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Frustrated re-rider!!!!!

3K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Winterose 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

Just venting here, i have been riding since i was 10, had to take a break for 4 years because of money and am now starting up again, have been riding again for a few months.

When i started again i was working off riding lessons at my barn and still am,, but my instructor told me i was doing great and would be cantering again by this spring cause of how well i was doing....

As of last week this has changed, suddenly i went from perfect to having a chair seat and needing to do a lot of work before i get to cantering again....

What the hell happened!!!!

Now i new something wasn't right and i kept telling her my seat didn't feel right but she kept telling me that my seat was fine.... And now its not and im significantly off from the original track set? What the hell!!!

Thats it really it just venting and feeling frustrated, im hoping soon i will be able to afford lessons and maybe if i actually am paying with. Ash and not labor i will get better lessons


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#2 ·
sadly, there are instructors out there that will keep a student back in their learning/ability somehow to keep the money rolling in. in your case, to keep the free labour rolling in.

i don't know if this is the case with your instructor, or if there really is an issue with your seat and riding position.

what we can do though, is give you feedback on your riding if you post a video. at your next lesson, ask your instructor if you can record the whole lesson. bring a friend to run the camera or prop it on a surface in the arena where you think you'll get the best view of your riding. having a camera person is better though, because they can zoom in and out when you are far/near.

another thought is if you've changed horses or saddles recently? that could explain the change in your position.

i took a 12 year break, and just got back into leasing last spring. i was cantering on my second ride. not saying your ability is the same as mine, but the point i'm trying to make is us 're-riders' generally don't take so long to get back up to speed when it comes to the simple stuff like w/t/c, etc.
 
#3 ·
I agree with above. Why would it take you that long to be able to canter? Maybe someone has a fear of cantering and is passing it on to you? Be careful of that.

Now that you need so much work on your chair seat, she has to hold you back from cantering? If I saw you with a chair seat, I would tell you to get your heels back under your hips. Is that hard work?

Maybe you'd be happier with an instructor who thinks cantering is wonderful and not a big deal. You can work on your position and canter at the same time.
 
#4 ·
My trainer works her way up to the canter when she feels the rider is ready. In my case that took 3 months of lessons 2x per week. Falling from a cantor can have traumatic effects, making a rider not want to get up on a horse again or not wanting to ever move beyond a trot. This happened to my daughter during a ride on an unknown horse at another stable, and she still won't canter after 6 months.

For ^^ that reason, I think a trainer waiting until she's sure the rider is completely balanced is a very good idea. Every rider has a different schedule. Some people find their seat faster than others. It doesn't mean anything in the end, so don't worry about that.

Also, my trainer says that the natural progression in learning is advancement, plateau, decrease in skills, advancement to a higher spot, new higher plateau, and then again, decrease in skills. She says it has never been in her 20+ years of teaching that a person just goes up and up and up with their skills without ever taking some steps backwards.

So I would say based on what you've shared that (1) your trainer was being honest; (2) she's being safe and smart about your progression; (3) you're experiencing the same thing other riders do in their lessons.

I wouldn't worry. Just go to your next lesson ready to learn and have fun. It's not a race to get to a certain point in your training. What you need to focus on is having fun, being smart (safe), and building your skills with a solid foundation so you are less likely to have a bad experience when you try something new.
 
#6 ·
My trainer works her way up to the canter when she feels the rider is ready. In my case that took 3 months of lessons 2x per week. Falling from a cantor can have traumatic effects, making a rider not want to get up on a horse again or not wanting to ever move beyond a trot. This happened to my daughter during a ride on an unknown horse at another stable, and she still won't canter after 6 months.

For ^^ that reason, I think a trainer waiting until she's sure the rider is completely balanced is a very good idea. Every rider has a different schedule. Some people find their seat faster than others. It doesn't mean anything in the end, so don't worry about that.
I don't know if that's necessarily true... It doesn't matter how prepared or unprepared you are for the canter. Bad things can happen regardless.. I remember when I first cantered in an english saddle, it was awesome but then a giant firecracker was set off by some bad a** kids and he took off right into a gallop from the canter and I went flying off and landed on my back and it knocked the wind out of me, but I got up and continued riding, it wasn't too traumatic but I'm just trying to say, you gotta start somewhere, you'll never be prepared for horse riding as long as its got its own mind!
 
#5 ·
I'm a re-rider as well but had a much longer break (20 years), and in some ways it really is like starting over because the muscle memory isn't there, but in other ways it isn't because I know what I'm supposed to do. I cantered at my second lesson, and thought I was picking things right up from where I left off, but a year later I'm still not cantering a lot. I bought a horse who is kind of particular about his back and cantering, so my trainer has wanted me to get solid at the canter on her school horses before doing much more cantering on him. First, I had to get better at the sitting trot, etc., so my progress has been much slower than I thought it would be. Funny, I also thought I was doing pretty well but suddenly my trainer says I have a 'chair' seat.
 
#8 ·
I agree with eCasey, and my instructor has told me exactly what she wants me to get right before I do a lot of cantering and it makes a lot of sense. Even more so, she is having me work on cantering on one of her horses before doing any more cantering on my horse, because he gets very excited to canter and I need to be able to stay in control. Since I rode for many years in my previous riding life and did lots of cantering and jumping, I don't think a bad experience would scare me off from cantering at this point, but my daughters are just learning to ride and she isn't pushing them into more cantering than they feel ready to do, and I'm glad.
 
#9 ·
How long were you riding before your break? I also started riding at age 10 and took a 4 years break. I took my break from ages 16 to 20, so I had a solid 6 years of riding before I stopped. When I started again I did w/t/c and went over a few small cross rails at my first lesson. I took another 2 year break recently and am just getting back into things now. I have cantered at every lesson. The only issue should really be that you don't have the right muscles in the right places anymore, but I don't think that should be a reason to keep you from cantering for so long.
 
#10 ·
I probably started cantering after 2 months (1 lesson a week), almost a year later and I'm still REALLY nervous with the canter. Today I had to ride the mare that I use to ride, and my canter was better but my fear with her was still there. I pretty much only did one lap around the ring today each time I cantered. I've started riding my old lesson horse (he became a lease horse only due to behaviour issues being a school horse) but I luckily get to ride him. My coach put me on him because he's easier to sit the trot with. So I did no stirrup work with him, and I feel like I've learned loads in just two lessons with him. I even got to jump a small x .

Maybe ask a horsey friend to come with you, see how your riding is and see what they think. My seat isn't amazing but I still get to canter, I spend most of my lesson doing trot work and then the last 15-10 minutes we work on canter work.
 
#11 ·
This is so ironic! I remember when I learnt to ride at age nine (group arena riding), what a disappointment it was at first - trotting was rough as hell, and the body had to learn to go rubbery and go with the movement before the jarring stopped. I still remember how surprised I was at my first canter because it was so comfortable in comparison! They had us cantering reasonably early in the piece, and a gentle canter is slower than a fast trot... I too am bamboozled as to why you aren't supposed to be cantering.
 
#13 ·
Hey guys thanks for the responses, none of my irl horse friends know why either they all learned walk,trot, canter early then went back for finesse , how do i post a video? I took one of my walk/trot, she gave me more attention during the video then she usually does.


Oh and i rode for 8ish years and took a 4 year break.

And i got sorrily out of shape im such a fat lard now, but working in it

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#15 ·
If you are concerned with the level of instruction (hence you feel like you are held back and then you said she started giving you more attention because there was a video), then I'd suggest finding a new instructor.

That being said, sit down with her and explain your frustrations.
 
#18 ·
I'm a re rider who took a six year break after 20+ years of riding. I had never had formal lessons before I got back into riding in late 2012. Cantering wasn't the end goal when I started lessons. At least it wasn't the ONLY goal. The only reason it made the radar is because I have a bit of a fear where cantering is concerned and that needs to be overcome.

My lessons focus on rhythm, seat, aids, communication with the horse,etc. Sometimes we work on canter, other times we do not. I can honestly say I learn every bit as much in the non cantering lessons as in the cantering ones.

In my beginning lessons, we were focusing more on getting me to learn the feel, to relax, and to get out of the myriad of bad habits 20 years of backyard riding gave me. I needed to learn how to not jerk on the horse's mouth and clamp down on his sides before I focused on the finer elements.

Don't be too quick to write off your trainer as a money grubbing individual who is holding you back for her own ends. Perhaps you simply are not ready to canter.
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