A long rambling speil about life and my fifth lesson

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Tommy Matterson

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A long rambling speil about life and my fifth lesson - oh and some questions

Hello all

Lesson five complete - no hangover this time. I was all focus. Sadly I was spared Bob (or visa versa) which was a shame because I wanted to make it up to him for being rubbish last week. Anyway Bob's stand-in, Jasper was a bit taller and certainly broader than Bob.

The lesson was OK. We started doing a bit of stuff without stirrups and then continued with rising trot. The trouble is that I found it difficult to get Jasper to 'go'. I'd get a few paces, or at the most half a circuit before he went back to walk. Is this usual for riding school horses? I guess most of it was my fault though I tried to keep him going with my leg the best I could. Perhaps because he was wider my puny legs were not strong enough to exert the necessary pressure? What do you think? Should I be doing exercises between lessons? What exercises do you though - the muscles used in riding appear to be in strange places. I certainly found it difficult to get a massage there after last weeks lesson.

Anyway I had a glorious sunny hour on a horse so I am not unhappy I just wanted to feel I was progressing but didn't really get enough trot out of Jasper to really tell. I'd be interested to hear any of your experiences of what is normal for riding school horses. I mean, looking at it logically they must get a bit fed up of going around and around with a confused human on their back?

Finally, the horse bug is obviously as strong as ever. Why? Well on the way back from this lesson I couldn't help but daydream about how great it would be to spend longer with them. I even found myself trying to think of how I could retrain in some equine field so that I could eventually give up my career and spend more time with them. As someone who can't even ride properly yet that maybe a bit extreme - however stay tuned. I've done more bizarre things in my life.
 
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You know, you could probably hang out there for a while before & after your lesson; they might have stuff you could do and I'm sure they'd appreciate the help. I know when I first got started I would do anything just to *be* around the horses.

Now I'm doing everything I can to get a place of my own where the horses I have can live with me. :>

I have two thoughts on your ploddy lesson with the Bob-stand-in. One is that, yes, riding school horses can and do get bored and can get hard to motivate. Sometimes they're "dead to the leg," which means they've been pounded by so many people that they ignore leg cues. It can help to give your cues in spurts, rather than a solid push: nudge-release-nudge-release.

Think about it this way. You are asking, with your hands or legs or seat, for the horse to do something. He's much bigger and stronger than you (nothing personal, I haven't even seen you ;P) You can't really demand that he do it, and if you just pull or push on him solidly, he'll resist. If you just apply a solid pressure on the rein, for example, and he's not thrilled about responding to it, he can just pull back. Who do you think wins in such a tug-of-war situation?

Instead, when you use the rein or leg, you can apply-release-apply-release. You never end up in a tug of war, and he never gets to a point where he just tightens up his muscles and wholly resists. Ask-ask-ask-ask-ask.

Anyway, my other thought for you: if he's significantly wider than Bob, you may have accidentally been asking him to slow down the whole time. Just about any horse will slow or halt when you squeeze your knees/upper thigh/seat. If you were a bit more stretched, you may have been squeezing without even realizing it.
 
riding school horses are often a bit on the lazy side - as you say, it can get monotonous for them doing the job they do.
the good news is that as you improve, they will take the mickey much less and be much easier to keep going.
it is hard for you to maintain rising trot, steer, think about your position and keep the horse going all at the same time, so don't feel bad about that bit. as you get able to do more things at once you will be able to keep the horse going as well as doing everything else.
riding school horses are good because they will do exactly as they are told - so when you stop telling them to go, they will stop! if you accidentally tell them to slow down, they often will slow down.
although this is awkward for you at the moment since you are inadvertantly giving the horse signals you don't mean to (all novice riders do this) it does mean that whene you get it right, you know it's because you have done it right and it isn't the horse just being obliging and guessing what you want!
it will make you a better rider in the long run.
 

On top of what everyone else has said I will add that alot of the problems you may have with getting a horse going as a beginner are usually due to a lack of coordination of the aids, with is something that comes with time, ie. you have to just stick in there.

Therer are many school horses who will be very hard to move for beginners but easy as pie for any experienced rider. These are usually smart horses who know just who they can jip out of work or naturally slow horses such as the one you described. Its all a matter of learning the finer art of human to horse communication.

On the otherhand it can be that a horse is bored with the work or is physically exhausted, or has never been trained properly. Hopefully this is not the case because the school should not be using horses with theses problems.

It might be helpful if you could arrange to watch how someone more experienced deals with the horses you are riding and see if you can pick up on any differences in the way they ask the horse to go and the way the horse responds, compared to how it responds (or doesn't) with you.

Anyway have fun and keep us posted!
 
Um sounds like good advice - thanks a lot. I think the frustration comes in when the lesson suddenly ends just as you are thinking 'ah I think I'm getting the hang of this'. I guess that's why Heather Moffats automated contraption is a good idea. Shame I can't have one in my flat though.
 
I couldn't help but daydream about how great it would be to spend longer with them. I even found myself trying to think of how I could retrain in some equine field so that I could eventually give up my career and spend more time with them. As someone who can't even ride properly yet that maybe a bit extreme
Click to expand...

HeHeHe - just like me! I've only been riding since September and have already started on the Lingfield horseowner's certificate course..... no idea what I'll do with it yet, though. I suppose my dream is to give up my career in IT and buy a house in the country with stables attached - or perhaps run a livery yard (employ an expert to help though :p ). AND I'm based in the south west too (Swindon) - perhaps we could go into partnership :) :)
Not sure why I've caught this horse bug - but I certainly can't shake it off!

:D
 
Lingfield

If you go to the NewRider homepage there's a link to details about the course under the 'What's New' section (5th option down I think).

And no, you don't need to be a horseowner.

At the end of the course you can also pay a bit extra and take the BHS horse owner's exam (although you don't have to). They'll send an invigilator round to your house so you don't even have to travel to an exam centre.

I signed up for the email course, so all the material is sent electronically. You just unzip it and away you go - couldn't be easier really.

I've only just started (got my first pack last week) but so far it's interesting stuff.

Let us know if you decide to take the plunge!
 
Hi Sooty

I too want to do some form of exam ... I'm going to check out that link you've mentioned and see what it can offer me.

I've also found out that a good friend of mine (although I haven't seen her for absolutely ages) has decided, after being made redundant for the second time in 2.5 years, that she's going to become a riding instructor and has embarked upon training. I'm so excited for her - go girl !!!!

At the moment I'm praying to win the lottery. If I do, Tommy and Sooty, I'll sort us out with the Don Dappa of all riding centres with a sideline in animal rescue / rehabilitation. I've even been looking at equestrian property ... it's much cheaper in France !!!

Keepin' my fingers, toes, legs etc. crossed EXx(((((((-;

xPx
 
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