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Student vs the horse

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  Zeke 
#1 ·
I ve been taking a lot of lessons this past month.. about 4 or 5 per week. Today, the horse I rode wanted to go back home bec it was dinner time,, and each time we passed the opening in the arena we were using to ride. he'd stop.. back up .etc.. My skill levels werent good enough to fix it. Teacher told me what to do, but 3 more times, I couldnt do it and horse got more insistent. After try # 4 , I said, enough.. no more tries.. My question. I know teacher wants the lesson horse to know he cant do whatever he wants , but I think that she can teach that herself and not put me at risk . am I wrong, right?
 
#2 ·
I ve been taking a lot of lessons this past month.. about 4 or 5 per week. Today, the horse I rode wanted to go back home bec it was dinner time,, and each time we passed the opening in the arena we were using to ride. he'd stop.. back up .etc.. My skill levels werent good enough to fix it. Teacher told me what to do, but 3 more times, I couldnt do it and horse got more insistent. After try # 4 , I said, enough.. no more tries.. My question. I know teacher wants the lesson horse to know he cant do whatever he wants , but I think that she can teach that herself and not put me at risk . am I wrong, right?
Very wrong. A horse takes advantage of its rider for a reason: They fail the tests. Allowing the horse to do whatever with any sort of student, is not okay.

You know the door is going to be a problem, so work him harder near it and relax away from it. Or ignore it completely and veer off into a circle a few times until he starts anticipating that you're going to circle, then continue straight down the short wall instead.
 
#3 ·
Nope, wrong. You want lessons, you are getting instruction. Your instructor is teaching you how to handle a horse that is not listening to you, but you do not want to correct the problem. You should definitely listen to your instructor. That is indeed what your are paying for.
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#5 ·
I absolutely agree with the above posters and would like to add...

In *most* cases, lesson horses are very very well trained, you are most certainly not being asked to teach this horse to do his job. He however is probably smart enough to know that beginner riders don't want to push him to keep working, therefore you're letting him take advantage of you.

In my opinion, leaning to deal with small issues like this early on in your riding career sets you up to be a better rider. Keep listening to your instructor and remember that you are ultimately the horse's boss, not the other way around. From the sounds of it, I do not think you're "at risk" unless the horse begins to rear, ear pin, duck out, rush the gate or other behavior that could cause you to lose your seat. If you genuinely feel unsafe, talk to your instructor. Ultimately remember that giving in to a horse reenforces bad behavior.
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