To have said this at the riding school?

[TigeToo]

I’ve been doing horse riding lessons for around 6 months now (after on and off lessons when I was younger). I was paired up with a lovely but very sedate cob called Frank. It’s a mission to get Frank to do anything other than a very slow half hearted trot. It was ok at first as I needed a slow steady horse to build my confidence up but now it’s just frustrating. I’m meant to be learning how to canter but I can’t get Frank to canter. The instructor shouts “give him a kick” which I do but he doesn’t give a shit. The instructor will then laugh and call him a lazy bones or something. Occasionally she’ll run up behind him doing a weird noise which might make him canter for 3 steps but then he’ll stop again.
Last week I arrived at the stables and was told “Frank isn’t available so I’ve got Toby out for you, he’s a bit more forward, are you ok with that?”

Well Toby was amazing! Still slow and steady but up for a slow canter when requested. He was perfect!! I had an amazing lesson and finally felt like I was getting somewhere (with lots of cantering!!)

At the end of the lesson I asked if I could have Toby again on my next lesson. She said that was fine and wrote his name next to mine in the booking book.

So imagine my horror when I turn up today and see Frank stood waiting for me. I said “I’m meant to be on Toby today” and she said “oh, sorry he’s not available this week”. So I said “As lovely as Frank is I really want to learn to canter now, is there any other horse available?” And she got pissed off and said “no, I’ve got Frank ready now”.

So I took Frank into the school. Absolutely pointless, walking around so slow that he literally stopped a few times. Managed a slow trot, no chance I was getting anything else out of him.

So when it came to booking next weeks lesson I said “can you put me down for a horse I can learn to canter with” and she said “I can try but Frank is the best horse for you really due to your height, weight and ability” (I’m 5ft 10in, 10.7stone). They have a massive yard full of horses. I have another friend who goes and has said she won’t ride Frank or Toby as they’re too difficult to work with.

I didn’t book at the time but after speaking to friend I rang them just now and asked if I could book in with Blaze, Pepsi or Toby next week. They said “yes, I’ll put them on as well as Frank”. I said “No, not Frank”. She got very defensive and said there were no guarantees that it won’t be Frank if he’s the only one available so I said I won’t bother then.

The lessons are expensive and I feel like the’re taking the piss out of me.

Exactly as you said- they’ll be riding the horses they like to ride, and leaving the slow ones to be exercised by others. Certainly not good when you’re paying probably a ridiculous amount for the lesson.
If you continue there ask them to demonstrate how to get frank trotting.
but if you have other places available I would definitely take my money elsewhere.

I had a 'Frank' named Sundance. I as the slowest most lazy horse on the yard and no one wanted her. She also used to pull her head down when you wanted her to move up from a walk etc.

I walked away from it because it wasn't worth the agro

If you are in a private lesson, can you ask for it to be a lunge lesson? That way the instructor is in charge of the speed and you can just learn to sit properly and do the aids.

Learning the canter transition is hard, as beginners find the leg aid unbalacing and can fall forward, which many sedate horses can interpret as a "stay slow because rider is unbalanced" command. I imagine Frank is a super safe sweetheart, but it doesn't help you if you don't know what you are doing

Rubbish. I can ride and have for over 40 years but some school horses are just not suitable for everyone to leave everything on. You see some people literally booting horses round to keep them at a gait, which isn’t how to ride and does nothing for their seat or development.

I would speak to the manager and make it clear that they are not providing you with the necessary horse to fulfil your lesson requirements and that you won’t be continuing if that remains that case.

Presumably that doesn't do much for the horse either? 🙁

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable at all. Anyone who have worked at stables know there are some old plods there who little kids can ride and be safe. You want to ride a horse that will work off your leg so you’re not sitting there wildly flapping.

Any other yards you can approach for lessons

Just find a school with better horses .

In the old days Frank would be glue by now. He sounds like me as a horse. But I wouldn't pay to ride me, and I wouldn't pay to ride Frank.

At all the stables we've ridden at you book your lesson with a specific horse. I'd go somewhere else.

I feel sorry for poor Frank. Must be annoying for you. I haven't ridden in years but remember the disappointment of getting the slower horses

I'd find a different school, not fair to give a horse that really doesn't want to do anything. He's not fit for learning on and should be retired.

I was quite worried about riding my own (very sporty) cob when I first got him, he was very forward. I asked another owner if I could borrow his ex point to pointer who had been retired due to lack of speed. Omg, I was so bored, I was delighted to get back on mine!

Don’t waste your money plodding round on a dead to the leg school horse (would be my perfect plod!). At your weight, you should be able to ride most reasonably sized horses. Are you speaking to the owner or just the helpers who take you round? The instructor should know your ability and it sounds like you’ve progressed beyond the school plod/confidence giver. I swapped riding schools when they persisted in putting me on a safe, huge, boring horse. I went elsewhere and learnt to canter and go on hacks.

I don't think it is fair on you, or Frank to be honest. Giving a "good kick" is sloppy and just plain wrong. It is one thing to learn the fundamentals on a safe, slower ride, but kicking is not even a basic aid.
As an adult you will of course adapt how you ride to the horse you are on, but imagine a "good kick" being something you are taught, and then you use it on the wrong horse! And even the ploddy cobs can surprise you.
I hate "Instructors" like this, acting like they are doing you a massive favour.

Poor Frank, people regularly being told to "give him a kick". They are the ones who deserve a kicking!

While I appreciate this is frustrating, you've not been riding too long and I'd be inclined to listen to their advice about what is suitable for your ability.
Add in to that the fact that each horse/pony will be individually assessed for what weight they can carry, how often they are worked etc. So while there might seem to be lots of horses available you don't know the instructors reasonings for using the horses they are in the lesson.
I think its fair enough that they took your feedback on board and we're going to try and give you other horses but couldn't guarantee that you'd never have Frank again.

Definte firm chat with the manager before you book another lesson. They're spinning you a line that he is the only horse for your size and weight so you can exercise the horse and call it a lesson from the sounds of it.
You're never going to progress with Frank and likely will learn some bad technique as he is not a good example of a cantering experience.
The fact they wondered if you would be OK with the perfect horse as it 'is a bit forward' makes me wonder whether they think you are timid? If so maybe that could explain some of the attitude you are getting.
Seems a shame to stop entirely but could understand if you don't want to have to demand good service - it shouldn't be this hard.
Everyone I know who is into horses has always encountered tricky politics in yards. The only ones I know who have stress free (from people stress!) riding are the ones with their own horse and stable or a really small yard with a friend they know well.

Change riding school. Every school has a Frank, and they do have their uses, but he is not helping you to learn and “give him a kick” is not helping him. A good instructor would know this.

Oh I used to hate this at my old riding school. Had exactly the same problem
It was an awful place. It seemed they were booking me on the particular horse out of being mean or to bully, as I couldn't see any other reason. I'd recommend that you change riding centre. I was in a couple of more after that one and never had this problem again. I moved on to a horse share after that in a small private yard and it was amazing.

And learning to canter should not be such a big deal either (the transition is the hard part). I did it (as a teenager) on second lesson I think (and unintentionally a few times - definitely not a Frank!) - and my daughter then 10 learnt at about week 4.
All this will just blow it up in your own mind, and the school is remiss in that too.
On the right horse, you can progress very nicely , and definitely not have helpers going round with you beyond week one or two.

It’s your money, take it elsewhere.

Bollocks. If were a case of the op needing to ‘use her aids’ then why hasn’t the instructor taught her how to use them? The op is handing over a ridiculous amount of cash to be taught jack shit, just stuck on the same horse which she has to beat into a trot every week. If you want to learn aids then you need to be taught how to use them on a horse that will respond to them. I went to a riding school that had ponies like this. If you wanted to canter then you had to go down this narrow runway they had built between a fence and a hedge. You had to kick your pony as hard as you could into a trot, and then the instructor would lean over the fence with a whip (or more commonly a tree branch if she forgot the whip) and belt the horse across its back as you went past her to get it to canter.
Find a different stables op.

Any horse will canter forward freely with the right instruction and partnership. Bet your bottom dollar Frank would canter if he was let out into an open field.

The problem is the riding school, not you or Frank.

I’m not a rider, but DD is. I’d change school, not because of Frank, he sounds gorgeous, but because “give him a good kick” sounds like a shit instructor. DD is very able at riding both the forward ponies and the Franks: none get kicked to go into canter.

Poor Frank being kicked so hard and so much, no good instructor should be teaching that. Poor poor thing, he's probably absolutely fed up and switched off entirely. 😭We wouldn't allow kicking of any other animal.

I'd try and find somewhere else to learn with well schooled horses that rotate between more professional schooling and riding school work.

Also don't underestimate what lessons on a mechanical horse can do for helping you establish clear aids and balance whilst not confusing a real life horse.

I had that as well. I am an adult beginner.

I had to change riding school to be given better horses.

Things improved but then the school started giving me the slow ones again...

It is a vicious circle because you can't improve if you don't get to trot and canter regularly and if you spend half the lesson exhausting yourself trying to get the horse going. And the school then tells you ''well you are a beginner so we are giving you plods''...

Yes there is something about beginners not always giving the right aids (and also the fact that some horses absolutely know that you are a beginner and that they can get away with being lazy) but at the same time you are paying a lot of money and you should be able to try different horses and not always be stuck on one that is simply not suitable for you.

I would take this above the instructor head and email management. Remind them you are a paying customer and you want to improve, not stay stuck where you are.

I think sometimes the schools give a really good horse for the first couple of lessons so you get a good impression of the school and then once they know you are a regular customer, it is back on the ones that are less responsive.