Am I progressing too fast?

[brayd]

No this isn't a stealth boast by the way, more the opposite! I've started riding late in life as an adult & do group lessons at a local, small stables. Completely new to the world of horses & how teaching is normally run.

I ride once a week for 30 minutes & have had 7 lessons so far. Last week (so my on my 7th lesson) I did my first jump. My problem is I feel like I am being rushed & not being given the chance to become confident in one aspect before being pushed into another. For example, I mastered the rising trot but was having difficulty 'steering' & therefore missing corners & veering all over the place. At the next lesson I was expecting to work on this, but instead I was taught to canter. Struggled to get into canter & maintain a deep seat, but the next lesson I was told we were going to be jumping.

Is this normal progression? I feel really awkward as when I do say something I generally get shut down. E.g. I read online about the trot diagonals & asked my instructor about them as she hadn't mentioned them, I felt like a naughty school child being told off when she said we had covered them &I I was making her look bad! (We definitely hadn't). So I'm really hesitant about saying anything. But I feel like there's a lot of technique I'm missing out on & she's just teaching the bare basics. I also get told off a lot if I don't grasp something straight away, & I've gone from looking forward to my lessons to feeling tense & under pressure.

Is there any other adult learners out there that can give me an idea of their lesson structure? It will help me decide whether this is normal & I'm just being a bit hesitant or whether I should find another school

Sorry for the mammoth text - thank you if you've read it all!

I prefer the idea that you're going quite quickly as the more you do the better you'll become and you can work on finesse over time.

However this doesn't sound much fun and I wouldn't be going somewhere if I had no rapport with the instructor.

Try another riding school and see how you get on..

@Butkin1 thanks for the reply! I suppose that's one way to look at it. I'm not a very confident person so I might just be underestimating my abilities & wanting to stay in my comfort zone.

Yes I don't have a very good rapport with my instructor - she'll tell me something once & if I forget to do it the next time she gets very irritated with me. Which leads to me feeling even more tense & making more mistakes!

I'm not a very confrontational person so I find it hard saying anything to her. I might try another lesson at another school whilst staying at this one & see if it's any better there before moving

Yes keep your options open. You are doing them the favour by spending money with them.. The least they can do is be supportive..

Also compare the sort of animals you're put on at different establishments. If you're on a plod they are more likely to have pushed you on compared to something a little more advanced.

If you have a comparison you'll soon know which one you prefer..

I'd find somewhere else if possible. I think it's really important when learning that you are taught and master the basics properly before moving on.

Learning to have a secure independent seat and learning the correct diagonal are all things you should be confident at before even attempting jumping.

Ultimately it should also be fun. You're paying them for this so find somewhere else who'll teach you properly.

There are loads of groups on Facebook with people who'll be able to give you recommendations for instructors. You'll find you enjoy it much more with someone who's properly teaching you.

Have found a couple of schools nearby that I'm going to try out & see if I get on better there.

Yesterday's lesson was pretty awful. I feel really overwhelmed as I struggle with one thing & before I get the chance to master it I'm being moved onto something else, thus struggling with two things & so on.

The instructor doesn't ever explain anything fully either & she will tell me off for not doing something right but not teaching or telling me the right way, if that makes sense. Feeling very disheartened & to be honest a bit embarrassed in my lessons at the moment. Fingers crossed I find a better suited lesson at another school as I do love riding & want to keep at it

It sounds awful, Brayd and not much fun at all. There is something to be said for progressing if you are deemed ready for it but you shouldn't have to feel that you are being told off or made to look stupid! If you are not fully in control in trot I wouldn't expect you to be starting to jump. I mean it might be fun to pop over a little cross pole but even then without a properly established seat it won't take much to tip you off if something unexpected happens. I would be looking for somewhere else if I were you.

Hope one of them works for you!

Riding is meant to be fun but it's not easy and you need to learn properly which in turn will give you confidence! Good luck x

You're paying for it so you should be enjoying it.

It sounds dangerous to me and no fun at all. If you don't feel confident to sit to a canter there is no way you should be jumping yet. It would be so easy to fall off and really knock your confidence. I hope you find somewhere more suitable.

Unfortunately there are many riding schools with unqualified and unsuitable riding instructors. Do your research, ask around for recommendations. Yes you are being rushed. Riding is 10% ability and 90% confidence.

What area are you OP?

Far far too fast imo. I rode from being a small child, riding school lessons for years as a child, then own ponies and pony club etc. Got a job at a dressage yard aged 20 and spent months on the lunge, no stirrups or reins, developing my seat.

So jumping in 7 lessons is ridiculous (of the instructor) there is no way anyone would be capable of that.

Far too fast a progression. Sounds really unprofessional to me.

That sounds dangerous and lacks any sense of structure. It reminds me of when I had my second lesson as a child. The bored teenager daughter took me out as mum wasn't there and she had me cantering over fallen trees. Terrifying and dangerous.
I have been riding as an adult for 2 years. Only now can I canter in a circle (slow).

Are you having group lessons or one-to one?

Have booked a lesson at another school early next week so going to go along & see if I feel more comfortable there. The current school I'm at is BHS approved so I'm guessing it meets the safety standards etc, but to be honest I didn't feel very safe when jumping. Wasn't explained jumping position or anything really, had to ask myself.

@Butkin1 it's a group lesson. The majority of the group have been there a lot longer & therefore more advance than me so maybe that's why I'm being pushed

Private lessons are 100000x better than group lessons, in my experience. I've been riding for 6 years now, have had 3 falls, jumped properly twice (up to 70cm, but that was a mistake - the horse and I locked on to different jumps!!) and am not a confident canter-er. I know about diagonals, canter leads, etc etc and I know about horse management, but my progress has been very slow and I'm very frustrated. I think that I will use this thread as inspiration to move yards when I recover from my operation. Thanks OP.

It sounds like an awful riding school with a rubbish teacher. No one should be jumping without having established seat, at best you'll whack the horse in the mouth, at worst you'll fall off.

In my opinion it can be really useful to start with lunge lessons. They may seem boring but the aim is for someone else to control the horse while you find your balance. If the rider is not balanced nothing will be easy.

Blimey! That does sound fast! No wonder you feel anxious and under pressure - it made me feel like that just reading your post!

I've been riding in total about a year and am 48 - had 3 months off for a fractured coccyx but am back now. I started off with one to one lessons before I joined the beginners adult group where I was the least experienced but I felt confident in walk and trot. Then I learned diagonals, 20 metre circles, half halts, trotting without reins, trotting without stirrups, sitting trot. (I honestly think that if my instructor could get away with tying my arms by my side too, she would!) working on getting the trot to the speed I want, how to deal with a horse who throws it's shoulder out, then moving on to canter. Hanging onto the jesus strap and the outside rein and losing my stirrups, getting them into canter (hard!) on a corner, getting used to canter, striking off on the correct leg, keeping that canter going, steering in canter, picking up canter on the straight, trotting poles, and I have just started jumping now. I always feel I can ask my instructor anything, or say if something is worrying me,and she is great at building up my confidence. Even though it's a group and we are all at slightly different levels, she plans her lessons accordingly so no-one feels overstretched or bored.

Sorry for the monologue, but this is what my lessons have been like. It would be great if you let us know how you get on at the different riding school!

I didn't jump for at least a year when I first started again (despite being desperate to do so as had jumped when I was a kid). My instructor knew that I'd fallen and injured myself when I was 12 jumping. Then hadnt ridden until I was 29. She took the view that I needed to start again with the basics and build back up. I'm back jumping now in my group. As an adult it's taken me ages to regain the confidence I had.

OP here with a name change!

I've had a few private lessons at my new RS now & loving it! My new instructor was shocked at me jumping already after so few lessons, she also said she's heard a lot about how poor the teaching is there.

My first lesson in the new RS was completely different to my first lesson at the other. I was put on the lunge, & she was discussing with me in detail what position I needed, why it's important, all about the different paces & beats, etc etc. Old RI barely spoke to me bar shouting WALK or TROT. Felt like I learnt a lot more in that one lesson than I have in all my previous ones. I also feel like lessons are run in a more controlled & safe manner!

New RS is very very small & private, so do not have many riders, unlike the other place. Really prefer this as I have managed to build up good relationships & I feel the RI really cares about my improvement. The horses are also more forward & eager, whereas the old RS horses were very numb to the leg & it really took them a lot to get going.

Sorry for the long rambling, just really pleased that I took the jump & tried out somewhere new - I'm back to loving riding & eagerly awaiting my weekly lesson!