any horsey people?

Post Reply New Topic

does anyone have a horse or ride horses? (with aspergers) (you, not the horse)

i was wondering if anyone else finds lessons hard? like the instructor might as well be talking another language - but when you finally understand what they mean, you realise it was something really simple that you either already new, or if they'd put it a different way you would of understood straight away?

i know this is a long shot, i'm not sure how many horse lovers there is going to be on this sight, but any replies appreciated!

As a cowboy i am a fan of horses. I learned from my grandfather who taught me rather well so i can't comment on that issue but riding is wonderfully calming and theraputic.

I'm a horse lover myself. If I had the money, I'd take lessons in a heartbeat.

I think they're cute, but I'm not too into them.

Have you got any problems understanding any other instructions?

When I was in school most of the time I though they may have been talking in another language. I just couldn't understand what they wanted me to do or what they wanted from me. I have had a very successful career in the computer industry but still today I do not understand what is wanted at times. I need someone to be really direct with me if they are vague I don't get it and have no clue what they want, I can't read between the lines. Sometimes later or if it is re-explained then I will get what they wanted and think why couldn't they just say that in the first place.

My son 13 who is now home schooled did not know what was being asked of him by the teacher, became totally lost and stopped functioning in the classroom.

My daughter does horse riding but at at therapeutic stable and they are really good about changing how things are said or done. I don't know what your facility is like but it would be worth talking to to them and explaining you need instruction in a slightly different way depending on what will work for you.

For me the vagueness drives me crazy but now I have the confidence to tell people (only recently and I'm 51). give it a try!

Hope this helps.

thats exactly what it's like! and yes i was like that with some subjects at school. but no one seems to understand in the horsey world - it's customary to act like a "know-it-all" (which i hate).

anyway, i have had my own horses for years, and i compete, so the level of teaching i need to improve is higher than your average riding school teacher, so there isn't anyone really that can sort of specialize, if you get what i mean. sort of hard to explain, i was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this sort of thing, and what they found usefull to tell their teachers how to help them. "STOP BEING SO FLIPPIN VAGUE" doesnt seem to work

this is getting annoying as i really want to improve my riding and havent learnt anything in my lessons for years really, i only learn from practising on my own.

I hate the 'know-it-all' stuff too. We have or follow a Horsemanship program here (Canada) with 12 levels which takes you all the way to qualifying as an Instructor, so it sounds like you may need to find someone who can specifically teach you at the higher levels otherwise you would be wasting your time.

My approach has been as an adult that I am here to learn and don't know everything maybe try that as a starting point, if you are critized for that then you are not with the right person! You may have to persevere in saying you need direct instruction and if you don't get it, stop say that you don't understand and could they explain it again in a direct way. It is very frustrating, I recently had to tell the same instructor (my daughters) that she had to be direct with me twice and on the third go she took one look at me and said, 'oh yeah, I need to be really direct with you' (in a nice way) and since then things have improved.

Keep with it and find your voice to speak for your needs no mater how hard you deserve to reach your dreams.

Horsey person over here I have one currently but I'm not sure if I'm keeping him.

I don't take lessons, so I can't say. I think I did as a kid, but I don't really remember it, and I don't think I did them for very long.

I used to ride and my kids still do. I think it is like riding a bicycle, and nobody can teach you verbally - you have to do it and feel it to understand it, and then whatever the instructor said first makes sense once you have already learned the hard way.

It sounds like you need a better instructor. I didn't have that problem with the really good instructors who are successful riders. Sounds like they're ripping you off.

I need things explained in detail. Being told to try things and see what works, really doesn't work for me.

I like instructions that are clear. Unfortunately with horse riding, there are many differing opinions on ways to do things. eg. To get the horse on the bit, I've been told to
- Move the bit in the horse's mouth
- Hold the contact tight and kick the horse forward
- Hold the outside rein, and bend the horse's body and use the inside rein to get flexion.


What is right? What is wrong ? Maybe they are all right?

I ride a pony called Ted every Thursday at a riding stable in Cambridgeshire. I love horse riding and the stables I go to is really suitable for people with disabilities, although they also do non-disabled riding as well. I am happy the way I am being taught because we just do the same things every week but add one or two new things into the lesson. The fact that new 'horse terms' are being introduced every week and then repeated make it easier to remember. For example, every week we are asked what a three loop serpentine is even though we always know the answer! It keeps us in the knowledge though and helps me to remember. I would like to do slightly harder lessons one day but not yet.

I ride (English and Western) and took lessons when I was younger.
I have to say that I do know what you mean - it's just so difficult to try and translate their words into the physical result they want to see from you! They don't understand that their words aren't making clear the response they want, and you don't understand what they're trying to get you to do. If only there were some way for them to actually replicate what they want to see... a lot of the time, I think, watching them do it in a broadly exaggerated manner might help (might be easier to copy than to try and translate), but sometimes it's something you can't really see very well from the outside, and then I wish it were possible to be a kind of posable figure or something, so that they could use your own body to show you what they want. Sometimes it seems like that'd be the only way.

Horse lover here, but not sure I can offer any useful advice for your situation.

Are you sure you need further "formal" instruction? From what you said, you've attained an extremely high level of skill. You may have simply reached the point that you need to be your own teacher. As an example from a completely different field - I'm sure Stephen Hawking still learns by reading/talking to his colleagues, but where would he find a classroom challenging enough to be worth his time to attend regularly? The very idea is preposterous. After all, an instructor has to be more knowledgeable than the student, AND able to pass that knowledge on to another. If you truly are one of the best in your field, it will be difficult to find someone whose expertise is sufficiently beyond yours to be worth listening to. After all, if you are the 10th best horseman in the country, you wouldn't expect to learn much from the 150th best, would you? Therefore, you would have to look to the other top 10 riders - or maybe someone in the top 20, if they excel in the area you need to work on. How many of them have learned to teach? Of those that have, how many have the time to work with you, when they are working to perfect their own skills even further?

I do not know how difficult it is to move back and forth between the two in horsey circles, but perhaps you should judge instead of compete, for a season or two. This would force you to observe the other top riders, and perhaps help you pinpoint your own errors by contrasting their style with your own.

I centaurz

I took riding lessons for a few years but my instructor who was also a school phycologist was a b***h and made the lessons Hell. She said it was because I didn't like to work (basicaly she was acussing me of being lazy) and was CONSTANTALY comparing me to Temple Grandin. She even abused her horses.