Adult new or returning riders part 2

[theferry]

I thought I’d start a new thread seeing as the existing one is full.

I’m due to ride tomorrow. Maybe I’ll jump. I’ll see.

Thanks @theferry second thread!

Hope your ride goes well, I've got a lesson booked Thursday and am a bit apprehensive having not ridden for a month. Don't know whether to just get a plodder and do a gentle canter or try jumping again.

The club horses have all come back covered in seeds and bits of twig and looking a bit wild, hopefully they will be calmer in a few days.

Then group lessons start next week!

@NormalAuntFanny hope Thursday goes well. My lesson is in an hour and, as usual, I’m getting very wound up about it. 🙄

Hello again! I’ve managed to book two lessons tomorrow - one in the riding school cob and one on my share TB so I’ll probably ache on Friday (just in time for my first Pilates session in ages…). Hope your lessons go well.

@Pleasedontdothat two lessons in a day—I”d struggle to do that! I’m knachered after an hour.

The lesson went well, but I didn’t jump. Bit annoyed with myself but I was having to hold her back and she gets super-excited when jumping so I decided to not push my luck. 😀

Can I join even tho I haven’t made the commitment yet? Planning to imminently. I rode all my life and was very experienced, had my own horses etc but stopped when I had a very traumatic fertility journey and subsequently 2 very traumatic births.

6 years since I’ve ridden. 4 years since my first (and worst) delivery, 18 months post partum. Every day I wake up feeling broken 🤣 but really want to get riding again.

Hello all, didn't realise there was a new thread! I had a lesson on the mare I part loan yesterday and it went so well I have booked a specific jumping lesson on her for next week already regretting it slightly, going to need to find my big girl pants before then.
I have a lesson on my friends horse tomorrow and looking forward to that because I always feel so fancy and experienced on him even though he is just doing it all for me.

I’ve recently started riding again and I’m finding it almost impossible to ride as much as I would like to. I’ve tried two schools and my old instructor and I can’t hack out with any of them. I don’t want to endlessly circle a school on a horse who doesn’t want to be there! I want to hack, gallop and try my wimpy butt over cross country jumps on a horse I can trust. Do low level dressage, beach rides, fun rides and do the sort of mucking about I missed out on as a horse mad horseless kid. Learn to ride bareback and bridleless and have some freedom from the arena!

instead I’m not even getting half an hour once a week riding in the school. I’ve tried looking for a part loan and a full loan but it seems like everything available for sale is a dope on a rope “more woah than go” granny carriers whereas everything for loan needs a capable, confident, experienced rider. I’m not a novice but I read “can be a nutter” when I see that so I’m not sticking my hand up for that!

ghosting is also real in the horse world. If you don’t think me and the horse will click then just bloody say so - but no you just never hear from them and then see “no more time wasters” in their next ad they post!

im getting to the point of just blooming buying one!

@PonyPlaiter its really frustrating isn’t it! I want to do exactly what you’ve described and I’m only really getting anywhere near that after 2 years of testing different schools and a lot of going round in circles.
is it that the schools don’t have hacking or they want you to do more lessons first? If it’s the latter I would persevere but keep mentioning it’s your goal every few lessons and make it clear that’s what you want to work towards.

No I’ve been riding for 15 years with a few breaks - they just either don’t have the staff or horses to be able to go hacking! I could understand it if I was a beginner but I am fully in control in walk trot and canter I just need to gain a bit of confidence in open spaces and traffic.

it is really frustrating and there aren’t that many riding schools near me that cater to adults either. Thinking about booking a riding holiday just to be able to ride out!

May I join, I have just this week found a part share? Having not ridden for 15 years I am only up for a gentle plod round the arena at the moment but would love to get up to cantering out hacking on the local Sandy tracks.
I think riding schools have really changed over the last few decades. Back in the day when I learnt to ride we had an arena on the top of a big field. It had telegraph poles round the edge so if the ponies were feeling fresh or nappy they would hop out and leg it back down to the stables. Beginners were started off on the lead then in a round pen before being expected to ride in the open fields. Every now and again someone would turn up who had learnt at a big posh riding school with an indoor school. These riders expected their pony to go round nose to tail with everyone else and got a nasty shock when they realised what it was like to ride in the open.

Hello new people!

I had my lesson this afternoon, did lots of work on hand position and équilibre (what is that in English where you balance on your stirrups?) so will no doubt have painful legs tomorrow.

Did enjoy a good canter on one of my favourite horses, like sitting on the sofa, plus we were outside and had the carrière to ourselves.

It's interesting reading about different clubs, in France you don't really do any hacking except on holiday destinations where there's a whole industry of day and even week long rides - clubs really revolve around jumping and dressage and some cross.

I think it might be because there's no equivalent of bridleways etc, but there are a lot of riding clubs in towns and cities. I live in a smallish city and there's two within walking distance and at least another 5 which I know of. Riding is also a lot cheaper here, I pay 28 EUR for an hour's group lesson and 42 for an hour just with a coach

@NormalAuntFanny we would call that the two point seat or jumping position. Very good for building leg muscles but yes, you may well be stiff tomorrow 😩
I think what you are describing with riding schools doing lessons and holiday centres offers trekking/hacking is actually where the uk is heading.

Ahh that is frustrating and similar to me, I have ridden for 20 or so years but had a couple of years of very irregular riding, so many stables can only cater to beginner adults it’s really tough to find a place for the inbetween of can ride well and wants to do more advanced things but is a bit rusty.
a riding holiday sounds like a good idea, or even some day trips

I wonder how much hacking etc is down to the legacy of fox hunting in the UK - before we lived in a city we were in a small village where hunting was very normal and not at all posh but just shooting, there were literally no foxes at all because they just got shot on sight and there was no season for them unlike pretty much all other game.

And also guillotining the foxhunting classes social change...

I had a lovely ride round the field today, I will miss it once it turns into a muddy mess. Share pony is very good but doesn’t half step out with his ears pricked. I’m having to get used to the fact he is just happy and forward and not about to explode.

Ooh just found this new thread, thanks @theferry

I had a lovely hack yesterday on Mr Hairy, down a new bridle path we haven't explored before. It was nicely level and clear visibility so it would make a lovely canter route now I know about it.

But even more pleasingly I had what should have been a hacking lesson on Friday but we had to change the plan last minute. So we went up into the yard's massive exercise field, unexpectedly someone has set up the markers for a school so we made use of it. Mr Hairy is about as school sour as they come ( so I don't even bother trying him in the schools) but he was fantastic! Really really willing and it was great fun. I'm so pleased as it gives us another option together to add to the hacking.

That looks lovely @Hereforthedramaz , hope your beast wasn't attacked by any killer combine harvesters or suspicious hedges this time.

Am very jealous of your outdoor space, I had my first lesson stuck in the petit ménage with eight plodding horses and literally all we did was walk round and round without stirrups for an hour.

This was supposed to be a class a level up as well. Hope this week is better or will have to try and change to a better coach but worse time slot lesson. Think I might have been spoilt by summer outdoor riding and baby jumps.

@NormalAuntFanny I am very lucky with the yard Mr Hairy is on. Amazing road free hacking plus multiple school options. The downside is it's 35-45 mins drive away (on a good day) across a bad traffic city which limits how often I can visit him as a share.

The frustration had been that Hairy disliked school so much I couldn't make use of any of the schools. So fingers crossed he carries on working happily enough in the temporary dressage school.

Ah your lesson sounds a bit frustrating, hopefully maybe the instructor was getting a measure of you all first and will ramp it up going forward??

I hope so@Hereforthedramaz she is new and doesn't really know the horses - I was riding the 500kg killer carthorse which hates all the other horses and she kept telling me to relax my hands when she's one twitch of the ears away from doing a 180 degree spin and attack manoeuvre.

Fingers crossed tomorrow is better.

@NormalAuntFanny
Ah I completely understand

She + New + Big is not the most relaxing combination to ride in a mixed lesson (or anywhere!)

Good luck tomorrow

Ps can you try and get a sneaky photo of her?! I love a nice chunky cart horse! My share looks exactly like a mini cart horse but is only 14hh

Will do, though now had to move lesson to Saturday because I got a (one day waiting time!) appointment for an injection in my foot.

She has a pretty coat with lovely black mane - she's an isabelle - and very nice to get ready, apparently some kind of half-Belgian cheval de trait, but also stubborn and lazy and did I mention hates all the other horses.

My share horse has been excessively grumpy recently - he’s never what you might call cuddly on the ground but this was a different league to normal. He bucked his owner off going into canter and has been vicious with everyone (ears pinned back, snake-like lunges) and especially unhappy with things like tacking up and rugging. He was very obviously saying he wasn’t happy so thankfully his owner agreed to get the vet out. It’s one of the frustrations of sharing that I can’t make management decisions.. anyway very good vet came - he’s sound on trot up but obviously uncomfortable somewhere. He’s been started on gastroguard as potentially has ulcers and he’s having a bit of chaff before riding to stop the acid splashing onto his stomach lining so fingers crossed the treatment helps him feel better. Ridden-wise he’s just doing walk and trot in as straight lines as possible for a couple of weeks. But the good news is he’s decided that I’m one of the people for whom he will take a consistent contact without arguing so I’m feeling very pleased that we’re making progress.

@Hereforthedramaz fingers crossed Mr.Hairy continues to like his new arena, I had a fun lesson at the weekend, lots of poles and then some teeny tiny cross poles

Poles, there’s a good idea. I am always alone at the yard where my share pony is but could set some up before riding.

Hi...any tips for someone who's struggling with trot to canter transition? I know what I should be doing but I'm struggling to coordinate sitting to trot and giving a clear aid 🫣