I recently moved to a different barn with a new trainer. I’m riding school horses at the moment. I’ve ridden my entire life and owned two horses growing up. after starting lessons with a new trainer, I feel like i know nothing! at my previous barn, I was one of the most experienced riders, schooling green horses and everything. I feel humbled but also a little disappointed in myself, like am I really not as good as i thought i was?
can anyone relate? i’m not upset about it, i’m learning a lot and having fun, but it’s a weird feeling to be told my position is wrong, my aids are wrong, etc. like i’ve been riding wrong my whole life.
Yup. We are always beginning agsin every time we get on a new horse or a young horse. If your balance and basics are good you should be able to accommodate tweaks to your aids and position fairly easily.
You are very lucky to be moving up to a barn putting more emphasis on correct riding.
thank you. i totally agree, i’m honestly very thankful that my trainer is emphasizing correct position and aids, it was just a huge change from my previous trainer with how differently she does things.
Also consider how much more we know today and how many more people are better educated, that will be at play in what we do with horses.
When showing in any discipline it becomes obvious, looking at old pictures and videos, compared with some today, horses and riding is more refined and competitive.
Working with horses tends to keep us humble, we are never good enough, or as good as we think, every new horse and situation requires that we use the skills we have and add to them.
Every horse is different and we learn from each one of them.
With horses, we find ourselves in situations that expand our horizons and show us how much more there is to learn.
For some of us, that alone is a thrill, you never quit learning, how very interesting the new stuff is, enjoy the trip.
I grew up successfully showing large ponies and then EQ. And continued to ride and (occasionally) compete as an adult. Imagine my surprise when at the ripe old age of 33, I moved and ending up with a trainer who took exception with my posting. Posting. Really?
She wanted me to go straight up-down, while I’ve always gone more front-back. I took her suggestions about other things, but not that.
I’m laughing, not at you OP, but along with a previous BO.
There was a thread on this on COTH, years ago, about new boarders/riders being automatically assumed to be an idiot at every new barn.
Every newcomer into a barn is a default idiot. It doesn’t matter what they know, how long they have been a horseperson, or what they have accomplished. Or how much thoroughly-used stuff they cram into their tiny storage space. In the new barn you are an idiot. Probably until someone else even newer comes in to assume that role.
It is assumed that the new boarder/rider has no idea how to manage their own horse, what their own horse is like in personality and behavior, even how to tack up properly. What their horse should eat. What their horse should wear in cold weather. On and on. This all has to be questioned and re-organized by the existing staff and boarders, according to the old customs of the new barn.
I moved my horse of 8 years into a new barn and informed the BO, BM and staff about a couple of behavioral quirks he had. With a thoroughly doubtful expression the BM said to me “How do you know?” I know because of 8 years of constant association with this horse?
When I mentioned this to the BO (who hadn’t been present), she laughed and told me that all new boarders are considered to be idiots until they are well-seasoned into any boarding barn. She then told me that back in the day when she was a championship-winning dressage rider who changed barns a few times to experience more trainers, she ran into the same thing at every one.
It sounds like you’re in a program to challenge you, which could be a good thing and get you out of your comfort zone.
I don’t know about the new boarder = idiot, I’ve never got that vibe but did when I joined a trail club. They assumed I knew nothing and were very condescending and patronizing until I showed up for a group ride with my fire breathing TB and proceeded to ride rings around them. She’s rearing while I’m leading her and fell down at one point and everyone was gasping and oh my godding, I calmly mounted when she came back to earth and had a great ride. They had a new opinion after that day.
yeah i definitely don’t feel like im being treated like an idiot, everyone’s nice and nobody is condescending to me. mostly feeling like i’ve learned the basics incorrectly, and with muscle memory, it’s hard to change and do something totally different!
The reason I say that is it sounds like everyone on this thread is assuming the best of the new barn.
But I think it’s just as likely the new program isn’t opening their eyes and seeing YOU.
Yes, we tend to overestimate ourselves… no one is more guilty of this than me. But I can’t tell you how many trainers I have ridden with who assume the worst because you are unknown to them! There are also tons of trainers who believe it is their way or the highway with horses.
There is no one way to do things with horses. It’s good to be out outside your comfort zone and learn a new method. But, if it hits the point where you feel like you are just being told you are wrong and aren’t learning and progressing, I think it’s time to find an instructor who is better at seeing students as individuals.
i see where you’re coming from, but i truly am learning a ton. i don’t think my new trainer is unreasonable or uneducated, everything she’s taught me so far makes so much sense. its just hard to get used to! i appreciate your ted talk though. and i have absolutely ridden with trainers who do things backward and where i’ve learned nothing.
I took the plunge last year. I bought a new horse and moved to a new barn with a bunch of very good, upper-level riders and the best trainers around. It was a bit overwhelming to start with to be plunged into that level of quality and experience.
I’m a decent rider with many, many years of saddle time under my belt, but one can always learn more and new and better ways of doing things. This has been by far the best thing I have ever done for my riding skills!
My grandpa used to tell us to drive like everyone on the road is an idiot, and the same kind of applies to boarding barns. Like the (luckily briefly there) boarder who turned his about-to-jump-out-of-his-skin gelding out for a romp in the pen adjacent to the roundpen while I was standing up on the fence prepping my young horse for backing. Idiot almost hot his little grandson runover in the process, and then as the horse is tearing around like a maniac says “oh, is this bothering you? He needs to burn off some steam.” Or the person who lost hold of her horse while lunging, and then continued to lunge unsafely and refused to move to another arena while I was having a lesson. Or the person who manages to forget the stall door and let her horse have a rip around the grounds about once a month. So when a new person showed up a couple months ago, I assumed she was also an idiot I should view with suspicion, but now I feel confident that she can handle her young OTTB.
It sounds like OP has found a great barn and she is not being treated like the village idiot though. I’ve also ridden a long time, have been regarded as an “expert” along the way, and am totally rethinking my seat, my aids, and everything as I try to claw my way up from 1st level. There is a whole frontier of knowledge and horsemanship out there that I think many people are just blissfully unaware of, and that doesn’t make them bad riders, but what they know is just the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, I can relate. Switched from many years of saddle seat/western to dressage 13 years ago and felt like I didn’t know a thing. The key is to get proper instruction - which took a while to find after I made the switch. It was jarring to feel so ignorant after so many years of riding but has turned out to be a great journey.
Right or wrong, but if at your last barn you were riding young horses then there was likely a lot more focus on the horse learning and not necessarily that you were riding correctly to get the results.
I have ridden a few over the years that have killed my equitation to get the response we want.
Then you come to the new place and are riding well schooled horses and the focus is now on you as the horses know how to do the job. It is different and sometimes takes awhile to get things in the correct place.
It sounds like you are having a good time. Enjoy it and soon you will feel like your skills have come back.
Very true - PARTICULARY as you go up the levels. The seat aids that produced a canter at training level could very well get you bucked off an upper level horse.
Everything gets more precise and refined and sometimes you need to make some major muscle changes to activate your core to make these changes happen. It can certainly make you feel like a rank beginner or that you have no muscle control. I never thought I was clamping with my leg since I was not actively telling my thighs to grip, but I found out I was unconsciously gripping with my leg since my core was weak and I was struggling for balance on a bigger-moving horse. Once you enter the world of riding correctly based on bio-mechanics everything becomes harder, but better that the same time! You truly never stop learning.
I find that a little annoying, actually. I think the exact trajectory of your posting has a lot to do with your body’s conformation. Riders post differently. Watch the pros. As long as you’re on the right diagonal, balanced, and not double bouncing, who cares?
I had to retire my horse from riding at my new barn. He’s 27 with a serious lameness issue in his left knee. He doesn’t look or act 27. I’m 73 and I’m starting feel old more often than he does. It’s the perfect barn for us, 15 mins from my house. This is literally the only facility within a half hour that has what we both need. I’m managing to ignore a couple of snotty- nosed attitudinal experts who know it all. Apparently I know nothing about horses or riding because they haven’t seen me ride. I’ve only had my horse for 20 years.
One of them claims to be a “trainer.” A few days ago I watched her telling a student that she needs to build some resistance, then pull her left hand out and back toward her hip so the horse would bend. Then she said “good.” The other instructor is a pretty good rider, sort of okay as an instructor, but definitely better than the “trainer.” No lesson program, they do private lessons.
A couple of months ago one of the girls from my prior barn showed up and was moving in. I watched her ride one day and she looked really good. She can out-ride anyone at that barn. She is the only one who knows how to post. She uses the part of her arm usually called the elbow joint, which bends. She knows she needs to breathe. When she calms down and lightens up the horse settles her butt down, steps under, and is on the vertical. If no one is around I can do a little coaching and so she does more breathing.
So… you may be better than you think. Watch them when you can. I watched one young woman on her new gray gelding. She said she was exhausted from posting. She spent 2 weeks teaching her horse to pick up the right lead. Left was fine. Dumb as I am, it took about 5 seconds. She was posting when she asked for the lead change. Totally blocked the horse. Isn’t that when you do a transition between two gaits? No one follows the movement of the horse. They waste all that energy in the back end at the trot. There isn’t a lick of softness anywhere. The “trainer” teaches you to jump with your arms frozen, absolutely straight out in front of you. This is a good learning environment. It doesn’t take long to identify things that you shouldn’t do.
If you still think you aren’t as good as you thought, keep watching the rest of them anyway, particularly with your new trainer. Figure out what works, what doesn’t work. Watch your trainer to understand what is different. She might be using different words. Think about taking a lesson with another rider. That can give you some time to think and practice while the trainer works with the other rider.
Here’s how it’s done at our barn: Push yourself up with your legs, stiffen up, push your belly out and in, then sit down using your legs. Don’t worry about wasting all that energy your horse has in the hind end. No need to follow his movement. It’s okay if you don’t know where – or maybe what – the deepest spot in your saddle is. Can you find your seat bones? And don’t forget if your horse’s walk is too lazy, use a driving seat to speed him up for the change of gait.
She then told me that back in the day when she was a championship-winning dressage rider who changed barns a few times to experience more trainers, she ran into the same thing at every one. 