Horse-Sense for Instructors
Your history with your horse sounds admirable to me. Is it possible that your instructor has changed and come to dislike your horse for his size alone? Or could there be something else going on? I’d like to suggest a few things—true or not, you decide—for you to consider as possibilities.
1 Your horse has changed
Is it Time to Leave? By Jessica Jahiel, Ph.D.
None of us wants to deal with the changes that reflect our horses’s age (physical or chronological), but we need to remember that our old campaigners are just that, and need to have their workloads adjusted accordingly. Sometimes injuries—even a series of minor ones over the years—and minor conformation defects, can begin to create problems in old age. Our oldies reach a point at which their jumping schedules begin to go backward. We need to ask them for fewer and less demanding jumps, less often. We may eventually reach a point at which we focus on flatwork exclusively. Changes in weather (and who hasn’t experienced those, these last few years?) can put extra stress and strain on aging muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones...not to mention attitude, respiratory capacity, and recovery time. Higher temperatures, harder ground... a horse that handled conditions easily and well at 9 may be struggling at 19.
2 Your instructor has changed I’ve taken lessons from the same instructor for five years, was part of her first lesson program, and I feel like everything has changed, not just her personality but her basic values which were always like mine and were the reason I have stayed with her for so long. Yesterday was my lesson and she gave me a big “you need to get serious” lecture. I was floored, totally did not see or even imagine this was coming, and I don’t know what to do. Help, please. We’ve had very few talks about any of this, but it’s clear that for whatever reason, she now views my horse as “too small” and “not good enough.” I wonder if she is trying to get rid of me, she has been “collecting” students that have way more money, way more ambition, and are always ready to dump their horses and buy new fancy ones. I feel like everything has changed around here, or did I somehow not notice that this was going on? I understand that my horse has limitations, but I’m not looking to sell him just because he’s only 15 hands! 8
Fall 2019 | Riding Instructor
What’s new or recent in your instructor’s life? Bear in mind that you may not know— many individuals prefer to keep their problems to themselves, even life-changing ones. Ask yourself if your instructor has changed—her interests, goals, or financial situation may not be what they were when you began taking lessons. She may be trying to focus on what matters most to her professionally or personally. If she’s made the shift—mentally at least—from running a kiddie lesson barn to reinventing her facility as an upmarket show barn, she may be in a different place emotionally. Her plans may have changed and she may be expecting her students’ plans to change as well. Would you know? Can you find out?
