my RI is a stickler for "proper" riding - she is of the Sylvia Loch school of thought - which is brilliant, knowledgeable, but im just not getting it....
i go one step forwards, then 3 back.
its worse as im an adult learner. RI is really very good, and says yes, you can get by from kicking and pulling, but she teaches properly the use of leg aids (i e - riding from the ankle UP...no kicking unless for discipline)
im worse than useless. She talks about collecting the horse and riding in front of the leg....now i understand these as concepts but i have all on trying to coordinate my body, legs and arms.....
i do not want to give up - it gives me such pleasure, and i know enough about horse care and stable management now to own my own pony, RI often leaves me to it if she needs a few hours off....and i love helping out, plus i dearly would love my own pony.
im thinking of booking a series of intensive lessons daily for a week or so, because just as i seem to be getting it i go backwards again. My legs will not do as they are asked....(!!) i give the poor horse mixed messages, i cant seem to keep my heels down and toes in....and my lower legs refuse to stay where i put them originally!
im getting so annoyed with myself! RI says i am perfectly normal but im not improving at all.
because i help out RI says she will do me a deal on intensive lessons.
im feeling a bit despondent. I so want to learn. i can do everything now with horses except ride them!
Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.
The tack room
im just not getting any better - intensive lessons?
ThatVikRinA22 · 22/06/2013 23:43
Oh yeah you have to laugh 
Mine is usually when horse refuses to do anything except half pass (because she thinks circles are beneath her) and I give up and collapse on her neck laughing with no steering
vicar if you come down to ride with 50balesofhay,get in touch with me.I'm about half an hour from her and if you'd like,you can come over and ride the saintly dpony.She is 13hh,but happily carries me at 5ft 8.She is a fabulous hacker on the road or fields and has never ever put a foot wrong ridden.
If you don't fancy riding on the road,we have a fair bit of land to hack over.She is honestly the most bombproof,honest pony ever and will not tank off,buck,rear or freak out at tractors and stuff.
There is a difference between kicking and using your leg, if they don't answer leg aids then this should be backed up with a tap of a schooling whip. Appreciate what you are saying about the horse being 'downhill' but that and what you are saying about being told off for using your legs in the wrong way just reinforces the simple fact that this RI and her horses of limited abilities are not the place for you.
I ride at a great R/School with horses of varying abilities, some very green so you get to bring them on and really see improvements but I also ride a big heavy cob, who they use in lessons for all abilities. He totally takes the pee when he has a beginner or someone not confident on him, he cuts corners, runs into canter, leans on the riders hands etc, however I can get him into a lovely outline and have even rode flying changes on him. They may be seen as old R/School plods but some of them are not as silly as they look!
You need to find somewhere where you can ride horses who are up to the job for beginners or less confident riders, with a more basic instructor who as others say will allow you to make mistakes and then maybe when you are a bit more experienced and more importantly confident go back to your RI for lessons if you really want to although I think if you rode elsewhere you wont want to!
In an earlier post you said you consider this lady as a friend... then if she is a friend she will understand why you are not satisfied with her lessons, I stopped having lessons with my first RI mainly for financial issues but also because I didnt feel I was getting enough attention as she took lessons of mixed ability, I moved to a different RI at the same R/School. I worried that the original RI would be offended as like you she was a friend and I saw her out of work and rode another horse at the yard she kept hers on, but it wasnt a problem at all and she understood that pupils come and go all the time.
Didnt mean to write this much!... one final thing I will say is remember Riding is supposed to be FUN
It did cross my mind, in my limited experience, why she would give you lessons if there wasn't a suitable ride?
Don't forget also that getting you to ride 'perfectly' is super on the lunge but will you remember this when you are about to jump, during a hack etc etc? In real life situations.
This is DD's problem at the minute, remembering 'heels down, soft hands, toes up, straight back' etc, whilst actually doing stuff too!!
We are lucky in that we pay a pittance for lessons (£5), from a friend who is a qualified instructor but who just does favours for friends nowadays. Last night, she was trying to teach DD in a section of DD's pony's field. He was being really good boy but the foal who shares the field just followed him round play biting his arse until we tied him up, then my friends dogs decided to play in that area of the field, joined by one of the farm dogs, all the time DD was riding round and round, trying to remember everything and listen to the instructor at the same time.
However, it WAS good fun, even if the lesson lasted nearly 90 minutes eventually with all the distractions
Will have a rethink for next week re venue!
Good luck anyway
Money needs!
Vicar, our boy is lovely. We think he is part highland, he's a good size and he is happier with adults. He's safe as houses, but has been pony clubbed for so long he just gets needs a nice change. He got a pop in him an he loves hacking. 
Then, if that is the case, that doesn't fall into the category of friendship really I guess. Not mine, anyway
vicar glad you've realised that yard is not the right place to keep a horse.
To be completely honest and in my opinion (for what thats worth!) I don't think you should consider getting your own horse until you are completely confident in all paces both schooling and hacking out... some may not agree with me, but horse ownership is a big responsibility and in my opinion novice owners/riders without an adequate support network to help and provide advice are accidents waiting to happen.
Hope you get some lessons else where and really begin to enjoy your riding again, good luck whatever you decide to do
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
Vicar, stop dithering and just say 'yes please' [stern face].
Believe me, people wouldn't be offering you rides on their ponies if they thought you were too heavy, they don't want to end up with a vet's bill .
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.