what would you expect from lessons?

[ThatVikRinA22]

just wondered really as i had my first lesson tonight, i used to ride as a child but ive not ridden for over 30 years.

the first school i had booked with were very lax and when i showed up for my lesson tonight they claimed they had tried to phone me to say the instructor hadnt made it in - they had not tried to phone me and i told them that - then they changed their story and the man said he couldnt ring as had locked himself out of the house, and said they would be in touch. Still no call from them, not even an apology.

so at short notice i booked at another school and went for my lesson tonight.

i told them id not ridden for a very very long time and would need to be treated like a total novice.

it was an arena, a very placid horse and i really had a wonderful time, but i just wondered how lessons normally go?

i found i couldnt concentrate on technique because i was trying to keep my horse going, he was lovely and an old hand but in trot he wanted to stop....is it a good idea to learn to control the horse and learn technique at the same time?

im pleased i was let loose to some extent and i think i will learn quickly - alot of it came back to me tonight though i will need tons of practice and im sure alot of this cant be "taught" and has to be learnt on the job as it were.....but i know my balance is awful and though i was told id done really well, it all felt a bit clumsy and i dread to think what i looked like!

how do first lessons normally go?

[ThatVikRinA22]

i learnt to "leg yield" the other day...ill be doing dressage one day!

[WillowKnicks]

Thanks for updating, I love reading about your progress

[Littlebigbum]

Brill news

[ThatVikRinA22]

just an update! much better lately.....

RI is a huge fan of Sylvia Loch and ive been watching a lot of her, RI is teaching me a 'classical seat'.

all going way better. my riding (though slow progress) is improving.
and i am enjoying being there when i do go - and RI is enjoying having me there.

im doing way more. Ive told RI due to lack of suitable adult horses if she finds one i will pay for it and have it on a working livery for a lesser cost which we are agreed on.

so feelers are out now for a horse. I will continue lessons, am enjoying it a great deal and im learning properly. Yes RI is a stickler for proper learning but im happy with that - its a skill and im just getting to grips with it.

i watched the older kids class at the weekend - they can go from walk to canter without you visibly seeing anything, - she is a fabulous teacher, it all looks effortless, as if they are telepathic!

i still spend my days off there, and have learned a huge huge amount. Ready for my own now.

[Littlebigbum]

Glad you are back at it

[ThatVikRinA22]

not updated in a while so thought id nip back and say how its going.

i can now tack up, (i look a bit cack handed but i manage) i havent been to the yard for a month due to getting back to work, but went today.
think RI was pleased to see me, had a great lesson, we talked about hacking, she says she cant wait until im at a stage to hack out, but she is very safety conscious and wont take me until i am in much better control. (and she is right, ive not got proper control of my horse yet) its coming.

[ThatVikRinA22]

thanks - ive got some BHS stuff and also a pony club one!

i didnt end up getting there today - dodgy stomach and thought id best not pass it around. needed a bit of a day of rest so am going tuesday instead.

[Littlebigbum]

We all still read you know, I know but we do. Ok we may not always agree but you never stop learning with horses. Kelly Marks is good to read and bhs stuff.

[ThatVikRinA22]

well i had a bit of a break but went yesterday for the day to help out and to ride. i think my riding was better yesterday but im so uncoordinated - its going to take a while.
im finding it harder than learning to drive tbh.

im back on sunday so will ask about hacking out. will be riding again and helping again.

on the plus side i did loads yesterday, - and as i was sorting a rug out on my usual ride she dropped her head and rested it on my neck and shoulder for ages.
she is so sweet.
thats why i go. it makes me feel better. i turned her out, then brought her in later, groomed her, did her feet, tacked her up, rode, untacked her, put her rug on and did her water. i did half the stables yesterday, RI did half too, turned out several horses, and RI is much better and less stressed when its just me and her, so much more pleasant to be there.

i am really going to look into a trekking course when i can afford it - jsut now things are a bit tight. but its on my list! i would love it. im sure it would help my riding.

not learnt much about feeds as yet. But will ask more. Also have some really good books.

also need to do more tacking up, will get there early enough to do more on sunday in readiness for kids lessons.

iim happy enough really. im learning. yes its slow but its coming and im being more forthright about what i need to learn.

i think when i get my own my learning will go up a level.

[Littlebigbum]

Oh and Sim 3 years isn't a big break, get back on

[Littlebigbum]

Love it Sim! Looked up Merry's place and yes I'm tempted to!
Hugs have a great day, know it is snowing up north, pouring down with rain here so I have no idea which is worst

[SimLondon]

Well Vicar you've inspired me to get off my bum and look to start riding again after a 3 year break. But I'm going to start my own log for that.

I wanted to say that your current instructor doesn't appear to have built up your confidence at all, a weekly group lesson or hack with ladies your own age would do wonders, as would going on a course. But that doesn't seem possible where you live. I'm quite put out on your behalf that you've been doing all these chores to gain experience but only just been shown the haynets. How much time do you spend grooming? Have you been shown how to see if tack is fitting correctly, eg what badly fitted tack looks like. Have you been taught much about feed?

Anyway one thing you could do is find your nearest saddlery / equestrian centre and put up a notice to see if anyone local to you eg private owners need a hand.
Just a suggestion.

[saintmerryweather]

It looks fairly pricey but they seem to have a good rep...and if money is burning a hole in your pocket the cumbrian heavy horse centre shares the same beach to ride on so you could ride a shire or clydie while youre in the area but i think theyre expensive

[ThatVikRinA22]

cumbria doable for me though....will look that one up merry thanks.

[saintmerryweather]

I really would recommend a short break, i went to wheal buller in cornwall which would be too far for you but i lived out (didnt stay in their accomodation) and it was £70 per day for 4 - 6 hours riding per day and i could help round the yard tacking up and grooming etc if i wanted. i was there by myself so it was just me and an instructor riding out, i.could choose what horse to ride and what i did. the only thing i didnt get to do was ride on the beach but i hacked out, lots of cantering and riding over different terrain, rode sidesaddle, western and bareback. they even said i could hack in the western saddle if i wanted as well but i didnt feel secure enough in it. it honestly did wonders for my confidence, you dont have to go for long (my heels were rubbed raw by the middle of the second day due to my new boots). id love to go to murthwaite green in cumbria but thats a bit far away from me in kent

[ThatVikRinA22]

thanks guys, i know i do defend her a lot because i can see how stressed she gets and i do really feel for her, plus i do genuinely like her and i can see that she is a good instructor, heart completely in right place with lots of experience and knowledge - but yes, she does take me for granted, and there are constraints because she is under financed, with a lack of suitable horses for adults. I can see she and the school do have their faults.

i have had a look about but unfortunately there is very little near to me - i could travel for the odd lesson but it would be a long way id have to go for it. I had a look at some of the links and suggestions a few pages back, but unfortunately most are a good 45 mins to an hour away, so while the odd lesson would be doable i couldnt do that regularly.

Im going to investigate the possiblilty of trekking, courses, holidays etc. Still really like the look of the seminar run by Heather Moffett if i could get to one, but she is the other end of the country to me.

i think if i have a few days off it will do me good. I must stop being such a bloody door --rubber- mat.

[Littlebigbum]

To right nothing you did is the end of the world. As Saint said or a sanctuary??? It shouldn't be this hard. Find a trekking centre yeah just for the odd treat.

[saintmerryweather]

Is there an RDA centre near you where you could volunteer to help with the ponies? Re unrugging and the pony rolling thats the sort of thing i would do. if youre not that experienced handling horses you wouldnt necessarily expect it to do that and tbh its not the end of the world if it did!

[50BalesOfHay]

Vicar, I know yoy think a lot of your RI, and you are clearly a very loyal person and want to help her, but she sounds so much like the owner of the RS where we kept our first pony (very good but a one man band, too little time, not the right horses, underfinanced etc). She's (the one I know that is) also a somewhat mercurial character and prone to getting cross unreasonably, giving conflicting messages and so on which did spoil our horse time sometimes. That said, I learnt a huge amount from her, and we left under good terms and I still seek her advice sometimes but we're happier where we are now.

I'd think very carefully about whether this is actually where you'd choose to keep your horse when you eventually get your own. The reasons that I say that are 1) she's strapped for time so may cut corners, not badly but just not quite up to what you'll want 2) you'll be there a lot and will probably end up helping her out when you'd like to spend all your time with your horse 3) You're needing a break is totally understandable but once your horse is there it won't be a possibility, and finally, if you decide it's not working out due to all of the above, you'll be looking for a new yard under pressure. She also only has two horses for adults if I recall correctly, one of whom doesn't sound like much of a schoolmaster

I'm not suggesting that you leave, but it wouldn't hurt to look at a few other places, maybe have a lesson somewhere else and investigate other set ups. I know horse ownership is for the future, not right now, but it might be worth just seeing what other options are out there? Your loyalty and stickability do you huge credit, and you might decide that actually where you are is the best option, but it's got to be worth a look around.

[Littlebigbum]

Oh Vicar wondered why we didn't hear from you

[NotGoodNotBad]

She seems to have forgotten that you are there voluntarily and unpaid!

[ThatVikRinA22]

i think im feeling slightly over sensitive. a little break is on the cards and will probably do us all a bit of good.

[ThatVikRinA22]

im just going to have a little scream.

i like my RI. i do. i really do.
but she is contrary and a very bad communicator - with me. and not just with me....other volunteers come to me now to ask what she meant!
she tells me to skip out.
i skip out
then she says the stable i just did needs a full muck out not a skip out.
so why frigging tell me to skip out then!!!!! arrrrrhggggghhhhhh!

im taking a week off now i think. i didnt ride this week. no horse and im not throwing money away on a horse i cant ride.....so i didnt.

i love being at the yard and i go voluntarily - but sometimes - just sometimes - ri drives me mad. i got a telling off - got asked to get a horse ready - took rug off and went for tack which wasnt there....long story - when i got back pony had rolled. i should have tied him up first. i know that now. i groomed him. i apologised. i should have gone home at that point i think because then her DD told me to do something, i did it, then RI went mad with me despite her own DD telling her she had told me to do said thing.....

i love the hosses though. and i learnt how to tie a hay net this week.
i could have tacked up but i chickened out....it was big lad who is well over 16hh and though he is very obliging (he even puts his head down when i put his head collar on! bless him) i didnt want to do any damage or hurt him knowing im a bit gauche....

im going to have a little break now i think.

there were 4 of us there on sunday and we got finished at 5pm.
that was good going. but shows that its too big a job for 1 or 2 people - unless you are quite prepared to stay until gone 7. which i do, and do willingly when i go. but i need to speak up when she is taking the proverbial.....

[ThatVikRinA22]

thank you.

i think im seriously going to look into the seminar with heather moffett.

then look at a holiday - i know no one would come with me so might have to be when DD is able to fend for herself a bit more (she will be 16 in summer!)

to littlepushka

[EMUZ]

Highly recommend a course/holiday.. I did a week at Talland and had lunge lessons, flat lessons, jumping lessons and side saddle
I couldn't walk well for a while but it improved my riding no end especially the lunge lessons