Yesterday I made the most of a Groupon voucher to get a private lesson in the city. For those who don't know, I still currently ride at my country yard near Uni, which is just under 1hr 45mins away on the bus (an hour by car, but I've neither a licence or a vehicle). I very nearly left after first moving to the city because the customer service was so poor: turning up for my lesson and my RI not always making time for me to ride. We got that sorted and I've been happy enough since: the journey is actually a beautiful one and the length doesn't really bother me. The only things that do grate are how cold I can be and for how long (as the bus is rarely ever warm enough to defrost me), and having to rush off after lessons rather than always untacking, rugging up and helping with the general hay and hard feeds on the yard. Anyway, long story short, I know it makes sense to move and I had my eye on 2 yards that are on bus routes so can be easily accessed from where I live. The voucher was for the one a bit further out, slightly more expensive, and a slightly worse reputation (though both have very mixed reviews on HHO and online in general) but I couldn't refuse at £14.
I'm a nervous traveller with new journeys, and panic about missing stops, getting lost and so on. I don't know how I managed before Google Street View: it's invaluable to me now, as I can recognise my stop despite having never been there before. It didn't start well when I realised quickly that Google Maps had sent me to the wrong bus stop to get my first bus. As I know the buses in my area fairly well, I was able to find a correct stop only a few minutes walk away, and was on the same or similar timed bus as I'd originally planned. Got off bus one and bus two was waiting at the next stop: legged it and because lots of people were getting on, I made it! In fact, it was 10mins earlier than the bus I'd originally intended to get, my original plan getting me there 30mins before my lesson to give me time to miss buses or get lost and still make it the required 10mins early for my lesson slot. I got a bit nervous a few times as the route felt like it wasn't as straight as the map said it was, but I knew it was too early to have gone past my stop, and in the end I quickly found the junction I needed to be familiar, and easily got off at the right place. The 10min walk was easy enough: Street View hadn't shown the layout of the road leading to the yard but I literally followed the trail of vehicle-flattened horse poo. It was much better than a yellow brick road as far as I’m concerned!
I arrived to a bit of a ramshackle yard. The outdoor arena is fairly small: smaller than the smaller of the two outdoors at my current yard, and the surface was in need of a bit of work. The outdoor jumps were also in poor condition for having been left out in the elements for too long. Still, it didn't look like it had been used for months, which fits with the seasons, and I'm sure it's fine when level and dry. It did make me breathe a sigh of relief though, as I still find the big outdoor at my yard scary: it's actually a derby ring so is giant, and there's lot of room for horses to take off galloping, and they have with me several times! It's not so bad when I know the horse and can actually get to the point where I enjoy their liveliness: I was glad I wasn't going to be in such a big space with a horse I didn't know and therefore would find tanking a bit scary! There were a lot of fields though, and clearly had year-round turn out. I imagined the horses being happy there, and that’s concern number one for any horse lover.
I arrived 45minutes early (was pleased with myself, but a bit nervous about whiling away so much time at a new place) and met who I believe is the YM. She welcomed me, told me the 11am hadn't turned up, so she'd give them 10mins more and then get me on early if they didn't appear. She then told me to have a good look around the yard, and I got greeted by a beautiful sandy coloured whippet and two Jack Russell terriers.
The yard itself was okay. Mucking out was going on, as was hot-shoeing, so of course it was untidy. The stables themselves were mostly barn style, with some open-fronted stables. They all had bars up so horses could see out and see their neighbours, which I liked. Lots had name plates too: livery horses I presumed. I didn't feel comfortable going into the main C-shaped stable block as so much work was going on. I went around the back to see the walker and to my delight, there were two Friesians on it, both of which looked me in the eye while the walker rotated them past me. It was a picture-perfect moment, and it is burned onto my retinas even now. Wish I'd been brave enough to get my camera out! They're my fave breed in the whole world, so I was pretty much drooling. I'm sure they're probably livery horses as they're too expensive for the RS, but I ended up so distracted that I forgot to ask. Kicking myself for that now, especially that I later remembered that the yard supply horses for TV and films, so it's possible they're not privately owned. DOH!
I then was taken into the tack shop come office, filled in the basic form (name, contact details, riding skills) and put myself in the intermediate box. I think strictly speaking I am advanced, but because I'm rusty at jumping the 75cm+ category which I ticked I could do, I didn't feel sure enough to tick it. They also let me keep my bag and coat in there, which I appreciated as the room actually stays locked unless a member of staff is in it.
I came out and my horse was ready: a 16hh dark bay mare called Whisperer, with not a single white mark on her. She reminded me so much of Bailey, the kind beginner's pony at my yard, that it made me smile. (She has better confirmation though, whereas Bailey's head and neck are especially poorly put together, making him sweetly donkey-ish). She was already lined up by their mounting block: a set of concrete steps up to a ledge which was about 1 metre square: much nicer than getting on rickety wooden blocks that feel like they'll topple when you reach the top step! I got on, my instructor David had guessed my stirrups perfectly, and off we went to the indoor. It felt like a mini-hack to the indoor due to the mud and incline, which reminded me so much of the yard I worked on in my teens! There was also a jump store built into the arena, with a variety of colourful jumps and poles in good condition. Clearly they do have nice jumps, but leave the rougher ones out in the Scottish weather in the outdoor rather than ruin the good stuff! That help things a bit. The indoor surface was a bit uneven, being slightly higher at once end, but the going turned out to be good, and not once did my horse trip as it turned out.
While warming up David asked me about how often I ride, what I can do, what I enjoy the most and so on. I was honest, telling him the lateral work is new to me in the past month or so but I'm loving it, and while I like to jump for variety, I'm not a massive fan and am a bit rusty at bigger heights because I've been focusing on flatwork for so long. He was honest saying that he was a jumping man, but that the lesson would be flatwork as I clearly liked that more. He also told me that Whisperer was a beginner's horse: obviously they don't know the skill level of the people arriving, so when they brought horses in for the Groupon riders this morning, they hedged their bets and selected the simpler mounts. It does make sense, and I'm used to simple, lazy RS ponies, so having Bailey's bigger, female double in terms of look and behaviour, I wasn't phased. In fact, almost as soon as I was up, I didn't feel like I was riding a new horse: I felt like I knew her way of going already. I also didn't feel high up, even though it's been over 6 months since I've ridden my yard's 15.2hh horses as they've been out on lease for at least that long. The sense of familiarity meant that I knew I could work at my level more quickly: I wouldn't be under-performing due to being nervous of my mount.
Going into trot, Whisperer felt very comfortable to ride: nice paces, and while rides like a horse, does not have big strides for her size. The 15.2 horses rode bigger than her! I had to back up my leg quite a bit to get her to listen, but it did help. For the first time in ages I was given a lesson using the letters of the arena, rather than just “canter from the top corner” type instructions. I was pleased that it came back to me so quickly, and I didn't struggle to work out where each letter was at any point. In trot we did 20m circles, spiralling down into tiny circles, before spiralling out again. She was resisting the inside bend, but the instructor said she never does more than walk, trot, a bit of canter and a few cross-pole with beginner riders, so he'd never seen her bend before and wasn't surprised she resisted. We got there in the end, although she could have bent more fully. Still, she tried and I praised her for it. We also did 3 loop serpentines and she actually bent better for those, making them feel nice and smooth. I guess the circle work on both reins loosened her up a bit.
The canter work came and I was told she could be a cow to get to canter: often it can take half a circuit as she's lazy so chooses not to listen to the aids. We aimed for A and I got the transition at K only a few metres later: significantly less than half the school! I had to back up my leg to do it, but when she obeyed and improved the canter I praised her. It took a circuit or so, then I felt like I had the hang of it completely, and eased into it. David told me to put my leg under me more, and I could feel the difference when I moved it back slightly. We did a nice few circuits, changed rein, and she really anticipated the transition this time: she tried to speed up the trot, and let out a big buck moving into the canter which genuinely didn't unsettle me in the slightest. If you'd told me a big buck on a 16hh horse I didn't know while travelling fairly fast wouldn't bother me, I'd never have believed you! She gave me a quality canter straight away this time too, no trying to tranter, and the impulsion felt great. I really enjoyed it and kept her going for longer this time, waiting until the transition was called by David rather than deciding to end the canter myself as I had on the other rein.
David said now would be a great time to do some flying changes, but I wasn't on a horse who'd been taught them unfortunately. I was delighted he'd thought I was of a good enough standard to be doing such moves in a lesson! He said as she was getting the ride of her life and working at a level completely alien to her, that we'd lay the foundations of teaching her flying changes. The exercise was a 20m canter circle, then going back on the track, changing rein across the long diagonals at each corner, doing simple changes over X. The idea is to get the horse to anticipate the change in leg, so they think about doing it themselves (which the rider can then add the aid to), rather than the rider breaking the flow by going into trot and back into canter. She was racing through this exercise: after the serpentine work I really noticed her listening to me that much more, having her ears constantly pricked, and being more off the leg: she clearly wasn't sure what was happening next, and it was doing her the world of good.
Next came lateral work. David said he'd never seen Whisperer do it before and wasn't sure if she'd ever been taught, or was supple enough to do it. She'd been well warmed up and I'd got her bending though, so he was happy the muscles she normally doesn't use were warm so it was safe to try. I got my sides wrong at first: P. normally makes me come away from the wall but leg yield further into the centre of the school, not across the track. David made me come in so that I was yielding towards the track, so my aids were on the wrong side. He also told me to open my outside hand to encourage movement in that direction, something P. has never mentioned (though my contact is relaxed on that hand when I ride under her). He also from the ground grabbed the inside rein and showed me how to use her shoulder to help her move whereas P only ever shouts 'correct the bend'. Seeing how using that contact actually works really helped: the penny dropped even more thoroughly.
I tried again and while she moved slightly sideways, she wasn't crossing over properly on either rein. I'd been doing this at a forward walk as I find this easier, as does Guinness who I learned it on. I tried it in a trot this time out of curiosity, and lo-and-behold, she really crabbed across onto the track. She clearly found the forward momentum of the trot made it easier to cross. What a break through! It also made me feel good as I'd struggled on Guinness to get a good leg yield in trot: Whisperer felt like proof I was capable of it. She could have crossed more however, so David gave me a longer whip (actually a lunge whip rather than a schooling whip as he couldn't find the latter, but I kept the long end from under the feet and it did help to drive her. David jogged alongside us and physically pushed her in, to help show her just what was needed from her. I felt it click in her: she raced the trot to get to the long side of the school, and changing from a tap to a squeeze with my leg back, she did the best leg yield yet. We even moved on to yielding away from the wall and back onto it along the same straight. It wasn't perfect as it was clearly new to her, but dammit she tried, and she got praised by me after every effort. David was also quick to come and pat her as well any time I stopped at the end of an exercise to get instructions. I was encouraged that David said all my aids were performed correctly, I just wasn't really on the right horse for the kind of lesson I wanted.
After some more canter on each rein, it was time to warm down. We worked on collection in these canters though: I was really squeezing and regularly half-halting to collect her up. She didn't manage it fully, but I felt the difference, David saw it, and we were both really pleased with her. The first thing he said when I first trotted was how nice my hand positioning was (thumbs towards the bit too, thanks to Lorraine), but he asked me to raise them slightly to help collect her. Her front end collected more than her back, but again I praised her for trying after we did the exercise on both reins. David was delighted with her, as was I. I was also pleased when he asked me what was her better rein and I knew it: that felt like an achievement, feeling it so quickly, as did coming off canter into the correct diagonal each time.
Eventually, after a really intense 40minutes of work for both of us, it was time to warm down. She really lowered and stretched when given the rein – a good sign she's worked the muscles well, and she tried to come in to David at every turn. I took that as a good sign: it happens with P all the time at my yard as she really is herd leader with them. Even if Whisperer was just wanting polos, she had very much earned them. David couldn't believe that the beginner's horse, who he'd told me couldn't bend, collect or do lateral work, had bent, collected and done lateral work. He was pleased to see her finally work for a change, rather than dawdle with a beginner, and was very complimentary about my riding. He confirmed that I was an advanced rider, and the second voucher I received for a group lesson should be aimed at the more advanced adult evening lessons, or if flatwork was more important, the 1hr flat, 30min jumping lesson on Saturdays.
During the warm-down, David also recommended a couple of horses that I should ask for at my next lesson. The bit I got most excited about was hearing about Theo. While the yard has 80 riding horses, lots of them do things like common rides and filming during the summer, so they're turned away and get the whole winter off. They're literally coming back in to start on the walker at the moment, to begin the process of fittening for summer. Theo is one of those, and is their ex-dressage horse. David said riding Theo would be a great experience for me as I'd get to prove to myself that my aids e.g. for lateral work are correct, because a touch in the right place and Theo obliges. I was really excited at the idea of riding a dressage schoolmaster! David then said that he's 18.2hh of chestnut sweetness. 18.2 HANDS HIGH? I said I wanted to try a big horse, but that height has blown my mind! Still, I'd need to be there in the summer and most likely on a private lesson to ride him, so it feels like a big if. Still, it's an exciting one at that! It was also nice chatting to David about one another and the yard in the warm down: I wasn't expecting the social side to be so good. I almost expected them to be a bit unhappy seeing so many Groupon customers coming and paying so little!
So, all in all, I had a great time. I didn't have the nerves I thought I might about riding a new and bigger horse, and I rode just about as well as I could. (I was worried my back, which is troubling me at the moment, or nerves would let me down and I'd look less capable than I know I truly am). I am now officially listed as an advanced rider on their books. I got a lazy, inexperienced horse (at dressage only, to be fair to her) to do exercises no one's thought to ask her before. I wasn't shy or nervous to back up my leg and not thrown off by her bucking. Her excited head raising when she really took off energetically in canter didn't throw me either, and my hands and body were fluid with her movement. I really felt like I'd achieved something! David, and the girl that took my details wished me a pleasant goodbye and I headed off smiling. The hill, that seemed steep on the way down, felt positively mountainous on the way up with tired legs! The YM drove past me in her car, and stopped to asked if I'd enjoyed my lesson and looked genuinely delighted when I beamed back at her that I'd loved it. I'm guessing my face said her signing up to Groupon was worth it for the centre!
So, despite the fact it looks ramshackle, my horse was healthy, well groomed and in well maintained tack. There was a slight sound at the start of the lesson that sounded a bit like a loose shoe, but disappeared. She was not lame or footy though and was fine to work: the farriers were also on site, so I presume she was on the list to be shod that afternoon. It also took a bit less time to get there than planned, and the two buses and the walk broke the time down so it really didn't feel like an hour from when I left the house to when I arrived. My voucher gives me a group lesson for £15, or I can upgrade it to a 2hr ride for an extra 10. £25 for two hours riding sounds good to me! My only question is when. Am thinking the day after my viva might make for a lovely treat, although I do ride at my own yard on Saturday. Perhaps I might be too knackered for that! Either way, it expires at the end of May and I'm making the most of it. The only thing I'm still wondering is should I visit the other city yard that was a bit higher on my list in terms of price, location and reputation. I probably should, but am feeling little motivation to do so at the moment.
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