This is a long ramble I just read through the entire thread. I agree this isn’t a horrible barn but it’s definitely not the best. I grew up at a big hunter jumper barn with great instruction and I watched thousands of hours of lessons. I started out helping tack up horses and worked my way up to teaching. Teaching and instructing someone is a skill that honestly a lot of people don’t have.
Watching the video going over the poles my barn would have had beginner riders doing this but the goal was steering with halting in a straight line after the pole. The fact that at the end the horse turns in back towards the middle quickly is concerning. If a student was struggling staying in a straight line and steering we’d use cones to create a corner/goal to ride towards or we’d stand at the end to give a visual.
In the video of the horse cantering it looks like it has a nice smooth canter. I would not want to see ANY gadgets on a beginner horse. I’d only want my kid riding a horse with a regular bridle/bit and saddle. No neck stretcher, running martingale etc. The horse does appear to have a hind end lameness issue and your daughter’s seat isn’t very secure. Contrary to many posters here my barn started everyone out cantering in a two point. Students would spend a lot of time trotting in a two point (jumping position standing out of the saddle) then they would master posting trot including diagonals. Until they could identify and correct their diagonal they were not allowed to canter. When they would canter it was always started on a lunge line in a two point. The benefit of two point is that it encourages the heals to stay down and builds up your core muscles. The student could grab mane while they got used to the motion of the canter and wouldn’t also have to worry about steering until they were more secure. Once the student was more secure in the saddle cantering and could sit the canter and independently steer while cantering they would be allowed off the lunge and would canter a single side of the ring then back to trot/walk and build off of that. All of this was always done with steering and position in mind.
In general speaking about diagonals every single time anyone was on the wrong diagonal they would be told to look down, watch the horse, feel the horse and correct their diagonal. If a rider was on the incorrect diagonal at the trot they would have to fix it before cantering, they would have to fix it before turning to trot over a pole. Same applies to the canter if a horse was cross cantering like the one in the video (one lead on the front, a different lead in the back) the rider would be told to come back to a trot and then pick up the canter again. These may seem like silly insignificant things but they build the riders ability to correctly feel the horse under them. To feel the correct diagonal and canter lead. I have friends who didn’t grow up having to know their diagonals and they can certainly ride well enough but there are other gaps in their training that they’re struggling with to this day.
Watching the video of the schooling show what really stands out to me is that every single rider’s foot is shoved too far in the stirrup and it basically looks like one giant spook away from being a disaster. A schooling show is fantastic for practice but none of those riders looked confident in their seat at the trot and they all seem to have the same position flaws.
We had a pony who would stick her head down and walk to the middle of the ring to get her rider off or get out of work. The trick with her was that if the rider sat up, pulled up and kept her going she was the BEST pony to learn on. Had a canter as smooth as imaginable (that was slow too you could job next to her) and was a blast to ride. How we handled her was we never put a rank beginner on her unsupervised or in the beginning of their riding career. We could use her for pony rides where we led her. Then once they were secure in the saddle with their seat and were able to sit up and kick on we’d put them on her. And guess what…we would walk along them, even jog along them at the trot while instructing them to keep their heels down, a good grip on their reins and sit up. After a few laps she would be a saint and that rider would have “passed” her test and could continue to ride then on. She was fantastic at teaching this skill in a way that was not dangerous. She would put her head down slowly but strongly. We were always right there to support the rider. If someone fell off we took it back a bit and would do a lounge lesson or a games lesson with us leading the pony doing simon says, around the world, no stirrups etc to build confidence and seat. Even though she could be considered a difficult pony she was many young riders favorite pony to ride. Your daughters instructor saying to lengthen the rein and kick the pony on who was dropping the head and dumping her does not sound correct. Typically you would want to keep a good rein contact, sit up, pull the head up while also kicking the pony on.
I also showed IEA and on my college team as well. Riding a strange horse at a different barn is a whole different ball game. Everyone here is correct in saying that your daughter should be riding in regular lessons at least a level above what she is showing. There will be nerves at play for horses and rider. At the level your daughter looks to be riding in the videos I would not put her in an IEA show even just at a w/t. Once she is w/t/c solidly, with a strong two point and a strong sitting trot and canter and knows her diagonals herself then I’d consider the IEA shows.
My personal example I ended up showing at the 2’6 level in high school but I rode and showed at 3’ at home, rode 5x a week minimum and rode anything rank and misbehaving that I could because I was poor and those rides were free or cheap. I still felt like I was being very challenged at the 2’6 IEA level.
My barn was a tough suck it up get back on the horse barn. Parents were still always told if a kid had a fall. Anytime a head hit the ground they did not get back on until they were checked by multiple adults there and hung out for a bit. I had a really bad fall and was out of the saddle for a few months. Did my trainer make me get back on and ride the same horse again…yes she did. But she did it after 3 months of me riding my personal favorite horse until my confidence was back up and I was comfortable riding other horses again. She pushed me hard but still listened to me and my fears. I would expect that your barn could have prevented the 2nd or 3rd fall and they should absolutely put your daughter on a different pony/horse to build her confidence then ask her to ride naughty pony again while supporting her and instructing her though any misbehavior. And maybe that ride on naughty pony should be at a walk only or on a lounge line.
Please encourage your daughter’s passion you sound like a fantastic horse mom. Continue to listen and learn. Talk to your daughter about long term goals and just explain to her that you want her to get the best possible start as possible. Tour other barns, have her take lessons at each one and see where she clicks and watch a few other lessons to see how the other students are doing. Watch some you tube videos of the more “upper level” beginner/younger rides such as those at Upperville to familiarize yourself with a more correct foot and leg position. Ask how they handle falls etc. Pay attention to if there is a focus on riding correctly or moving up the levels quickly to keep kids interested. Are they really focusing on students steering, do they practice two point, no stirrups etc.
