped her jumping lessons with her because she feels she is learning more from instructor 2. But two friends have recently switched from instructor 1 to instructor 3 for their flatwork and are both going better than I've ever seen them, getting low 20s dressage now on quite tricky horses which is a massive improvement in quite a short space of time. She is not a fan of me using draw reins.
Any thoughts?
) at the end of every lesson. Is no more than 40 minutes away from you, with a super indoor so not weather dependant. £50 a session, worth every penny. 
