The Ultimate Guide to Preparing for a Lesson
Here in the UK we have been in and out of lockdown due to Covid, and training has been quite disrupted for most. Whether your trainer can’t or won’t travel, your livery yard won’t allow outside instructors on the property, or you have to take your horse to your trainer but aren’t allowed in the lockdown, training sessions have taken a hit! As lockdown eases and lessons start back up, you’ll want to be as ready as you can to “crack on” and get out to some competitions.
Preparation for a lesson is important outside of a pandemic as well, as you always want to get the most out of what you’re paying for. It’s one thing for a trainer to deliver a session that’s worth the money, but its extremely difficult for a trainer to do that if your horse’s tack doesn’t fit, your riding boot’s zip keeps breaking or you forgot your spurs! So here are some tips to make sure your lesson goes as smoothly and productively as possible (given your horse also decides to cooperate on the day!).
Have a Goal…
At the beginning of your lesson your trainer will probably ask you how things have been going and what issues you’re having. The response “most of it is probably wrong” or “I don’t really know” isn’t very helpful! Start thinking about what you want to achieve with your horse. Is there a particular competition you want to be ready for? Maybe you want to give online dressage a go (if you’re in a Panny-D!) in a couple of weeks, or you might just want to have a plan when you get on your horse so that you can have successful schooling sessions by yourself on a regular basis.
In your riding sessions leading up to the lesson, imagine that you had to complete your goal the next day (no pressure, just imagine!). Think about what it is that’s holding you back from completing that goal so soon. If you’re preparing for a test, it would be wise to learn the test and ride through it a few times to become aware of the parts that you find difficult, and make a note of them so you remember when your trainer asks you. Also make sure you know the test you want to do so that you can practice it with your trainer. Don’t worry too much if you still need them to call it for you, but at least have an idea of what the test involves. If you want to nail a certain movement, like shoulder-in, notice what goes wrong. Can you not get enough angle? Is your horse numb to the leg? Do you lose the outside shoulder? If you want to enjoy your rides and not struggle so much, why aren’t you currently enjoying them now? Your horse could be behind the leg so you have to kick too much, making it exhausting to ride him, or he might scare you with spookiness.
Really pinpoint what it is that is holding you back from your goal so you can tell your trainer exactly what you want to work on, and they can come up with ways to help you through the challenge. Hopefully you will then feel like you’ve come away from your lesson with a plan, feeling motivated to succeed.
Make Sure Your Horse is Comfortable…
Every single rider will, at some point in their riding life, question whether the resistance their horse is giving them is due to pain, or a lack of submission. If you’re having a lesson and there’s a pretty serious level of resistance or crookedness going on, 9 times out of 10 the trainer will ask you if your horse’s back/teeth/saddle have been checked recently.
It really helps the trainer to know that you’ve kept up to date with regular maintenance of your horse’s health and tack fit, because if you have, the trainer knows to push on with trying to work through the resistance. However, if you haven’t, any trainer with a conscience (which are hopefully all of them!) will not want to pursue the issue much further until they know the horse isn’t in pain.
A horse’s body should be checked by a qualified chiropractor or osteopath every few months, depending on what the practitioner recommends for your horse’s individual needs. I personally wouldn’t go more than 6 months without a horse being checked (if they’re in regular work). The chiropractic/osteopathic sessions can be supplemented with physiotherapy or equine massage, or vice versa. Just like humans, every horse is individual and what works for one may not work for the other. Some horses may react better to more massage sessions than chiropody, and some may have better results with regular physiotherapy and occasional osteopathic treatment.
This can and will be a whole other blog post, but my general feeling about equine bodywork is that one person fixes the skeleton (chiro/osteo) and another fixes the muscles (physio/massage). If the skeleton is out of alignment somewhere, the muscles around it will be made tight from compensation and/or from being pulled in a certain direction. If some muscles are too tight, they will pull on the bones they’re connected to via ligaments and therefore pull the skeleton out of alignment. This is why it’s important, in my opinion, to do both. Please note though that I’m only speaking from experience as I’m not a qualified body worker (although my yoga teacher training has taught me a fair amount about how bodies work!). Always consult your chosen qualified practitioner for advice on the best treatment plan for your horse.
Anyway, I digress… I get on my speaker box a bit when it comes to keeping our horse’s bodies sound and pain-free, as I know from my experience as a yoga teacher how much pain affects us and the way we move as humans!
Make Sure Your Horse is Comfortable (Part 2!) and Sound…
Since I’ve now got started with body mechanics and physiology, of course there’s a part 2!
Sometimes the discomfort your horse is feeling isn’t as simple as a misaligned spine or sore shoulder. Before your lesson, ensure your horse is moving soundly, otherwise if the trainer sees that the horse is uneven, there’s really nothing they can do unless the unevenness is more like a bridle-lameness that can be fixed through correct training.
Get someone with a good eye to watch you ride your horse to check it’s level, or simply trot your horse up on a hard surface (or whilst out hacking on the road) and listen to the sound of the hooves on the ground and make sure the footfalls sound even.
If you suspect your horse is unsound then it’s pointless having a lesson, and you’ll have to get the vet out to investigate. A little tip is to give your horse Bute (if their stomach is in good shape i.e. no history of ulcers) in a couple of feeds before your next ride and see if the lameness improves (obviously don’t keep riding your horse on Bute as it will only make things worse if they can’t feel the pain and make the necessary compensations). It’s always interesting for the vet to know if the soundness improved with Bute or not.
Make Sure You’re Comfortable…
As equestrians, it’s typical that we could have a limb falling off but as long as our horse is sound and happy, everything is ok. However it’s not great if you’re trying to have a lesson and the horse is fine but you’re not comfortable enough to ride properly.
The obvious discomfort is pain. We all think we are tough and can ride through anything, but the reality is that your body will be doing exactly what the horse’s body would be doing - compensating. If your foot hurts, you’re going to avoid pressing into the stirrup which will tighten your leg and therefore your hip, so your pelvis will lock and not move freely and evenly with the horse. If your shoulder hurts you won’t be able to sit up tall with your shoulders back and level, and your core won’t be used effectively because you’re hunching and guarding the shoulder.
A bit of tightness is obviously fine and can be worked through, but if there’s a real medical issue with your body, it’s wise just to take it easy and not waste your money on a lesson where your trainer is trying to get you to sit up straight but you can’t because your back feels like it’s being sawn in half (dramatic but you get my point).
Other discomforts are our clothes and riding gear. Make sure your boot zip stays up, layer wisely so when sh*t gets real you can take a layer or two off and don’t end up a puddle of sweat, remember your gloves and whip/spurs if you use them, ensure your hat fits correctly and that your hair will stay tied back, and if your trainer uses a headset then if possible wear a belt so you can hook the receiver on easily.
With lessons, time is money so the least amount of time spent faffing means more time getting help training your horse.
Pick an Appropriate Venue/Arena to Train…
It really is so difficult for trainers to pinpoint issues with horses when they’re constantly falling into holes in the arena, tripping on rocks and dragging themselves through deep, muddy patches. Not everyone is fortunate to have a perfectly groomed and graded arena and you might have to get creative with schooling out hacking or using fields when the ground is good. But for when you have a lesson, try to find or hire out a decent dressage arena, or go to your trainer’s base if they have one, so you can work efficiently and uninterruptedly on what your trainer is asking you to do.
Hopefully a friend or neighbour has an arena you can borrow, but if you have to pay to hire one (make sure you let the owners know you’re bringing a trainer for a lesson and check if it’s allowed), its worth the extra bit of money to hire than wasting all the money you pay your trainer for a lesson where you’re limited on what you can do because of poor arena footing.
Also, if your horse can be spooky enough to be completely disruptive to a lesson, choose whether in the lesson you want to work on finding ways to manage the spookiness, or if you’d rather avoid the spookiness as much as possible for now and just focus on another area. If you want to work on the spookiness, ride in a spooky arena. If you want to avoid, don’t ride in a spooky arena. So simple, and makes so much difference to the outcome and success of your lesson.
Lastly But Most Importantly, Have a Positive Outlook…
It can be daunting to have lessons, especially with a new trainer. But remember, us trainers aren’t here to judge you, we are here to help you through the difficulties you’re having; difficulties that every rider experiences daily! So don’t be scared or ashamed to explain your problems when the trainer asks you at the beginning of the lesson. Try to speak about them in a positive way, that shows you understand there’s a way forward and you’re motivated to find it with their help, rather than be so doom and gloom about it.
A good relationship with your horse is the most important part of your training, and you need to think and speak about you and your horse as a team. The art of riding is the partnership between horse and rider, and you must be able to work as a team if you want to achieve your goals together. Explain your problems, but be careful of the language you use. For example:
“He’s so behind my leg; he’s so dead to any leg aids!” can be changed to
“I need to find a way for him to listen to my leg; the way I’m using my leg aids isn’t working for us”.
Using more proactive, empathetic language shows the trainer that you’re compassionate and willing to work through the problems that arise in the lesson in a positive way. This is a huge relief for any trainer to hear and see, as there’s nothing worse than teaching a rider who blames the horse and gets frustrated and aggressive when things go wrong; this helps no one!!
Remember why you have lessons. They’re to help you and your horse grow and develop together as a partnership so that on a day-to-day basis you are equipped and empowered to have more successful rides together. Us trainers want you to succeed just as much as you do, that’s why we do this job! Find a trainer who not only has a training system you understand and connect to, but who also has a personality you really gel with, so that you actually enjoy the lessons.
I hope after Covid you can all get back into the swing of things swiftly, have lots of happy training sessions, and get out competing with much success!
