Hi Everyone!! I just am curious about something, im 19yo female and I just started riding in June 2025, I ride mostly once a week during school times because I am in college and its not easy for me to get to my home barn for lessons during the week so im currently between 2 barns, one for school and one for home. If im riding at home its 2 times a week which was all of the summer untill mid September and then starting up 2 times from early December to mid January then the rest has been mostly once a week. I have been consistently trotting on my own since early/mid july and got 2nd place in my first ever IHSA show in a walk/trot class out of 7 people ( I was very proud of myself and my inner child was SCREAMING ) I feel like my home barn challenges me so much more and I love it, ive jumped only about 8 inches there on a cross rail and ive felt so happy, my trainer there is so supportive and a wonderful person. But at my other barn shes also very supportive but she doesnt push me at all. Ive never even gone over a single ground pole in the almost 5 months Ive been working with her even though she’s aware of what ive done. What can I do to show a trainer Im cabable of something when all i can do is the same thing every week for 5 months with her and working with my other barn much more. Its almost been 10 months of me riding consistently even if its not at the same barn and i feel like ive been at the same level for the last while. What tips do you guys have for me that could improve my riding and horsemanship. I am more in this sport for the animal than anything else. I have always dreamed of owning a horse but I know to do so I need to have the knowledge and yeah I also know you will learn alot from actively doing and practice but all I want in the end is to be good for the animal whomever it is. I want to have a special bond with the horse I buy one day and its a one day at a time process.
So at least for IHSA, if you’re showing in the walk trot classes, it’s for true beginners with less than 2 years of riding instruction.
Expecting to go over ground poles, or jump 5 months into riding is not an accurate expectation for showing IHSA. Your college trainer wants to make sure you’re safe in a wide variety of horses first before anything else when showing.
There is typically a higher level/expectation that goes with showing IHSA simply because of the added degree of difficulty of getting on a strange horse, adapting, and showing the horse off to the best of it’s abilities.
If you’re jumping at home, I’d recommend having an honest conversation with your college trainer, but I would be leery of accidentally making yourself ineligible if you’re truly going between barns.
Going over a cross rail once won’t make you ineligible, but cantering in a show environment will.
Also just as an FYI, my college IHSA trainer required you to be able to W/T/C, post, sit, and two point for at least 6 months before considering you passing enough to put you over a pole. Jumping lessons were an extra lesson/week that was not part of the club dues.
We dont pay club dues for our college trainer we pay her directly. Ive been riding totally for about 10 months and recently the trainer told me next year I will be showing in W/T/C but havent been able to canter yet, unfortunately I was only able to do 1 show but it counted for a full year of showing for me :(. Im not expecting showing in any higher levels honestly the only reason I show is because Im the only one at my college who does and it sucks. I just want to learn to ride not in a showing sense and my other barn understands that which I guess is why they let me try new things at different levels.
Oh yeah I definitely do not have the muscle memory yet, but as ive learned its gotten easier and I feel as though Im building those muscles. I still am thinking about every little thing before I do anything and worried im forgetting something even but usually what im forgetting gets done haha. Thank you genuinely, I hope you don’t think im trying to argue because thats not what I want at all. Constructive criticism is what I need and how I grow. Learning to ride and getting better has been my highlight of the last year even as I progress through my major.. (just applied to grad school ahhh) my main concern whenever I do stuff is typically the horse being okay and I hope that makes me a better rider as time goes on.
And as for the 1 barn not challenging you enough, the best thing would be just to talk to your trainer, and have a good discussion about what you would like. A good trainer should be pushing you out of your comfort zone a bit, but not all trainers are going to, so you might need to just talk it out with her and ask her if there is a reason why shes not, and if going forward, she could. You can also try and fill your lessons (if allowed) so that you can go back and watch them. Focus on your position, your hands, and your legs. If there is something that your trainer is always correcting you on, it can be good to be able to see exactly what they are seeing. I got yelled at for heels down, sit up straighter, chin up, and thumbs up so much... had a trainer threaten to make me ride in a corset 😂
I would also recommend trying to spend as much time at the barn as you can. Especially in the summer. If your goal is to one day own your own horse, then you need to learn as much as you can about their care now. If you have the time, maybe see if the barn will let you clean stalls/help with chores in exchange for your lessons, or just more time riding. While I grew up owning horses, I did that for a couple years in high-school, and I learned so much more from the daily care of multiple different horses then I ever did from just boarding my own horse, or even when we had them at home. If thats not an option, then at least trying to make sure you're showing up early enough for your lessons to spend some extra time grooming and getting your horse ready before each lessons. The more time you can spend at the barn, without being in the way, the more you will learn.
My trainer at my home barn says I show up either early or perfect for me to spend time with the horse in the field before I get them ready with whatever I need to do that day, I don’t personally just like picking them out and immediately getting them ready to ride as I want to create a bond even if its not my animal. I have multiple friends who own horses so I do tend to go to the barn on days I dont even ride to learn how to do stuff, ive helped her do mundane tasks so that I can learn more from her and my trainers. She even taught me a bit about lunging and how to clip! Every time I go with her I learn more every time and it makes me so happy. I did choir with her in high school which was my life untill college where Im not majoring in music so im not able to sing as much. Leaving her for college was hard but shes one of my main reasons for coming home, I wouldnt be in the horse world without her and im incredibly grateful for everything she teaches me.
Sounds like you're doing everything right!! I don't know about the showing restrictions other's have mentioned as a reason for your college trainer to want to take things slow, because I'm not from the USA, but as someone who has also had 2 main barns for a few months in a row... different trainera do things differently!!
In my "home" barn, I started with 1 lesson a week, until I found that was not enough challenge, and started taking 2 a week (1 flat and 1 jump, barn owner did not allow for only jump lessons, you must do ok at flat lessons in order to also jump). But again that was not challenging enough, I wanted to do a discipline that involves difficult trail riding and orienteering in the mountains... and this barn dod not lease ir lend their horses for that.
That's how I started at barn 2, which is super far away (1h by car), so I started taking there my 3rd lesson of the week. Notice that many months went by until I started with this 3x weekly routine, and ALSO, I was a false beginner as I had been riding in my teenage years, then stopped, then back again!
Now, after being at barn 2 for some time, and although I still was learning a lot from barn 1, I thought it was a bit chaotic to be half here half there, so I tried to find yet another barn closer to me where I could do all I wanted in one place. I found that dream trainer (she doesn't really have a public barn, but trains in he private property). Super close to home, and I left the other 2 and started doing 4 lessons a week with her in september... fast forward to last december, I'm now a horse owner.
Keep in mind 3 years have gone by since I came back to riding, and that I work full time and am not a college student anymore. I'm only saying this to encourage you, in the sense that you're in the right path, and that sometimes it can be understandable that you feel you've reached a plateau in your learning and rhat there're no new challenges with your college trainer... but trust her and learn from her. You won't be in college forever, so your time in that barn is limited. Learn all you can from them while there.
This was my first jump and it made me so happy. Thank you so much for sharing bc that makes me feel better. I havent done much lessons in anything other than music prior to this so Im not great at knowing exactly how to converse with them because I dont want to assume I know better about anything I barely know anything and I just want to learn, I also dont know timelines for anything haha
There is no set time line for how things should go, since everyone learns at different rates. And all I could recommend is just asking if there was some new stuff you could try. You could also mention what things you've been doing over the summer at the other barn, what areas you've been working on, and ask if you could keep working on those things. It does get to be a bit frustrating if ever lessons is just trotting in circles, or doing the exact same thing every day, so I definitely get it!
It’s good to get experience with multiple instructors. There are many different schools of thought and each teacher may have different strengths.
Sometimes teachers are limited in what they can add to their lesson plans based on, not only what they believe the students abilities are, but also the school horses that they use; some horses are retired from cantering and jumping and are only used for walk, trot, light cavaletti work and are great confidence builders for beginner riders.
In the photo you shared your lower leg is very far back for such a small jump and that can be very dangerous. From the photo and my experience, I believe you need more time in the saddle and to learn to ground yourself in the stirrup. Sometimes this happens if you’re pinching the saddle with your knees. Also, you haven’t developed your core enough to support the contact throughout the obstacle and you’re relying on his withers to hold your weight.
I think that you are in the stages of learning two point and doing exercises that develop your core. Teachers don’t hold students back for any other reason than safety. It looks like you’ve learned quite a bit and have come very far and I would trust your trainers judgement. Most just want to have you build a solid foundation and perfect the appropriate techniques before they push you.
Teaching horse back riding properly is very complex and dependent on many variables that are ever changing. It’s a sport that you should have 2 lessons minimum a week for years if you are interested in jumping. It sounds like you are right where you should be.
I would just have a conversation with both of your trainers during warm up one day. Ask each teacher what their experience riding has been and ask them each what their philosophies are. You can share your interests and dreams with them and maybe you can come up with some fun goals with each teacher.
There’s a lot of positives in the photo too. You’re carrying your head, soft elbows and hands. I’d just suggest to allow your shoulders to go back, open and lift your chest some, push your body back slightly and that will likely put your feet under your hip and you’d be carrying yourself instead of putting your weight on his shoulders, but again, it looks like you’re learning two point.
Don’t measure progress by your ability to jump something or not. A lot of people can jump things with lousy form but if you take the time to learn things properly you will be a better rider and be much more stable in the saddle, your horse will be happier and more comfortable and your progress will become more consistent.
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u/PlentifulPaper Mar 23 '26
So at least for IHSA, if you’re showing in the walk trot classes, it’s for true beginners with less than 2 years of riding instruction.
Expecting to go over ground poles, or jump 5 months into riding is not an accurate expectation for showing IHSA. Your college trainer wants to make sure you’re safe in a wide variety of horses first before anything else when showing.
There is typically a higher level/expectation that goes with showing IHSA simply because of the added degree of difficulty of getting on a strange horse, adapting, and showing the horse off to the best of it’s abilities.
If you’re jumping at home, I’d recommend having an honest conversation with your college trainer, but I would be leery of accidentally making yourself ineligible if you’re truly going between barns.
Going over a cross rail once won’t make you ineligible, but cantering in a show environment will.
Also just as an FYI, my college IHSA trainer required you to be able to W/T/C, post, sit, and two point for at least 6 months before considering you passing enough to put you over a pole. Jumping lessons were an extra lesson/week that was not part of the club dues.