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.

You should video the good and the bad so you can learn from it - and one day look back proudly at how far you’ve come

Well decided to do a lesson this morning with one other person from my group and opened the window to find a light dusting of snow and lots of ice. Ugh.

We did jumps and I was crap, did actually make some progress in leg position and managed to avoid actually coming off by hugging horses neck after losing stirrups! Horse was very mardy with the ice too.

We had the best coach and she was really good but also made us do really hard things. Now I'm home and eating cheese it seems like it was good idea but am staying in the rest of the day.

Anyone ride in Surrey?

@gettingolderbutcooler I used to - are you after recommendations?

@Pleasedontdothat
No, just seeing if there were any connections I could make!

Ah.. Surrey is my old stamping ground but we moved a long way away a little while ago

Just discovered this lovely thread! Calculated that it’s now 10 years since I started riding again after a 20 year gap. Proud owner of a warmblood gelding who is a complete poppet.

Annoyingly our coach decided to do voltige on Tuesday ( like gymnastics on a horse) and the horse took exception to me swinging my legs around on its back and down I went - v painful landing and off to a&e with what turns out to be a fractured wrist.

It's amazing how every single thing in life is just very very very difficult with one hand. And no riding for 6-12 weeks. :-(

I've decided I'm done, had a fantastic hack out to the pub just before Christmas where it was absolutely perfect so it seems fitting to finish on a good ride.
I don't want to school ride, I hate it, but just hacking doesn't work as you lose your seat discipline so that's it for me.
Enjoy your riding lovlies.

Oh no @NormalAuntFanny that sounds painful - I hope you recover quickly.

Is voltige vaulting? If so, that seems a bit ambitious for a group lesson unless you’re all massively experienced gymnasts 😬

@FieldInWhichFucksAreGrownIsBarren sorry to hear that - but it is perfectly possible to ride and never go in a school - lots of people only ever hack. There’s no reason why hacking should lead to a loss of skill - you can ‘school’ on a hack (transitions, leg yielding, turn on the forehand, change of pace in walk or trot). At the riding school I went to before we moved they took hacking very seriously and you could book ‘hacking lessons’ which were great - would it be worth trying something like that? However it is a very expensive pastime so if you’re no longer enjoying no point in continuing.

Quick update on Clover - she’s now settled in to her new home, has a lovely field mate with whom she’s instant BFFs, and I totally adore her.

Haven’t ridden her yet, but I’m building the bond by lungeing her, which she’s busy teaching me to do properly. She’s super-responsive, very sensitive and properly hilarious. Her response to me giving her a banana yesterday was priceless. I’m pretty sure I heard her say something like ‘foreign muck’ as she spat it across the yard 😂

She’s teaching me so much about communication and staying calm. She’s the best thing I’ve ever done.

Thank you for this, it's something I'll look into as I adore the hacking out and time spent with horses.

@FieldInWhichFucksAreGrownIsBarren just to add my instructor does hacking lessons and they are fantastic. As PP have said loads of opportunities to still work on skills (and for corrections) just in a different environment.

I've just come back from a school lesson with my instructor, on her competition pony who is wonderful! We were cantering without stirrups for the first time ever for me and I can't believe it went so well! Last time I had a lesson on her pony I couldn't seem to get anything right but it was so much better today.

Partly January blues, partly turning 40 this year and partly just wanting a change/ something new to happen but I'm really struggling with wanting my own horse atm! Doesn't help that I've seen two who (on paper) would appear to tick all the boxes for me!

Can anyone tell me when they returned how long it took to stop being so damn terrified lol?

I've been riding again for 3 months after a 25 year gap !!! Always wanted to get back so when a new school opened up on my doorstep with very affordable lessons I took the plunge.

However I am so damn scared all the time about falling off, and the pony I'm riding is quite spooky. I am determined to keep trying, I'm all booked up until the end of feb but I really want to start enjoying it rather than being so anxious
all the time.

Do you think I just need to keep going and I will just get more used to be in the saddle and therefore less scared?

I think the best thing about coming back to riding as an adult is knowing that you don’t just have to do what you’re told like you do when you’re a kid and you can advocate for yourself. If you aren’t happy with the pony you’re riding ask to ride a different one until you find one you feel safe on. If they don’t have non spooky ponies then there might be a reason why they’re very affordable.

i don’t think that continuing to ride a horse that makes you nervous is going to help you at all

Thank you for replying; there is another "big" pony coming at the end of Feb so I'm hoping that I may get better with her. She's apparently bombproof!

But I know a lot of this is coming from me, I need to relax so the horse will relax more

@swearsbymoonlight what sort of rider were you 25 yrs ago as the key may lie there . My sister and I went back to riding a few years ago after at least 25 yrs , I got on the horse felt instantly at home and had him working in a nice outline , my sister did not . We’ve owned our own for 40+ years but our riding horses died / retired 25+yrs ago , we still have a pony who was my children’s when they were small . When we rode 25 yrs ago , I was competing , jumping , dressage and riding everyday on all 3 of our horses , my sister took her IDx out for a slow hack a few times a week - nothing had changed .
After your initial block of lessons it may be worth you looking for a better school as only having 1or 2 suitable horses isn’t very good

I started out as a nervous rider when I was younger but had gained a lot of confidence by the time I stopped. I was always only a happy hacker though, I did not like jumping as i didn't like feeling out of control.

I think I'm only aiming for that though, just being able to hack out again?

I was a complete newbie at 53 and I'd say it took about 6 months (riding lots of different horses) before I felt more pleasure than terror.

Still get scared easily but am looking forward to getting back in saddle when my wrist heals up.

I restarted 3 years ago and was very nervous.

For me it was more related to the yard and other people and getting something wrong!

Now it's just me and a share horse/pony im far more relaxed and even more so recently now I trust and understand him as a horse!

Mr Hairy makes me laugh these days when he does something (low level) unexpected where it would have made me nervous last year!

@swearsbymoonlight in your shoes I would consider waiting until the new horse arrives and not having lessons on spooky pony in the meantime. Horse welfare is of primary importance of course, but I think sometimes schools put adult learners on larger horses with regard only to size and not to the rider’s level.

I'm not a returning rider, started 2 years ago but I don't remember ever feeling fear-not helpful I know.

Thanks to the advice above I have switched stables and went out for a 2 hour trek at a new place today. Probably one of my best rides and I feel this was helped enormously by the horse. He was a lovely boy and despite his tendencies to stumble over his own feet it was a fabulous outing and we had some fantastic canters.

Glad you’ve found somewhere for hacking @FieldInWhichFucksAreGrownIsBarren

I had riding club this morning at the riding school so riding Mr Reliable cob - we were working on a Prix Caprilli test for a competition this summer. It’s basically a dressage test with jumps but the one we’re doing has a LOT of sitting trot - including a 3 loop serpentine and the approach to one of the jumps - all in sitting trot! Mr Reliable cob has a lovely canter but the bounciest trot ever so I thought it would much harder than it turned out to be - moral of the story is trust yourself - you’re probably better than you think you are 😉

It's amazing @Pleasedontdothat how different horses are in terms of comfort.

One of my RS horses you can sit the trot all day long, barely notice and think you have the best seat, others you are in danger of bouncing straight out if you tense up in the slightest.