.... So Angry

[Rachel]

Much as I can appreciate the comments etc here, and recognise that some will be true, as someone who works at a riding school it p***** me off majorly to see people writing the majority off as c***.

The majority of riding schools will be trying to do the best that they can with the limited resources available - making a living out of a riding school is not easy, especially when the insurance costs £3k plus a year. Continuing training, whilst it should be done, is not always an option when long hours are being worked. Horses in schools are working animals that have to earn their keep, and are usually looked after to as high a standard as is possible. It's VERY easy to sit on the sidelines and criticise, but does that actually do anything to help? No.

Riding schools are under enough pressure as it is. Why not try to do something productive about changing them? Much as it may make you feel better to moan, gripe and b**** that's not going to change anything, except continue to generate the impression that those with their own horses look down their noses at riding schools.
 

[von10]

I do agree with you Rachel on several points about riding schools having to make money and the horses having to work to earn a living. However, just because life is tough and they scrape by is not a reason for an instructor to insult or be downright nasty  and derogatory (sp?) to someone they teach. The instructor is there (and is paid) to pass on their knowledge and skills. Constructive criticism helps, insults don't.

Yes, you get idiotic people that may never 'get it', but if they are that bad surely it's better to firmly but fairly put over that they do not think they can help that person improve. They are not some low life and should not be spoken to as if they are. After all they are paying for a service. How many of us would go back to a restaurant if the waiters were rude? A few simple manners and a smile cost nothing.

Riding schools are not all bad . The one I went to (see my previous post) wouldn't set the world on fire but it wasn't bad and they were kind (apart from one lame horse) and generally attempted to teach well. All beginners were on the lunge for several months until they werer ready to canter. The girl who taught me was probably about as knowledgeable as me - competent novice (we wouldn't have got much further) but she did solve the specific problem I went with. Having had a serious accident I found out after riding my old horse for a year that I couldn't get on strange horses. Cool, calm encouragement won the day and I was really grateful . At no point was I made to feel an idiot - however ridiculous it is that a grown woman who had ridden for 20 years couldn't get on. The other 7 schools I mention did not show the level of teaching or desire that I was looking for  :( . They just didn't seem interested in the fact I had a very real problem.

The only thing I can say is if a person does not feel they are getting on, they should seriously look at what is offered and if they don't feel it is right then change. There are sadly, some schools out there that are poor (some to the extent of downright dangerous) and they do give the majority a bad name. If their pupils have the guts to walk away then maybe we can get rid of the culprits.

I have nothing at all against riding schools, some of the clients can't be easy. But then again if they treat people with a few smiles and make the experience pleasant they will come back.     Life is a 2 way process  - sow and you shall reap the benefits. Teaching is fun and should give pleasure in helping people improve. If it becomes a drag then maybe it's time to stop.

Yvonne.







 

[luckyrider]

I sympathise with Roxanne2 because I spent too many years waiting for my own horse and having to frequent riding schools to get my horsey fix.  I rate one of them very very highly, but they are now closed.  And yes, Julian Marczak of Suzanne's Riding School also said that the insurance premiums were going to put him out of business.  

Let's just agree here though -- there are excellent riding schools, good ones, average ones etc.  and it would be good to know in advance which was which.  It is terribly important if you only get to ride once a week that you go somewhere where that one hour really really counts.  And for me, after a lesson with Julian, I would sing all the way home (that was 90 minutes, so a lot of singing).

[Roxanne2]

I think riding schools are extremely important and certainly have sympathy with what you say Rachel.  I'm not having a go at riding schools just for the sake of it.  The riding school where I did my NVQ in East London (Lea Valley) is a great school but too far for me to go for a weekly lesson.  There are some excellent schools in Surrey / Sussex.  I gave one example of a riding school's attitude towards me - I told it like it was (my boyfriend was astonished that a person I was paying would treat me in such a way).  That school is perhaps the exception rather than the rule in terms of its extremely poor customer service skills, if your face doesn't fit, but I think there is something fundamentally flawed in the teaching methods used in this country.  If someone has been riding for twenty years and is still unable to rise properly to the trot, to sit to canter, let alone do anything more advanced - is that simply down to the person being taught?  I don't think so.

I think the main problem in this country is with TEACHING riding at a basic level (and if you can't ride with some competence at a basic level you ain't going nowhere).  I attended another riding school for a year or so.  The people who teach there are lovely.  The horses are lovely.  It's a beautiful location, beautiful school and they do great hacks.  But I knew that if I carried on having lessons there my riding would go from bad to worse.  The teacher I had was very nice and rode beautifully (as far as I could tell) for she often gave demos of what we SHOULD be doing.  But in every lesson (weekly) I was making the same mistakes that I made the week before and nothing was going to change.  If anything my riding would get worse.  So I stopped going there for lessons.  Maybe there is something peculiar to me in the way that I learn.  But I think that teaching at the lowest level is completely back to front - and after nearly twenty years of riding on and off I'm still at the lowest level.  If you can't sit to a horse's walk properly how the hell are you going to sit to his trot let alone canter.  
My gripe with riding schools is the lack of intelligent teaching at the low levels and the sometimes appalling customer relations skills. But that doesn't mean I don't support what you say, Rachel - I do think you've got a valid point.

[peggleshorse]

..... I personally do not own a horse as yet so therefore totally depend on Riding Schools. I certainly do not look down my nose at them and realise too in this age of litigation claims etc... it is very difficult for Riding schools to remain in business.

I don't think any of us ever intended to bad mouth the majority of schools who are doing a sterling job but you do have to admit there must be a lot of riders/potential riders out there who have given up because of the bad experiences they have had.
If I hadn't previously had good instruction at my first school ( or read Heather's book ) I wouldn't have recognized subsequent bad instruction and may have very well given up, thinking that I was rubbish!!!!!!

We just need a better system of rating schools and yes if a school is insulting to its pupils then "yes" I'm sorry but I don't think they should be in that business.

[Astra]

I don't have my own horse and with boarding costs in our area, I don't see myself getting one until I am in my sixties!  So, I go to a riding school, where I can ride a halfway decent old horse and have someone keep me from getting lazy.

My currently problem is with canter.  I need to canter enough to feel the movement and stop bouncing, locking my legs, etc.  BUT the old horse doesn't put up with anyone who isn't a decent rider.  I am good enough for the trot . . .

All the advice suggest a lunge lesson.  The school only has lunge horses suitable for children or small women, nothing for tall adults.  Wish the school had an equisimulator.  Wish all schools did.

What I do like about this school is that they will let me take lessons indefinitely without pushing me to lease or buy, knowing that I can't afford either.

[peggleshorse]

..... Hi Astra...

 I'm not a horse owner myself yet and know how difficult it can be getting enough practice on a suitable horse with a good instructor to boot.
 I can only get to ride twice a week which I feel is nowhere as much as I would like.
Sounds to me as though you like your school despite the lack of availability of suitable horses.I myself had to recently give up on a riding school that I had really loved but due to the fact that their really old horses were becoming increasingly unsuitable through age/unsoundness ( and I felt it unfair to continue to ride them ) and the remaining two or three were fought over on a weekly basis I had to go elsewhere. It had become more of a social get together with the friends I had made there.
 Unfortunately due to financial difficulties the stable owner could not invest in any replacements and indeed has now sold up.Thankfully I was already riding once a week at another school with some good horses so was able to increase my time spent there.

You should think about finding or at least trying some other schools in your area.They may have what you need.
Failing that.....Have you got Heather's book "Enlightened Equitation "
The explanations of how to sit to the canter are excellent.Certainly helped me since it wasn't so very long ago I was still bouncing a bit.
With hindsight my own problem was that I was trying too hard. I know its easier said than done but all you need to do is flex your spine in then out feeling how your pelvis rotates forwards and then back to upright in the process.
All I actually had to do myself was relax and then I could feel how the horse's back was moving, then just follow that. I would def recommend you read Heather's book though as there's such good explanations for everything.


GOOD LUCK        

[Astra]

Thanks!

I do really like the horse I'm riding.  Less than a handful of people get to ride her because she's very forward.  Will trot on a twitch.  Kicking, or even brushing your heels against her is a no no.  She's good for correcting position at the trot, because if you are off slightly, she hangs on the bit and is off to the races.  She gets mad if you sit or cue incorrectly.  She's extremely flexible and bends nicely.

I have tried to canter on her a few times, but she gets very irritated with my attempts to try to find the right position and starts lashing her tail, breaks down to a fast trot, etc.  in other words "What the @#$% do you want from me?!  I have to slow her down to a walk and give her lots of pats and "good girls" before she is mollified enough to let me go at it again.  I've no problem cueing the canter from a walk with her - just riding it.

The other horses suitable for older riders have had lameness issues, and my instructor won't use any that she considers unpredictable.  She's been trying to find another I can use for beginning canter, but so far no luck.

I might have to find another barn if they can't find another horse.   At least until I can sit the canter well enough not to irritate the horse I like.

[Mossy]

Heck Peggleshorse, this sounds like paying for torture!


These people think they know so much. I am seriously thinking of doing an Egon Ronay style review of various schools. I have been trying to get round to doing it for years, incognito, posing as a novice, and then writing a report.

Do let me know if you think I should visit this one, Seatbone Saver and all of course!

Heather

Before you have a hope of going incognito you will have to get some hair straighteners!   Mind you if you could get your regional EE people to be secret shoppers it would be illuminating!