Would my instructor be able to ride for me in a lesson?

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inthehills

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Sorry if this sounds like a daft question..I'm quite new to the world of lessons!

I have a private lesson booked at the local riding school tomorrow, for me and my pony. it'll be my fifth lesson and we've been doing well but my god does my boy make me work! as long as I've got the energy to drive him on, he does well but as soon as I start to tire he knows and it gets harder and harder to push him on. my instructor likes to joke that she'll bring the oxygen tanks next time!!!

unfortunately this week I've had a horrible cold and i'm running on about 10% of my usual energy :-(

I don't want to cancel as we don't get to go as often as i'd like to anyway, plus I don't want to mess them about (I had to cancel the other week due to work)

the thing is, I think I'll be virtually on my last legs by halfway through the lesson. would I be able to ask my instructor to take over and ride him for the rest of the lesson? it would be great for me to see how someone more experienced can power on my lazy boy, but I don't know if this is something you can ask?

thanks :-)
 
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Yes it’s something you can ask and is not unusual. Most instructors will and some won’t. I know some that are very choosy what they get on because they don’t want to get injured.
 
Have you tried to pinpoint why exactly your horse is so lazy?

Is he fat? Unfit? Taking the mick? In pain?

Have you looked into different feeds to see if you can give him a bit more oomph?
 
I have the same issue this weekend as I feel like crap but don't want to cancel, I also hack to and from my lesson. I may ask to do half hour instead of hour. Could you shorten your lesson instead?
 
A lot of people assume every lesson must be trotting and cantering but it doesn’t have to be. You can have a lesson working on getting the horse long and low going over poles and lateral work, which will all then help when you want to work on speed.
 
many thanks for the replies :-)
I'll send them a message and ask but it sounds like it should be ok which is great. He's the safest pony you can find (apart from the odd random trip when he isn't paying attention) so they are not risking life or limb on him :-)
embarrassingly, it's already only a half hour lesson.....
he's still very green so we do a lot of transitions and work on our steering :-D
I don't think there's any issue with him, other than he's a highland, is naturally energy saving and thinks the school is the dullest place ever. From day one he has failed to see the point in going round in circles- he now does it because I ask him to, but I don't think he'll ever like it!
 
Being a highland isn't an excuse for being lazy ;) I'd advocate spending your lesson mostly in walk, teaching him that schooling can be fun by introducing fun moves.
 
My instructor has ridden my horse a couple of times and we both find it very helpful as she can feel what my horse is like and can then tailor future lessons and exercises to what we need to work on and I can see what my horse can go like when ridden by a much better rider than me.
 
Maybe ask in advance but I'd imagine it should be fine with most half decent instructors. It may be more useful for them to get on him at the start, warm him up and get him going and then when you get on you should get a feel of how forward and responsive it is possible to get him AND you won't have to nearly die to get there!
 
thank you for all the replies, once again what would I do without my H&H forum advice!

I'm so glad I asked them, they said yes not a problem and I managed the first 10 minutes before crumpling!

It was really good to watch someone experienced ride him and also a nice feeling that he still got his much needed workout, which he wouldn't have got if I'd cancelled.

so all's good. just need this horrid cough and cold to do one now!
 
Sounds good! When you are better and full of enthusiasm and energy might I suggest that you have a couple of lessons on getting the horse off your leg more, so he is doing all the work instead of you! A horse should be told to go and should remain at that speed until told something different there shouldn't be nag, nag with your leg. Of course, things will improve as you both get fitter.

It was an eye opener for me when I had a Western lesson and made me reconsider my normal dressage lessons too.
 
My instructor rides for the first part of the lesson and then I get on. This is great because it warms him up properly and gets his brain in gear- he's also a bit on the idle side!
 
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