Please help me decide about this riding school.

[Callisto]

Hi all,

DD is nearly 6 and has her own pony. The pony is great but green so DD is on the lead rein until I get him schooled which should happen by Easter (can't before as he is very woolly).

So, DD is at a level where she needs to go off the lead rein so I booked her in for a block of one-to-one lessons at a very reputable equestrian centre close by. All good and I really like her instructor. However, in these 6 lessons DD has fallen off twice. The first time she was completely over-horsed and the pony (who was a little shit from start to finish) deliberately chucked her off. The second time (funnily enough in the 'replacement' lesson as I refused to pay for the lesson where she was thrown) the pony ran off with her 4 times, towards the end of the lesson. She rode it really well the first three times but the 4th time she didn't have the strength to pull pony up and came off. Pony had been great up until the point where she got a bit spooked at something.

So, my question is, is it normal for riding school ponies to be so naughty? Should we persevere at this one or try a different riding school? If she keeps getting chucked off her confidence will be gone and she won't want to ride any more. I have already noticed that she is less confident on her own pony since having these lessons.

Doesn't sound good......your poor DD :(
I would be a bit miffed at them TBH.
I'd expect that going to a riding centre the pony's will be well schooled and teach the children, and not just how to stay on.
Can DD not have some lessons on her pony?

No, its not normal at all imo. I'd go somewhere else

Could it be worth going to watch some lessons and see what the ponies are like with a variety of riders? Some perfect lead rein ponies are absolute sods when used for first ridden, but are ok with slightly more experienced (or bigger) riders.

You could get a general idea of what a range of their ponies are like, and also get a sense of your DDs riding compared with the others, then you could possibly suggest a pony that seems to match where she's at.

They should have some well behaved little first riddens who are nice to children! If not, I'd try elsewhere

I'm glad you agree with me. I did think after the first fall that they would guarantee she has a school master to ride, but obviously not. It is a bit of a pain really. There is another riding school nearby but it is very scruffy and the indoor school has big pillars in it (think agricultural barn). The ponies are very scruffy too, although they seem happy enough.

DD's pony is a bit green (and a bit feral after a winter off) for her to ride him off the lead rein just yet. Though that should be sorted when he loses a bit of his coat and I can start working him properly again. These lessons were meant to give her a bit of experience and confidence off the lead rein in the run up to riding her own pony off the lead rein.

Thanks for the feedback everyone - it's good to know I'm not being a bit PFB about it all.

You could always ask to look at the accident books of both establishments to see how often there are falls.

Good suggestion Blue - although we only filled in an accident report for the first fall, not the second.

I have found another riding school fairly close that has a nice website and sounds good. DD and I are going to call in on spec tomorrow and see what we think.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Don't write off the scruffy school. Looks arent everything. Go and watch a lesson or two. See how they pair up horse and rider. See if the riders are happy and appear to be learning something. My friend runs the PC at a school which is a converted dairy farm, it's a bit spread out and grubby, and the horses live out in herds so are often muddy and wooly in winter. They are all happy horses though and the instructors are very good. We often travel 130 miles to join an event there.
I hate it when riders get over horsed. I think schools do this to impress the parents. IMO it's counter productive as the riders can easily be frightened if anything goes wrong. They often make lessons far to whizzy too, slow is better, they learn more and have time to think. Yes, whizzy is fun, but skill is more useful.

You should have filled in an accident form after both falls - the fact that you didn't after the second would be a massive warning sign for me. And putting a year old on a pony that was so naughty she couldn;t control it is another red light. Try somewhere else.

Scruffiness shouldn't be a problem, - dd's pony is a working livery at a riding school and she is so scruffy at the moment that I can hardly bear to look at her! but hte place is so muddy that there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it until the weather dries up.

That's interesting Seeker. The more I think about it, the more it strikes me how unproffessional they have been with DD. The centre is so well-reknowned in the area and the people who own it are big on the dressage scene (not so much competeing as instructing to a very high level), I know you will have heard of them.

If the place with the nice website doesn't work out I shall have another look at the scruffy place. It does riding for the disbled so the ponies are bound to be good, it is just the indoor school that puts me off.

I think that for little children friendliness and understanding (which will probably be there in spades at a RDA place) are much more important than posh yards. I also think that sometimes teachers who are used to high level instruction tend to forget that they started on a leading rein themselves!

Well, DD and I went to visit the riding school I mentioned. We turned up unanounced and the staff were very welcoming. The stable girls all had staff sweatshirts on (very professional looking) and were tidying the (very tidy) yard. Horses all looked happy and were friendly. Nice clean stables etc. I got a nice vibe from the place - it is tiny in comparison but I liked that.

So DD is booked in for a 30min assessment a week today. I hope it goes well and thanks so much for all the feedback.

Seeker - the reason the indoor school gives me the heebies is because it is very small and it has six massive pillars in it. If it was just flooded it wouldn't bother me at all.

Of course you should have filled out the accident book after each fall.

Let us know how you get on!

have you thought about lunge lessons for your child on her own pony? Would benefit both pony and rider IMO.

Well, DD has lost loads more confidence than I first thought. It's really sad because she was doing so well.

Anyway, she had her assessment and is booked in for another lesson at the end of the week. The instructor was lovely and happy to walk around with her on the lead rein. DD was very nervous though and didn't even want to trot. Even worse, she was very nervous on her own pony at the weekend, although she did trot a couple of times.

Theflyingonion - I have lunged DD on her pony but can't atm because he is an unclipped fluffball and I don't want him getting sweaty.

Hi,

I grew up riding in Canada and used to teach riding. Over there learining to ride before 7 is unusual - basically, I used to say I could take children under 7 in private lessons on lead rein, but until 7 (granted, some kids are more developed) they aren't both forcefull enought to say what they want to do (IMHO) and more importantly don't have the physical control over their bodies to be able to feel they are improving steadily in their lessons and achieving milestones. This way they progress quickly but safely and are able to rationalize any small setbacks (falling off, not performing as well one week as the next).

I also alway would recommend lunge lessons after lead rein until the child is confident riding W/T/C with one hand (e.g. doing exercises with the other hand), over poles on the ground and for first jumping lessons. Unless of course I REALLY knew the pony was 100% bomb proof - which is impossible.

However, using this method I would expect an 8 year old to be up to jumping within about 15-20 weeks, or I could get them confidently to basic jumping level by the end of a one-week beginners summer camp.

I have noticed that people on the UK start their kids earlier (4-ish I've heard of?) and expect them to come off the lead rein fairly quickly. I just want to ask what other people's opinion is of the slower approach we used to adopt?

I think the slower approach sounds very good tinyk however it wouldn't sit very well with my almost 6 year old who started lessons in January if she had to wait another year or so (or my Just turning 3 year old ds who is very put out he has another year to wait!) lol!
The riding school we are involved with, I work there in return for dd's lessons and just for the plain joy of being with horses again after a show jumping accident 15 years ago lead to me losing sponsorship and not being able to either afford to keep my ponies or be able to compete at a high level again. The yard is I guess very scruffy looking, there is allot of mud about at the moment, the indoor school is a bit rough around the edges but everything is clean, the ponies are well looked after and everybody involved is in it for the love not the non existent money!
The instructor is the Mum of one of dd's friends and we have become friends ourselves, she is a very realistic instructor and does not rush children through the lead rein stage, she openly tells parents of the 4 - 7 year olds that what they are doing most of all is enjoying being with ponies, building up confidence and knowledge and just having fun while learning and reinforcing the basics, children never come off the lead rein until at least 6.5 yrs and most around 7, this is the same with her own children so I guess that even though she will teach children from 4 (I am not sure the school would last without the cash from lead rein classes) she kind of follows the approach you tinyk with similar good results. The ethos of the school is one of the main factors in having dd start riding now and why I will allow ds to start next year (should he still be as keen as he is now).

To the op, I am flad you seem to have found a school that suits you and your dd, I think you are probably right about the big successful school forgetting that they were children on lean rein themselves once and as there focus is on the very high level training they are not giving enough thought to the other end of the spectrum. I know you have found a school you like now but I am completely with the posters who say don't discount a scruffy looking school (as long as the ponies are healthy and well cared for) without checking out the quality of the teaching and I also wouldn't worry about the pillars in the indoor school, the highest regarded riding school in the place a grew up and learned to ride had four huge great pillars running down the centre of the indoor school, never once was there an accident that involved them but they did look scarey! I hope your dd regains her confidence quickly, my own dd recently had a knock to hers and it has took 2 lessons for her to get over it and get back on track although she hadn't had anything like what happened to your dd so may take a little longer, all the best.