Will it ever click?

[norolim]

So I've been riding for just over a year now, which I know is a really small amount of time in the grand scheme of things. I have a weekly lesson and hack approx. an hour once per week. I've obviously improved from when I first started but still have loads to learn and things that I feel like I know how to do mentally, but can't get my body to do physically.

For example, improving my seat in canter or improving my hands. I think about it all the way up to the point of my lesson - this is what I'm going to do differently, this is how I will use my body etc. - lesson comes and all my thinking evaporates into nothing and nothing changes. Or I think about too many things at once and it all goes to pot.

Just wondering if it ever clicks and becomes second nature or am I just destined to be an uncoordinated, messy rider forever ? ?

 

[Arzada]

I'd recommend lunge lessons with a good trainer and a well schooled horse. And/or a mechanical horse.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I think your overthinking it, relax and enjoy it, i could never sit in canter when I was a kid, kept thinking bum on seat and the more I did the more I rose, so as a teenager didnt think about it and it does get better. A year really isnt that long

 

[Archangel]

Yes, it will click - like that perfect return in tennis. It will be hit and miss for what seems like ages then start to join up and you ride like you are painted on. We have all been there when the message is sent from the brain and the body refuses to respond. I can be utterly convinced I have given an aid and my horse is twitching his ears like "err hello, anybody there?"

You will find that there is one horse that makes you move up as a rider (by being incredibly challenging/different and/or incredibly talented). There are also instructors who are just on another level as well.

 

[littleshetland]

Lots of hacking and lots of adventures out hacking....its a great way to get started!

 

[Skib]

I learned to ride like that - 2 lessons a week and then when I could canter, a weekly lesson and a weekly hack. If it hadnt been for Covid I would still be doing more of the same.
In year 2 and 3 I used my private hack to think about practising what I had learned in the last lesson- doing my home work.
Then I went for specialist lunge lessons to improve my seat and my balance.
Yes, there are problems for adult learners. My experience is that it is hard to give one's attention to the RI and try to do as they say and at the same time to communicate with the horse.
Similarly if you force your body into picture book correct position, that may make you more rigid and hamper the movement of the horse. Remember that the horse hasnt looked at those pictures.
The turning point comes when you realise that you the rider can alter the way that the RS horse responds to you and teach the horse what you want.
My OH (who also subsequently learned to ride) was adamant that all that matters is saddle time. Pay for as much time in the saddle as possible and the way you sit and balance will sort itself out and so will your control of the horse.

I dont think it does become second nature. Every horse is different. You need to think things out and how best to ride the animal you are given. Like you learn to read, but each book is different?
(Edited to say I began riding 20 years ago and still ride)

 

[sbloom]

Could you write down y our plan and give it to your trainer and ask them to help you with mantras, focus etc? Are you forgetting it because they're not teaching you the things you think you need to know? Ie they're concentrating on what you should do, you know you need to focus on how to do it? In which case, if they're private lessons, they need to focus on the how.

I think having some yeehah stuff can help with instinct, and a mechanical horse could really help you with the physical "hows" and give you some lightbulbs.

 

[norolim]

Thanks all. I do tend to overthink a lot and I've noticed that when out hacking it's so much easier to relax, enjoy and go with flow so to speak. Less pressure, more fun and more relaxed riding from me.

Lessons I find start fairly well then I do something wrong, try too hard to get it right and it goes down hill from there. I get frustrated with myself and don't feel I achieve what I had hoped too.

I think the mechanical horse sessions are a good idea and I'm planning on asking for a lunge lesson on my next private (or finding somewhere I can go for one). I've been meaning to book a lunge lesson for a while to be honest but kept putting it off by thinking, oh I'll try this instead next lesson but not getting very far with that at the moment.

Would people say that there is a preference for lunge lessons over mechanical horse (or vice versa) or do they both have their own benefits in different ways?

Are you forgetting it because they're not teaching you the things you think you need to know? Ie they're concentrating on what you should do, you know you need to focus on how to do it? In which case, if they're private lessons, they need to focus on the how

I think it is sometimes a bit of this, as in I will be given an instruction, I try it, it doesn't work. Then I will say I don't understand actually how to do it properly and it's explained - but still can't get it right!

 

[JumpTheMoon1]

Write all your " overthinking " points down and take them with you on your lesson and make sure you deal with each one.

 

[JBM]

My instructor used to put a piece of paper under my bum and tell me to pretend it was €50 euro! It actually worked pretty well!

 

[Ratface]

I know that when I try too hard to be "in correct carriage" whilst I'm riding my horse, I tense up and my balance and breathing tighten-up. This, for both of us, is counterproductive.
I find that breathing slowly out and tuning-in to the body movements of my horse creates an improvement in our mutual way of going.
Good luck. I'm sure you'll get where you want to be. Enjoy the journey!

 

[Skib]

Purely personal. I had brilliant lunge lessons, eventually being lunged bareback with the final part of the lesson off the lunge.
A mechanical horse is not for me. I am old and crooked and was totally dismissed and undermined on the mechanical horse. Whereas I can sit on a real horse and think "Go" and the horse goes. Real horses tell you what they are feeling. A mechanical one has no feelings and nothing to tell you.
However the understanding of how to address one's crookedness and correct it up to a pont and how it differs on one rein from the other - those are good things to have been taught and to understand.
The other things I learned as an adult was that there isnt a single school of thought on how to do something in riding. Once can collect a variety of opinons, like having a palette of different coloured paints, but one has to try then to find what is right both for oneself and the horse one is riding. Some work and some dont.
When actually in a lesson, I do as that RI says or it is money wasted. I have watched clinics where people have wasted a huge sum of money by arguing with the eminent instructor.
Like all culutre, the art of riding and opinions on it, change over time. Whereas in most sports the latest ways are probably the most effective, with horses and riding that is not always the case. There was a big change of style after 1918 but it is often instructive to look back and undertstand how people cared for and rode horses before 1900 when horses were widely used and cars were unknown.

 

[Abacus]

I’m a big believer in hours in the saddle. I see how much difference it makes for my son to just mooch about in an unstructured way. I have (when confident in him on the pony) turned him loose in the big field and told him to do what he wants. I have watched from a distance and he would spend some time walking and chatting to the pony, some time cantering about pretending he’s a cowboy, sometimes popping logs. Plus plenty of hacking. Also I make him run through dressage tests where he’s not flogging the same exercise over and over, but has variety and plenty of transitions. (I make him, but he also likes it, he is quite an orderly child!). Is there any chance you could find a share horse to get more hours riding - less % on lessons and more on just being on a horse?

 

[LEC]

You are doing 2 hours a week in the saddle, it’s nothing. As a 3yo kid I would have been doing triple the hours than you in the saddle each week.
Personally I would look to optimise my out of saddle time much more. Youtube videos, Pilates, balancing exercises, core exercises, even buying a broken old saddle for a few pounds and then sitting it on a chair/log so you can practice. I think Ros canter said she used to spend hours doing between the ears videos practising her position

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Well I’ve been riding 30 years and am still waiting for it to ‘click’ ?. Wherever you get to, there is still always loads more to learn. In fact the more I know, the more I know how little I know. It’s early days, you’re improving - just relax and enjoy it.

 

[norolim]

Purely personal. I had brilliant lunge lessons, eventually being lunged bareback with the final part of the lesson off the lunge.
A mechanical horse is not for me. I am old and crooked and was totally dismissed and undermined on the mechanical horse. Whereas I can sit on a real horse and think "Go" and the horse goes. Real horses tell you what they are feeling. A mechanical one has no feelings and nothing to tell you

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'll perhaps just give both a go and see what works for me.

I’m a big believer in hours in the saddle. I see how much difference it makes for my son to just mooch about in an unstructured way. I have (when confident in him on the pony) turned him loose in the big field and told him to do what he wants. I have watched from a distance and he would spend some time walking and chatting to the pony, some time cantering about pretending he’s a cowboy, sometimes popping logs. Plus plenty of hacking. Also I make him run through dressage tests where he’s not flogging the same exercise over and over, but has variety and plenty of transitions. (I make him, but he also likes it, he is quite an orderly child!). Is there any chance you could find a share horse to get more hours riding - less % on lessons and more on just being on a horse?

Thank you and how lovely for your son to learn like this! I have definitely considered a share to get more saddle time. I look every now and then and a lot are "not for novice", but I will keep looking as I think some relaxed, no pressure riding more regularly would definitely help.

Personally I would look to optimise my out of saddle time much more. Youtube videos, Pilates, balancing exercises, core exercises, even buying a broken old saddle for a few pounds and then sitting it on a chair/log so you can practice.

Yes definitely. I started doing core exercises, pilates, gym ball a few months ago so will keep at it!

Thanks everyone. I'll try to address the issues with my instructor but also not forget that its supposed to be fun!

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I can only echo everyone above. I've ridden on and off for 24 years and I'm a fairly crap rider lol. I have found though that the more time you spend in the saddle just "being" with the horse, the more you pick up all of the horse's little nuances until they become second nature (getting "feel" if you like for whata horse is thinking etc). I'm never going to be the prettiest, most technical of riders but I can do and feel alot of things purely on instinct because of time in the saddle. It's difficult when you don't have your own horse or access to one regularly though to be fair. One thing I would suggest is to possibly have a few weeks without lessons. Just do a couple of hacks out a week for a while to take the "pressure" off yourself, it can make alot of difference

 

[Starzaan]

Hello, riding instructor of many years here, although I stopped teaching full time a good few years ago.
The key thing is hours in the saddle. I would recommend booking an adult "pony week". I had a lot of clients do this when I was managing a large equestrian centre. They would learn how to muck out, groom, tack up, and get confident with things like leading more than one horse at a time. We would take them out on one or two hacks, and then they had a lesson or two as well. In total they probably got four hours in the saddle a day for a week, riding different horses. It was the fastest way to get people to really kickstart their riding.
Another thing to do is go and watch. Watch as many lessons as you can, at all levels. It makes a huge difference because you will start to see what the instructor sees, then see what happens when the rider follows their instruction. It's free, and is incredibly helpful.

 

[Boulty]

I'd agree with hours in the saddle helping & would also say give lunge lessons/ mechanical horse a go as there's definitely little tidbits you might be able to take away from both.

Another thing I had pointed out to me / was reminded of recently is that it's infinitely easier to sit quietly & in balance on a horse who is going forward properly (ideally also in a nice balanced way but forwards is the starting point... The fuzzball does as little work as he can get away but when he is pushed to put the proper amount of effort in & his back starts to swing suddenly I have something resembling a contact & it's soooo much easier to stay in balance with him which then makes it easier for him as well & so on & so on). Riding school horses can be difficult to achieve this with depending on the riding school but if you can get them going forward & staying in the rhythm you put them in it does make it easier for the rest to fall into place.

(To clarify fuzz for brains is recently backed & still figuring it all out & his most frequent question is "do I have to?". Desperately (with help) trying to mould him into being a bit more off the leg than he is right now & to get it to click that if he puts some effort in & doesn't just mooch along then he's actually making his own job easier. (& then we can go & do more fun things!)

 

[Rumtytum]

Agree with all posters above, plus I have a BA in overthinking, assisted at times by my instructor who goes into deep technicalities that fry my brain.
Had a different instructor recently who gets me to close my eyes and simply feel the horse’s movement. Instructor doesn’t speak, I can’t see, and with no distractions it was incredible how much I felt through my seat and hands. Definitely recommend you give it a go! Good luck!

 

[milliepops]

It will click, you might need more saddle time and to experiment a bit with the form that takes (more hacking, or lunge lessons, or whatever) but it will. the tricky thing with riding is that a lot of it you have to feel for yourself to truly understand what you're doing. Transactional type of lessons where you get told "do this, do that, move this, move that" are helpful for a beginner to get started but it doesn't particularly give you the opportunity to play about with anything yourself to have those little lightbulb moments. So a mixture of self-directed riding and lessons is probably ideal.

Lessons I find start fairly well then I do something wrong, try too hard to get it right and it goes down hill from there. I get frustrated with myself and don't feel I achieve what I had hoped too.

just on this. Try not to get frustrated, you will find as you go on to ride more different horses (and perhaps one day ride your own) that it's a rare session that goes totally to plan - often you will set out intending to do one thing, and find that the horse got out of bed the wrong side that day and you will end up working on something totally different. none of it is wasted time even if it's not what you hoped for even the disappointing rides tend to have some valuable learning points - that applies for everyone who ever sits on a horse

 

[norolim]

Thank you all. Lots to think about and put into practice, your comments and ideas are very much appreciated.

To end on a positive note, I had a brilliant hack out today with a fantastic horse who gave me the chance to experiment with a few things that haven't gone so well in lessons and instilled some confidence in me

 

[Barton Bounty]

Thank you all. Lots to think about and put into practice, your comments and ideas are very much appreciated.

To end on a positive note, I had a brilliant hack out today with a fantastic horse who gave me the chance to experiment with a few things that haven't gone so well in lessons and instilled some confidence in me

Practise makes perfect ?

 

[Equi]

The more you ride the more you can ride. Its as simple as that im afraid. I'm by no means a natural rider (riding 20+ years) and i still have to work on a lot of things and think about a lot of things, but the more i do it the more i can.