i feel like a really bad rider...will i ever get bettter?

The problems you have described with your riding are absolutely common to all beginners, and only riding for a few months definitely means you are still a beginner.

No one, I repeat NO ONE, is a "natural rider" who can just jump on a horse and ride perfectly. It takes years of riding to develop a good seat, and from there the learning still never stops.

One thing major thing to work on is your confidence. Bracing (putting your feet to far forward) and being nervous at the canter with other horses around are definite signs that you just need more time in the saddle to learn to relax and just move with your horse.

When you start to feel overwhelmed by trying to keep your legs in the right place, your heels down, your hands still, and your back straight, and stay on the right diagonal all at once, just take a deep breath, relax your body, and think only about being in sync with your horse. When you are relaxed and moving with your horse, everything just falls into place and feels right. This takes TIME and no, you won't be able to do all these things right at first, especially if you are trying too hard.

This may sound funny, but try doing some yoga or pilates at home-these exercises really help you learn how to breathe for relaxation, balance, and strengthen your core.

It really would be worth it if you could talk your parents into paying for one private lesson where your instructor has you on a lunge line doing exercises to build your balance and confidence. Explain to them your concerns and offer to do some extra chores or something for the week.

Don't even worry about jumping. Some instructors will rush riders into jumping after only riding for a few months, but this is in no way a testament to that rider's ability, more of a signal of the instructor's incompetence. Jumping before you have developed a balanced and independent seat is looking for trouble-for you and your horse, and no rider gets there in just a few months. Being able to hang on over a jump does not mean someone knows how to ride.

**losing stirrups can be caused by pinching with your knees or generally tensing up. When you are tense, your body naturally moves toward the fetal position-with limbs drawing closer to the body-so again, breath and relax:-)

**the next poster mentioned a great idea-sing to yourself. Sounds silly, but when you sing, you are breathing, and then relaxing. You can just sing quietly to yourself and if you are really worried about someone saying something, just tell them to mind their own business or that you just have a song stuck in your head;-)

Don't be discouraged. You are doing fine! You haven't been back in lessons that long. Guess what? No matter how old you are, there are always people younger who are better at whatever sport you do? Guess what, I am 26, and this past winter, I took lessons from a 17-year-old (excellent rider that I respect and have known since she was 3. I actually gave her basic lessons when I was young...know what? She LIVES on a hose farm, has ridden horses all the time her whole life and was homeschooled so she could ride and show more...do you think I could beat that????). So, there you go, I was "schooled" by someone only 2 years older than you! Hehehe... She's great, though, and cheap! She has broken and trained 2 horses...that have won all firsts in their first show--junior and adult high point overall!

I digress... The first thing that you have to lose is worrying about age (see above). Did you watch the olympics this summer? A guy was jumping in the olympics for the first time at the age of 60! You are 15. So, I think you have pleeeeennnnnnty of time! :)

Important:

1. Make sure that you call all around your area and find the best riding instructor for the money you can pay. The first part of your question is not your fault. I too suffered from poor early training. My first instructor basically taught me how to tack, groom, stay on a horse, wtc...barely. My second instructor was like...wrong, wrong, wrong...hehe. Actually, you will find that almost every instructor changes a little somethign about you. However, the best instructors should agree on most everything. So, get a great instructor, and the next great instructor won't tear you apart.

2. Get thick skin. You/your parents are paying to get your money's worth. Of course, an instructor should be encouraging and not mean, but take instruction as instruction. Don't feel bad about it...just listen and try your best to correct it.

3. If you feel uncomfortable, tell your instructor. I have taken group lessons before where the instructor would let some canter one at a time and then you stay in the center when the others canter all at the same time.

4. DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO JUMP. Never jump until you have an excellent seat and confidence at wt&c. You need to be solid and confident or you will eventually eat dirt.

Anyway, it will take time. Some people get it quicker than others. Some have more time and money than others. Unfortunately, that is life. If you make sure that you have a great instructor who knows his/her stuff, you have patience, you have endurance, you stick it out, and you just worry about you (not the other kids). You'll be fine.

if it makes you feel any better, I rode in an adult jumpin class, but one week i missed (this was about 3 years ago...mostly into dressage now). Anyway, I had to ride with 12-15 year olds! Ha! It was actually fun. I was definitely better than them...they were a class down...but still. You know what? I made the most of it! I asked them about school, complimented, them, asked how long they'd been riding, suggested they work around the barn a little to learn more, etc.

You are the "cooler" older one! So talk to the young girls, get them to like you, and they will cheer their cool, high-school classmate on.

You can do this, and you're doing fine! Now, I want you to make sure you have a great instructor. Then, I want you to try your best and ride as often as possible and watch other lesons and hang around the barn as often as possible. Next, save your questions somewhere--hang it on the wall if you want. I guarantee if you do all that, a year from now you'll say to yourself...who was that girl? you'll be comfortable at a canter and starting crossrails, and you'll be starting to answer these same type of questions on yahoo answers!

Good luck, and don't give up! Do your best!

You remind me a lot of myself. :) I move to a new barn about a year ago, and there were two other girls there my age, and they were way better than me I had a lot do learn (I was also doing a lot of things wrong!).

The best thing to do is focus on yourself and your riding. If you worry about the other people, they will just distract you and you won't ride as well. The only way to improve is to PRACTICE! The more you do it, the better you will get. It just takes time! Don't worry that there are younger kids who are better than you. If you feel self-conscious or you mess up, just laugh about it! Believe it or not, those younger kids will look up to you since you are older, even if you aren't a better rider than them. Just be happy and have fun! It always makes learning easier.

Don't worry if you instructor is pointing out your faults...she is only trying to help. Do your best to do what she says, and you will improve quickly and she will start complimenting you! :)

Good luck, and remember not to worry what the other people think! You WILL improve and become a better rider. It just takes time! And since you are older, you actually have the upper hand because you are more mature and able than those younger kids. If your friend asks if you've begun jumping yet, just laugh and tell her you've got a few things to fix before you start jumping. :) Just relax and have fun!

I hope this helps. Happy riding! :)

Caroline

you WILL get better, everyone feels like that at some point. Just have your stirrups in the middle or wherever they feel comfy. I used to have the leg problem, if you grip with your knees then it will make it easier to bring them back. For the back thing, make so there is a straight line from your shoulders to your hips to your heels ( this will also help with the lower leg problem). For the stirrup thing, put all your weight down in to your legs and feet and push it down into your heels, then keep your toes straight forward and the stirrups shouldn't keep coming off.

don't worry about the other girls, they've probably had way more experience at riding, and maybe it comes more naturally to them. If you carry on doing what you love and really focus on the things you need to improve on when riding then you will get better. Once you have have got your center and trot sorted you can be doing very small fences.

Don't feel bad, you haven't been riding for that long. Just listen to your Tuesday instructor, and for you Wendesday lesson I would talk to the trainer about either switching you into another lesson group, or maybe not do some of the stuff the other lesson kids do. If you try to do stuff that is really to hard for you, it can actually make you a worse rider. Ask your tuesday instructor to put you on the lunge to work on your canter (if she believes you are ready). Good luck!

I sometimes lose a stirrup when cantering, so try to put a little more weight into your stirrups, heck go into a slight "2-point" if you feel unstable. If you don't feel comfortable cantering, don't. It'll only make it worse.

I've been riding 3 years, and sometimes still get nervous at a canter. If you know your horse is safe, ask your instructor to put you on a lunge line and ask the horse to canter. You'll be able to focus on you for a moment, and then you'll be ready to try it solo. Don't move on if you don't feel confident.

Practice makes perfect, my dear.

No one is born a perfect or very good rider, we all have to learn.

First - make sure you have stable control of your horse, then control of you. Make sure your back is straight, elbows slightly bent, heels down. Make a song out of it, repeat it in your head and check to see if all is correct.

Breath, look forward, and sit back.

Three main keys to a relaxed ride. I still have problems myself, but just focus more on you and the horse. Ignore everyone else [but the instructor, of course!]

Good luck. :]

Ok, here's a hard truth in life: not everyone is equally talented at all things. I used to believe that all it took is practice and anybody could get to the top levels in riding. But that's simply not the way the world works. Just like not every little boy who wants to be a professional football player will ever make it to the pros (no matter how hard they practice), not every person can be an Olympic level rider. Riding comes easier to some people than others. Natural athletic ability makes a difference. Just like a horse with good conformation will be able to jump higher, turn better, run faster, etc, a rider with the best build for riding will learn and advance in their skills more quickly and with less effort. Unfair? Sure. But that's life.

That said, just about anybody can become a good enough rider to enjoy riding and develop advanced level skills. But we're not all going to the Olympics. That's no reason to get discouraged and quit riding. I'll bet you were never intending to go to the Olympics anyway. Don't torture yourself by constantly comparing yourself to other riders. It's not going to make YOU any better. I'm not a naturally talented rider myself. What I have observed in all my years of riding horses is that for many of those riders to whom riding comes easily, they eventually lose interest and quit. Those of us who struggle and keep working at it tend to stay in horses for life. We just keep plugging away until we get it. That's why we enjoy it so much. It's so satisfying when you finally master a new skill.

So keep working and I promise you, the skills will come! Just concentrate on your basics and don't push yourself to try things for which you are not ready. All that will happen is you will learn bad habits like getting tense when you canter. Keep practicing trotting until you are so comfortable with it that you're getting bored! Then you'll know you're ready to canter. Don't be afraid to discuss your comfort level with your instructor. If something makes you nervous, tell your instructor. If the instructor tries to push you into something you don't feel ready for, look for a new instructor.

Some more tips: First of all, it sounds like you are getting lots of conflicting advice from different instructors. Find the one who works with you the best, and stick with the same instructor. There is no 1 correct way to ride, so different instructors will have different methods. When you are a beginner, it's hard enough to learn one way to ride, let alone trying to change your riding from day to day to accomodate different instructors. Another tip is to practice trotting without stirrups on a nice slow comfortable horse until you are comfortable with it before working on canter again. That way if you do lose a stirrup, you will be confident enough to handle it. And the reason you lose your stirrups is that you are drawing your legs up in an attempt to grip with them. The best way to fix this is to take a couple private lessons on the lunge line so the instructor can handle the horse and you can hold onto the saddle with both hands to pull your seat down and find your balance.

And definately don't even think about jumping for quite some time yet. You are only 15, so you have many many years ahead of you to learn. Just take things one step at a time and eventually you will get it!

Just take it slow. Never be embarrassed about your riding. Some people are great at singing or dancing or running races, some are good at riding, too. No one is good at everything. Riding may not be your strong point, but if you work at it, you will get better. Tell your instructor you want to take a step back. Start at the walk. Get the feel of correct positioning at the walk. Keep your heels down, your thumbs up. Concentrate on a straight line through your head, shoulders, seat, knees, and heels and keep that line. Once you are confident with your posture at a walk, going both ways and circling, pick up a sitting trot. Work that out too. Once you have that, add posting. You need to post from your kneed up, push down with your heels and keep you legs below your heels still. To get to this point may take 3-4 lessons, don't move up to the next step until you feel you are perfect at the one before. If you have trouble with something, take a step back and master the previous exercise again. Once you are 100% confident at the walk, sitting trot, and posting trot, going both ways, doing circles and serpentines, then move on to the canter. Ask for it on a corner so your horse will pick up the correct lead. Canter in a straight line down the long end and ask for a trot before the next turn. Get comfortable doing that before asking for a canter circle. Once you are confident in cantering both directions and circles, then start on flying lead changes. Once you have those down, you are ready to start jumping. It may take 6 months to get there, but you will be doing it *right* and that is so so important. Your friends may be flying over jumps, but who will look better at a show? You in a low level, looking like you know what you are doing, excellent control and positioning, or your friend, heels up, shoulders forward, elbows out flying over jumps?

The time you take now to learn right the first time is going to be so worth it in the long run!

Of course you will!

Just believe in yourself :D

okiee, first of all, you should most likely concentrate on one thing. For instance, practice on keeping your legs at the girth. It's tough, but you'll do it. You will really have to work those knees by pressing onto the saddle so that your leg doesn't move.

Also, make sure you sit straight up in your saddle (posture counts!)

& don't worry, you just need practice & in no time you'll be able to jump! o:

you know, i am feeling the same way! but i have been riding for 6 years! i would suggest having your mom or a friend video tape you riding. and also do a bit of taping on someone who has been riding for longer. i realized some things that we were doing wrong when i watched the tape. but you WILL get better, especially since you have instructors. maybe you should take a bareback lesson once or twice a month. that will help.