On the Hoof
Well-Known Member
So Im not the most balanced person in the world, and I am a novice rider and silly old me thinks that having lots of lunge lessons is a really good idea. I did have quite a few last year when the riding school where my horse is stabled was open (cannot have lunge lessons on my own horse due to her arthritis) but after the RS part closed I was left without anywhere to go. Went to another yard and was put on a 5 year old new to RS and it was unbalanced and panicked, tanked in canter and I did the wall of death. The response was that my seat was good anyway and if I could sit the tanking on the lunge I could sit anything (ha ha I wish - my hands were white holding onto the pommel!).
So after a few months I searched elsewhere, a few places don't do them, and some that do seem to want to get me off the lunge after one lesson. Lets be clear I am NOT well balanced and I am rubbish at canter so why cannot instructors see this and give me what I want. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and ideally I would like to be able to walk, trot and canter on the lunge with my eyes closed, no reins and no stirrups! If I could get to this level of balance I would be happy and much more confident in my riding. Am I being unreasonable?
And while I'm ranting, what's with using a horse that does not canter on command for a lunge lesson and just rushes faster in trot most of the time, so by time it canters Ive lost my 'stillness' and concentration and end up bumping on the poor things back. Surely horses need to be trained to take riders on the lunge? Perhaps that is why many places don't do lunge lessons or don't want people to have more than one or two because they know their horses are not suitable? Yesterday I went to a well established and highly thought of place, with an excellent trainer at a high cost for a private lesson and was put on another horse that did not want to work and wouldn't canter. Even this trainer said that I should only have a few lunge lessons and then have a 'proper' lesson. I rebooked for a few weeks time - now why did I bother Im asking myself this morning? Do you think its ok to ring them and suggest that perhaps they could find me a different horse next time ?
I should say that ive had a bad fall in canter and am currently not very good at it - its like ive gone back in time and freeze - so I thought lunge lessons would be really helpful - i could concentrate on the rhythm and get my seat right without getting too scared to even ask for canter which is where I am mostly at the moment.
Sorry for long rant - just feeling a bit depressed about this situation at the moment and really want to know if Im being unreasonable in wanting a well trained horse and for someone to accept that lunge lessons are what I want/need.
So after a few months I searched elsewhere, a few places don't do them, and some that do seem to want to get me off the lunge after one lesson. Lets be clear I am NOT well balanced and I am rubbish at canter so why cannot instructors see this and give me what I want. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and ideally I would like to be able to walk, trot and canter on the lunge with my eyes closed, no reins and no stirrups! If I could get to this level of balance I would be happy and much more confident in my riding. Am I being unreasonable?
And while I'm ranting, what's with using a horse that does not canter on command for a lunge lesson and just rushes faster in trot most of the time, so by time it canters Ive lost my 'stillness' and concentration and end up bumping on the poor things back. Surely horses need to be trained to take riders on the lunge? Perhaps that is why many places don't do lunge lessons or don't want people to have more than one or two because they know their horses are not suitable? Yesterday I went to a well established and highly thought of place, with an excellent trainer at a high cost for a private lesson and was put on another horse that did not want to work and wouldn't canter. Even this trainer said that I should only have a few lunge lessons and then have a 'proper' lesson. I rebooked for a few weeks time - now why did I bother Im asking myself this morning? Do you think its ok to ring them and suggest that perhaps they could find me a different horse next time ?
I should say that ive had a bad fall in canter and am currently not very good at it - its like ive gone back in time and freeze - so I thought lunge lessons would be really helpful - i could concentrate on the rhythm and get my seat right without getting too scared to even ask for canter which is where I am mostly at the moment.
Sorry for long rant - just feeling a bit depressed about this situation at the moment and really want to know if Im being unreasonable in wanting a well trained horse and for someone to accept that lunge lessons are what I want/need.