Lesson barn policy about students who are consistently late?

[furlong47]

@Blugal

Is anyone else (mature adult who’s ridden forever) getting anxious reading this? I was late for a private lesson a few months ago and I still feel guilty!!

Most instructors are going to understand if it’s a one-off thing, especially if there are circumstances beyond your control.

I go to my lesson straight from work, it’s the last lesson of the day, and I really don’t have much extra time available if something out of the ordinary happens. If there’s an accident with stopped traffic or something, I’ll just send a message that I might be late. This has maybe happened twice in over a decade.

Or - as I experienced in college - I had one professor with a supposedly hard and fast rule that if you were late to/missed class, you got a zero for the day. Not normally a problem for me as I was always prompt and not the type to cut class. One morning my alarm genuinely didn’t go off and I slid in about 5 minutes late. After class I went up to apologize and he said “Don’t worry - that rule is not for you.”

[Scribbler]

For any teacher it quickly becomes apparent who is punctual and working hard, and who is slacking off.

Parents and kids trying to get somewhere on time. I see so many negative family dy amics. Kids are at the mercy of the adults and honestly some parents do seem to want to sabotage kids riding lessons for reasons of cost and inconvenience. Plus sometimes kids say they want to ride but don’t that day and just delay. And there can be entire families where no k e gets out the door on time.

For busy people often the activity they get the least pushback on is the one they use to carve out breathing room. If there is no consequences at riding lessons they will just arrive later and later.

[NC001]

Thats what I think. I am an on time type of person and I recently had my times screwed up and showed up late for a lesson but because I’ve done my share of being accommodating with barn staff they were totally fine with it and let my lesson go long because they had the time. Rules are mostly for people who abuse the situation.

Remember this goes both ways- instructors if you are going to be strict with times and details then you need to make sure you are always on time and following though on your end. Shit happens. If I had an instructor that was overly strict with me next time they needed something I may not be able to help them out or be understanding either.

[SadieRidingHorses]

@NC001

Remember this goes both ways- instructors if you are going to be strict with times and details then you need to make sure you are always on time and following though on your end. Shit happens. If I had an instructor that was overly strict with me next time they needed something I may not be able to help them out or be understanding either.

THIS. My impression is that @Kirikou does not have this issue (sounds like she runs a tight ship) but it’s pretty grating to have an instructor who is consistently late. Like 10-15 minutes late. For a 45 minute lesson when you are first lesson of the day. And another instructor shouting “hey your trainer just texted to say she’s on the way and you can start trotting” doesn’t count.

[Kirikou]

@NC001

Remember this goes both ways- instructors if you are going to be strict with times and details then you need to make sure you are always on time and following though on your end. Shit happens. If I had an instructor that was overly strict with me next time they needed something I may not be able to help them out or be understanding either.

Yes, that is a fair point @NC001. And I would totally expect “consequences” for an instructor who is never on time - as with any job.
Stuff happens - for both instructors and students - which is why my question was more about “repeat offenders”. As many have said on this thread, teachers (in college or at the barn) can see who might need a “free pass” for a one-time emergency and those who need an actual hard & fast rule.
Thanks again everyone!

[clanter]

@NC001

If I had an instructor that was overly strict with me next time they needed something I may not be able to help them out or be understanding either.

well, most would have a stand in to teach if they could not oversee a class, pretty hard for a student to send in a replacement if they fail to show

[blue_heron]

Do you teach lessons and this is what teenagers are doing? This is not what teenagers are doing in my barn. o.O strange.

Little kids on little ponies will always need extra supervision, extra time, extra help. It’s part of working with little kids. I don’t get frustrated when we lose five minutes because the girth is buckled wrong, or pony is being funny about picking up its feet, etc. I get frustrated when parents drop them off 15 minutes before the lesson and then act like this isn’t a disruption to the flow of the schedule, even after a number of reminders. Your eleven year old isn’t responsible for when she comes to her lesson, you are responsible for dropping your kid off 1/2 hr before the lesson. Too many people who have kids act like it’s a burden that their kids want to do stuff.

[rockymouse]

@S1969

I’m not a barn owner/trainer, but a parent that did my share of driving kids to the barn and waiting, as well as taking my own lessons. I would hesitate to be so strict that the dedicated kid who is always early and gets stuck behind a snowplow in a snowstorm January ends up at the arena 30 seconds late and can’t ride. But, definitely cannot allow habitual late comers.

This kind of happened to me. As a child, in the pre-cellphone days, my mom drove me to lessons at this out-of-the-way stable. My instructor was really good, and I liked her. Our way to the stable, however, involved passing over some train tracks that must’ve led to a yard where trains were disassembled and reassembled, because if you had the bad luck to find a train on the tracks, it would either move extremely slowly or be stopped entirely. We were stuck waiting on the train several times and we ran 20 minutes late or more each time. I know the instructor was livid, and there was no way to contact her to let her know…but there wasn’t anything more my mom could do, other than leave a half an hour earlier every single time, just in case there was a train, and she already saw my riding as a hefty impingement on her time.

The relationship with that instructor ended and it spelled the end of organized lessons for me. I understand why on both sides.

[Kirikou]

@blue_heron

Do you teach lessons and this is what teenagers are doing? This is not what teenagers are doing in my barn. o.O strange.

Yes, I think they mostly do that because there aren’t really any consequences at this point. We make accomodations for them when they’re late getting on their horse so they get to socialize with their friends (which I am sure they’re all missing to some extent with online school, etc) + they still get to ride. Win, win in a teenager’s mind