Holding the saddlehorn

i use to ride bareback on one of my mini horses because of how short I am (and my minis r abit bigger than other mini horse and yet they r registerred as minis) but now hades is founderred like my other 2 (which all three were founderred before I got them I just couldn't tell with hades because he's not as bad as my other 2). Last time I rode him I spooked him abit by rushing things and he ran me into a fence.

Your supposed to hold nothing but the reins, and you shouldn't be tugging on his mouth. If you need to hold the saddle horn for balance, I'm sure your balancing off the reins too. If you cannot trot without holding the onto the horn your instructor should have you on the lunge line with no reins at the very least. NOT galloping up hills.
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Slipping saddles? Galloping up hills? Please find a new instructor.
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excuse me? I do not balance off the reins! I would never harm paddy gator! My instructor is one of the best in my opinion because we actually let the horses enjoy themselves instead of dictate them like they do at other trail rides! I should know after having lily around. I at least spend my time learning what I can from the horses as well. I would not be the spiritual, open minded, RESPONSIBLE, caring person I am today if I had never been around my babies. I've learned how to comunicate with them, know each's personality, give them the respect they deserve for horses are far more superior than any human being and that includes me too!

LadyMustang, slidestop didn't accuse you of balancing on the reins because she thinks you want to hurt the horse. She just pointed out the honest obvious truth that if you are needing to hold the horn for balance (and there isn't a beginner in the world that hasn't needed to), then it is likely that you are indeed unintentionally balancing on the reins.

In other words, you have the reins in your hand, you get off-balance, you accidentally pull on the reins as your body weight goes back.

As I have said before, there are a ton of good horse men and women on this forum, and an awful lot of instructors too. When more than one person says that an instructor who has you galloping up a hill in your first or second lesson is not the best instructor for you, you should think about what they say.

I am sure that your instructor is a nice person, quite possibly a good rider, probably a horse lover. But I am doubting that he or she is a qualified riding instructor. Would you go to a school full of teachers that liked books but had never trained as a teacher? Would you like your computer to be mended by someone who is really really good at computer games but doesn't actually know how computer language is written? It's the same with horse riding.

Riding a horse is like any other sport. If you want to be good at it you must master the basics first. By all means enjoy free trail rides with this person, but think about looking elsewhere for some lessons.

Lady Mustang, don't take any offense to what has been said. Everyone here truly has your best interest and the horse's best interest in mind.

It's great that you seem to be having fun while you're riding but it really sounds like your instructor is doing things backward and skipping over some of the pretty important basics. From an instructor/trainer point of view; if you can't even trot around without grabbing the horn to keep your balance, then you have absolutely no business riding on trails where the horses need to gallop up hills...which, IMHO, is a very bad habit to get into for both rider and horse, but that's a whole other thread and debate.

While there is nothing wrong with grabbing the horn when you truly feel off balance, it is really easy to get into the habit of grabbing it all the time for everything. When you're a beginner and you are really off balance, grabbing the horn can help keep you from falling off, but it also has a cost. Grabbing the horn and hanging on tends to make a person stiffen up...which causes their balance to suffer because their body stops being fluid with the motion of the horse...which results in a floppy sack of potatoes in the saddle.

If you're just wanting to ride for fun and doing it for free, then it's to be expected that the person riding with you won't actually be teaching you the things you need to know, but if you're paying to be taught how to properly ride a horse, then the instructor needs to be teaching you how to properly ride, not taking you out on trails that are above your ability.

Whoa. Down, girl. No one was attacking you. ALL new riders balance off the reins. It's inevitable because try don't know how to balance off their seat. We're not saying you're doing it on purpose.
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she does it differently with me because she's known me since I was a baby! I help her around the farm and in return she teaches me what I ask to be taught! I know all the basics I just want to learn to go faster without falling off and learn to show jump like I've dreamt of doin *takes deep breath as tears rim my eyes* with lily! That dream never came true but im still not giving up! I know im sick all the time and really weak, but I wanna get stronger and be the person I've always wanted to be! *sobs* I just wanna be happy for once. Im tired of cryin every time I think of lily. The riding ms marylin is helping me with (just the normal walkin trail riding part) is to help my emotions. She doesnt make ya gallop. She only does it if you really want to and ya ask before goin out on the trail

Riding bareback will make a huge difference in your riding balance. I ride bare with a rope hackmore for about 15-20 minutes per week. When I first learned to ride, I too had to hold onto the horn when riding faster than a gallop. I can now safely and comfortably ride bare back at a full run. Keep in mind though riding bare for long periods of time is not comfortable or safe for the horse.

I've just lost it with slidestop! As I told her I feel like she's shooting me down! We been emailing each other and I ended up having a breakdown because I told her about lily