A good summary - a waste of time. I considered hauling both horses, just to show Susan what Ransom looked like, then leaving him tied to the trailer. After the 1/1 ride, I was pretty convinced he'd be a great lesson, and left Romeo at home.
As I took Ransom off the trailer, Susan seemed to want to be involved in all of it. When I mentioned Ransom doesn't waste time getting off the trailer, she suddenly acted like he needed her supervision. She made a huge dramatic deal about unloading him. I was misunderstood. I only untied him before opening the trailer door because the knot got stuck the last time I unloaded him, and he was hard to stop while I fiddled with it. So after much turmoil, he was off the trailer.
The lesson consisted of disagreements. I wasn't leading him correctly. She got out a lunge line, and free lunged him a bit. Unlike anyone else I've ever seen lunge a horse, she stood stationary, not even turning her body with his. It was very strange. I'm used to keeping my eye facing the horse, turning my entire body, even walking a small circle. When I did this, she said I was "chasing him", and forcing him to go faster. I didn't see a bigger trot when I lunged as opposed to her, so I figured difference of opinion.
To "improve his ground manners", she got out a stud chain. I should have right then and there refused, but I stayed quiet. The chain was placed over his nose, and again, I should have refused to let it happen, and I didn't. Ransom was a little more obedient, but still pushy. The chain didn't upset him, which is good to know. Nevertheless, I don't think he needs a chain, just a little more patience. He's been a lesson horse, probably allowed to be pushy and greedy, always looking for treats. The pushy behavior won't last at my house, but I won't be fixing it with a chain, either.
I never rode in the lesson, as I'd hoped. All the work was on the ground, and full of disagreements and me questioning why she insisted I do things a certain way. My leading habits weren't right, my showmanship halt wasn't right, my back-up cue wasn't right, I didn't tie a knot in the lead rope to the trailer right. It was almost ridiculous. He didn't have enough weight (I knew that! But it's not fixing overnight). I shouldn't lunge on side reins (even loosely) to build muscle - he's "too old" for that.
I was pretty bummed when I left the lesson. I essentially paid for her to "scout him", find things wrong, and keep me from riding. Frustrated, I didn't want Romeo to think it was his fault, so I skipped that ride, and instead ran errands in town for the afternoon.
Not a good start to the New Year in lessons.
2 comments:
Sounds a little as if she has her nose out of joint that you went out and found a horse without her, and now she's attempting to find non-existent holes in the horse you did find.
Neat point of view... I did NOT think of that, but I do suppose it's possible.
What a sour attitude to have, ya know?
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