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.

Yes, this. Where I used to work the instructors could have the yard Frank flying round a course of jumps raring to go. But they had decades of experience.
Also, I was always taught you ought to learn to ride a variety of horses and was often given a different horse for weeks in a row when I had lessons. I would go elsewhere.

If you get Frank again have a lesson where you ride without stirrups and go over some poles trotting , knot your reins and ride without .
All things that improve your seat but you want a very steady , lazy horse for .

@Matilda1981

Bollocks. I got stuck on a Frank when I went riding on holiday. I could get him to trot to catch up with the others but fuck me it was hard work.

I went out again with a woman who had her own horse there, on a different mount and had a fabulous time. She told me that the ‘Frank’ I had been given was known to be an idle pants and no one could get much out of him.

Change stables op

I can see both sides here. No riding school can ever guarantee a horse will be available. They could be injured, ill, or have done too many hours. A good rider should be able to get something out of a plodder.
Are you sure that all the horses there are beginner horses, and available for the public? Because a lot of stables have lots of private livery horses and of course they won't be available for lessons.

Find another stable that gives you what you need.

Don't lamely turn up and ride Frank. YOU are paying for the lesson. Please don't keep kicking Frank, he sounds like he hasn't much go left in him.

Another thing that stuck out to me - you are probably not getting to know Frank (or any other) out of the saddle either - if they are (semi-understandably) having him ready for you when you are there (maybe even just having finished a prior lesson even?). Some time spent around him/them on the ground cannot be over-estimated - and they should agree to nit, if they care anything about providing a fuller picture.
I attended Agricultural College (very mature student) for Equestrian Studies (and BHS exams) and there was one notoriously bad-tempered mare that I got to know; she needed her bridle put on in pieces, and you had to let her walk into and out of the stable door slightly ahead. She was a lady with issues! She would also put a very dirty stop in when jumping - and yet she and I (not the bravest person when it came to jumping) forged a real bond - and it started on the ground, and in the stable.
Just see if you can get some hands on experience as well - with Frank, or any other. If they won't let you, then another School that allows or encourages that would be better, and they lose your business.

I had a similar situation with my daughter when she had lessons. It's really demotivating. We also had a multitude of different instructors so it always felt like I was paying £40 for her to plod around because the horse would barley move and the instructor was always starting from scratch. We just stopped going.

Find another riding school.

Aw.. Frank ❤ Can we have a pic OP? I feel like there’s a fan club forming…

I think they need to retire poor old Frank.
and find another stables that has a horse you can get to canter - that is suitable for your height and weight

Poor Frank. He must be so pissed off.

This has been a really helpful thread. Ds moved from RDA to a regular school becaus they had done all they could with him (their words). He was on ‘Frank’ for a few weeks at the new place, but moved on. The plan was to get him good enough for group lessons. The instructor left and he was back on ‘Frank’ working on his seat. Last lesson we had someone leading and they were heaving and hauling to get him make progress. I don’t know how to find about school without the same thing happening but I guess that’s the same as anyone.

It really is bad, on the part of the school. It is so disheartening for the student, and must be horrid for the horses and ponies.

Finding a smaller school, getting word of mouth recommendations and even getting a bit of a look round beforehand, observing lessons and so on - all might help.

But that's the point isn't it. She can't ride, that's why she is having lessons.

Some horse won't go. They just won't. And it does hamper your learning if you on a riding school pony that has no interest in cantering.

We had something similar with DD. Yes, they can't promise a horse but giving a horse which can't do what you are suppose to learn (in her case the mare wasn't allowed to jump and they scheduled a jumping lesson) is pointless.

I would ask in writing to the school that Frank is not given to you anymore due to these issues and ask which horses are there for your height/weight and level.

It's correct that horses do rest, so don't asume just because you see one, you can have one. Could you change your lesson time to first in the morning?

If it happens again, then I would suggest change the school,

I love that everyone knows a Frank.

Our Frank was a glorious bright bay called Russet — absolute sweetheart, impeccable manners in the stable, but alas was like riding a lump of lard. We’d all fight not to get landed with him, poor lad.

I have a friend who stables her cob Frank at a riding school! 😳

It is true that a bigger yard will have a combination of school, livery and even the staff horses on the yard - certainly not all available to be ridden in lessons. But the very point of learning to ride is being able to progress, so you have to have an Instructor who facilitates that - until you know more, to make an informed "choice" yourself, not who sticks you on a "Frank" because you're a beginner - again not fair on student, and definitely not fair on Frank, who should not be kicked and yanked about. As a cob, if he set off, I bet he would be hard to pull up!

Talk to the manager of the yard on the phone. They are providing a service and you are unhappy with that service if you don’t yet what you like you will go elsewhere.

Poor Frank😧

😂 this made me laugh - 'I wouldn't pay to ride me'

I know nothing about horse riding but is kicking a horse really an approved way to treat one?

Frank sounds like the brother of Henry, the reason I stopped riding as an adult. Plod plod in the school, but a totally different horse in the riding field; except the lesson was 9/10 not on the field. But apparently I was too fat to ride anyone else, even though every time I went on a hack I got someone else because Henry wasn't allowed to hack out because given his total lack of action the majority of the time, he'd generally exit left at pace.

Poor Frank 😭

A canter aid is not that hard and there is no reason to believe the OP is not doing it. There are some horses that are just not very active. Is Frank really too old for being ridden? I am not sure about English people riding but we'd use a whip on a horse who repeatedly refused to respond. In fact, we'd ride with a whip in our hands tucked behind us at all times.