A rant on instructors

[rant]

If you tell a rider to do something ("ON THE BIT!") every three seconds for the first half of a lesson, maybe try explaining what you want out of the rider in a different way.

If you tell a rider "I'm not seeing anything happen", don't expect that to solve anything. If nothing is happening, it's not because I'm not trying. Perhaps, again, try explaining what you want in a different way.

Don't ever tell me, "your leg sucks". First of all, my leg most definitely does not "suck". Ten years ago, yes, my leg "sucked". It may need improvement now, but that is one of the many reasons why I'm taking lessons. Telling me something like that is counterproductive, discouraging, and doesn't make me ever want to ride with you again.

[/rant]

GAH. I had a rather... well... horrible lesson today. The first 30 minutes were just awful. I couldn't get the horse--I rode the mare Nokomis--on the bit for longer than 30 seconds.

But my "trainer"? She was of no help whatsoever. First of all, I had never ridden with her. I normally ride with Richard, who is excellent, but I happened to be riding his daughter's horse, so he had her give me a "lesson". And although he may yell at me and make me feel like a piece of crap, he never flat-out insults me. The woman was a self-righteous, egotistical, spoiled brat. I'm fairly certain by now that Richard must have "talked me up" to her, and she maybe felt a bit threatened by me--which would lead her to saying things such as "I don't think she likes you very much" (huh?) and something so far out of left field as "your leg sucks." Geez.

After she said, "I'm not seeing anything happen," I said, "Well it's not for lack of trying!"

Finally, after 20-30 minutes, Nokomas was soft, round, and attentive to my aids (mostly). We did leg-yields, shoulder-in, haunches in, a bit of half-pass... but I couldn't get the canter. (After nearly 15 years of riding, I'm just now being taught how to canter from the inside seat bone rather than the outside leg.) I tried maybe three times, and the instructor kept telling me to "make something happen", whether it be by running her into the canter or whatever. I'm sorry, but no. Nokomas already knows how to canter. It's me who needs the training, and running her into it is going to teach me nothing. At that point I was pretty frustrated, so I just said, "Why don't you get on?" Ugh.

By the end of the ride, I was exhausted, and I now have blisters on both ring fingers (one that opened during the ride and is now raw), even though I had gloves on.

Not a good way to end my last day at the barn. Oh well. I'm glad to be done with waking up at the butt crack of dawn every Saturday and being slave-driven at the barn for five hours.