Adult new or returning riders up for a chat?

[Hereforthedramaz]

I have recently returned to riding after a very long gap.

I was a very casual rider as an early teen, happy hacking on plodding ponies rather than technical riding. I am thoroughly enjoying having proper lessons now.

I thought it might be nice to chat with other newbies or returners, all non-horsey people in my life and there is only so much they want to talk about it!!!

Also the stables I'm going to is so lovely and welcoming but, in their own words, aimed almost entirely at 8-12 year olds so it would be nice to talk to some adults!

@Pleasedontdothat glad yiu have found an alternative school. Such a shame that so many places are having to close.

I’m still sore after my fall two weeks ago 🙄 so it will have been a three week gap before I can get back riding. I get very grouchy if I miss a week 😁

Hi. Happy new year to everyone. I’ve not ridden since mid December. It was freezing on my last lesson and my legs just didn’t work. You might remember from previous posts that I’m a late life learner who’s happy in walk and trot. That has a fear of canter and horses which don’t do as ask. Basically I like a nice ploddy safe ride that does as I ask. Our school horses are a bit more lively than that and over this winter I’m having serious doubts about whether I should carry on. I’ve met my goal which was to be able to go on a trek (later realised that many ponies on this take complete novices so happy I can go on these and know how to ride not just sit). I’ve not met my later objective of being able to canter confidently. But not sure how realistic that is. Basically it just feels like a very expensive luxury to keep going with lessons and not make much progress. My son rides - he’s 12 and it’s challenge enough to pay for him to have lessons. We don’t go pony club of comps of s as nothing like that. Anybody else considering a break or has taken a break or just decided it’s not for them really. If money was no object I’d be doing block lessons and nailing it but money isn’t no object!! Really interested in your thoughts and experiences if you’d like to share. Thanks.

Firstly thermal ski leggings under riding tights are your best friend in winter. I buy loads of pairs every winter from Lidl.
Sorry you don't feel you've made much progress but riding can be like that sometimes, it happens to us all at every level. You have a goal and you slog away at it but it feels like you make little progress and that can lead to frustration, often the best thing to do is to approach it from a different angle. What I mean by that is look at why you have a fear of canter, is it fear of falling off because you won't be able to balance? If it is that then look at doing some pilates work on the floor to help strengthen core muscles which will make you more stable in the saddle. Get a riding assessment from a Biomechanics physio to identify wonkiness etc. Riding is a lot more than the process of just sitting on a horse, a lot of the biomechanics of our body and how we carry ourselves influences our ability to ride.
Riding is also often about overcoming our own brains too in terms of conquering nerves or the nagging doubts in our heads. Karl Greenwood runs a very good series of online support around nerves and how we block our own progress. It is well worth a look.
Once you get past the very beginner stage then you will start to get put on horses who are a bit more opinionated/harder to ride as horse riding is all about being able to get on any horse and be able to ride it. If your heart really isn't in it then yes it is a very expensive hobby but it might be worth looking at asking to canter on a hack out of the confines of an arena? Or look to change riding schools if that is possible? Can you just ask to go on hacks to give you a break from the arena, if I'm struggling with something in school work then I will stop doing it for a few weeks and just hack to clear my head. I find it so much easier to then come back and try again once I've had that break.
Oh and FYI I had 2 years when my stupid brain stopped me from being able to canter on my boy. 2 years!!! So we stopped even trying and instead I just focused on nailing everything in walk and trot ie getting the perfect 20 and 10m circles, perfect leg yield and shoulder in etc. I didn't try to canter for over 18 months and then 1 day just thought "I think we are ready", asked for canter and got it then zero problems since 🤷‍♀️. So just to say that no problem is insurmountable.

Thank you @twistyizzy for your reply. Lots to think about in what you have suggested. On one hand I feel so pleased with what I have learned so far and achieved on the other I feel so overwhelmed by how much there is to learn and whether I want to get into the technicalities. The whole step in to bending them round and straightness at the right times currently feels way off. You are absolutely spot on about the fitness and balance. I think my lack of fitness is now holding back my next stage - I’m missing core strength which would help my balance, missing leg strength for control and cardio for stamina. But at nearly 50 that was always going to be a challenge!! I do wonder if a short break to focus on getting my fitness up and a school where lessons outside the arena are an option would help. My current school is very arena and indoor at that focused which is good in many ways but a make it more intense and focus on what isn’t working rather than what is. Lots to think about. Thank you.

About being overwhelmed, I've been riding for 35 years + and I've still got sooooo much to learn and so much I want to learn. The better you get the more you realise that you will never know it all but that just makes me thirsty to constantly improve. I'm currently trying to re-master flying changes and today my horse made me feel like I couldn't ride 🙈. Riding is a great leveller so just try to have fun with it too, it is too expensive to not enjoy doing it!

About being overwhelmed, I've been riding for 35 years + and I've still got sooooo much to learn and so much I want to learn. The better you get the more you realise that you will never know it all but that just makes me thirsty to constantly improve. I'm currently trying to re-master flying changes and today my horse made me feel like I couldn't ride 🙈. Riding is a great leveller so just try to have fun with it too, it is too expensive to not enjoy doing it!

Arghh. I have a lesson at 2pm and I’m shitting myself. It’s been three weeks since my last lesson, when I fell off. My back is still hurting from it. I really don’t want to go but can’t cancel so late in the day. And if I don’t go today, I suspect I’ll never go back. I’m so nervous. For some reason, mounting scares me the most 😟

@theferry did you go? How was it? If you’re not enjoying it why don’t you give yourself a break? It’s too expensive a hobby to dread doing it. Having said that, I had my first lesson at the new riding school yesterday and it was great - although my thighs don’t think so today 😬. I’ve explained my accident to my instructor and that I want to really concentrate on my position and aids etc to give me as solid a foundation as possible. I’ve not been cantering yet - but I’ve been doing lots of no stirrups in walk and trot, focusing on accuracy in the corners, transitions and shapes - serpentines etc and concentrating on things like that completely banishes any nerves

@Pleasedontdothat glad you had a good lesson. I haven’t worked without stirrups for a while. I did go and had a great time. The horse j ride was great as usual. The worst thing was getting on! I think my nerves weren’t helped by having been away for 3 weeks straight after the fall. If I’d ridden sooner my nerves wouldn’t have had so much time to build up.

@theferry that’s good to hear 😊it’ll be much easier next time!

Hello, can I join in? Finally gave in to my daughter at Xmas and booked her first lesson, by the time she'd finished I had remembered that I loved riding so booked my first lesson in more than 20 years for next Sunday.

I'm nervous, but excited. I can already hear my bank account screaming however!

Hi @LadyFlumpalot , how exciting! Let us know how you get on!

I had my first lesson since a few weeks before Christmas, I was feeling a bit anxious before it but those of you getting back in the saddle after falls inspired me to just get on with it!

Weirdly it's not the riding I get worried about, it's the yard stuff, I feel like I'm always in the way and can never seem to understand what the yard manager tells shouts at me to do and it causes me stress!

But a really good lesson, one of the best I've had for ages, even got a compliment on a trot to canter transition which has never happened before! (And most likely a fluke but I'll take it!)

Thank you! I know what you mean about the yard stuff. The place we are going to has parents lead beginners for COVID reasons. All the other mums are happily striding in, checking girths, adjusting stirrups and manoeuvring ponies around. I haven't been near a horse in 20 years so I'm standing around like a spare part getting in the way whilst a teenager does it all for me 🤣. Quietly confident I'll figure it all out again soon though.

Lovely, albeit very cold, lesson today. I'm so pleased with how my canter is coming along, although it has been on the very willing and "armchair" horses on the yard.

@LadyFlumpalot did you have your first lesson today? How was it?

After a very cold - but good - lesson last week I have splashed out on a pair of very expensive waterproof winter breeches - which for the moment will have to be paired with my cheap as chip’s decathlon jodhpur boots and chaps 😂

Hiya, just home from DDs third lesson and about to go off to mine. Hers was at 2:30pm and mines at 4pm Terrified and excited in equal measures (maybe slightly more terrified now it's almost here!)

Ooh I'd be really interested to hear what you went for and your review. I could do with some at some point

Oh my god that was the best and quickest 45 minutes ever. Had a moment when this massive horse appeared and a small child said "this is Larry, you'll be riding him today" as I'm only 5ft 3 and slight, but he was steady and a sweetheart. We did walking, trotting, changing rein, then the instructor noticed that my right hip is a little stiff (old injury) so she had me walk stirrup-less and we did leg yielding to help me loosen up. Then back to trot. I had the best time.

@LadyFlumpalot whooo go you! Sounds like a brilliant lesson! You got through a lot!

I know exactly what you mean, I'm also 5"3 and the 16h horses I'm on seem like giants but actually are sweethearts!

@Hereforthedramaz - I just wish I could afford to go every week! It's going to be a one a month thing for me at the moment.

With regards to riding trousers, I've got some Mountain Warehouse fleece lined waterproof walking trousers that I wore. They are very comfy and fitted, not shiny and rustly and loose like waterproof trousers usually are. Kept me very warm!

Warehouse Adventure Womens Water Resistant Trousers - Water-Resistant Trousers, Stretchy, Fleece Lining - Best for Spring Walking, Hiking, Outdoors & Trekking amzn.eu/d/dSFVciN

amzn.eu/d/dSFVciN

@LadyFlumpalot that sounds like a great first lesson! @Hereforthedramaz glad your canter is going well

I went a bit wild on Friday and booked myself an hour long hack with the advanced group so a lot of long canters and fast gallops. My instructor told me I'd be fine with that group as they wouldn't be doing jumping and my seat is fine. Oh my goodness it was so much fun but I still have aching legs from holding a forward seat for such long stretches
I guess if I am to reach my ultimate goal of getting round a cross country course again I'm going to have to work on my leg muscles because I was like jelly for the second half I'd have flopped off the side if I went near a jump. I have a long way to go until then though so plenty of times to up my sqauts 😂

I’ve just had the most ridiculously good fun - I’d had three lessons at the new riding school on two different ploddy cobs. I got them going in the end but it was hard work. When I turned up today my instructor put me on a whizzy little cob who looked like a typical riding school plod but he was actually beautifully forward and responsive. My instructor said he’s been a bit cheeky in lessons recently as he gets fed up with novice riders so she said it was lovely for him to have someone who could actually ride which made me feel really proud of myself 😊. I always compare myself with my daughter who rides for a living and makes everything look effortless and compared to her I’m an absolute beginner but I need to have more faith in myself 😂. I hope everyone else has been enjoying their riding too

Well done Pleasedontdothat! It's been a perfect day for riding.

@Pleasedontdothat sounds lovely well done.