Have you ever had a lesson on a Schoolmaster? I have had several over the years.

As a teenager I had lunge lessons on my Instructor Sandra’s horse so we could work on my posture without me worrying about what he was doing.

I then had a few lessons at Talland in 2003 on a horse I think called Slick. I had a locum job not far away, and as I couldn’t get to Pammy’s lessons near home, I popped along to Talland after work instead. The best thing about Slick was that I rode my 1st flying changes on him! He wasn’t easy though, and I had to get the aids right; certainly no arm-chair riding allowed there.

Since then, I’ve managed a few more random lessons at Talland when Baz was the only horse I took, and it meant he could have a rest whilst I carried on learning.

The best thing about schoolmaster (or schoolmistress) lessons is that you only need to think about YOU. The horse knows exactly what it is doing, it knows which aids mean what and also which random leg-flapping, hand pulling signals to ignore. So you have to ride correctly, but when you get it right you get the right answers. This means that if you have a horse at home that is learning – doubly so if you and your horse are BOTH learning – you get to go and practice doing it right without worrying that the horse hasn’t got a clue either. When you then take your new-found confidence and skills back to your own horse, things often then fall into place more easily. If you then hit a problem, you can go back over what you learnt from your schoolmaster and then once again transfer to your own horse.

You don’t need to be a novice or have a novice/young horse to benefit from a schoolmaster; in fact I think most of us could do with a few ‘top-up’ sessions form time to time. There is no pressure – except to get the aids right – and that means as a rider you can focus 100% on you and not the horse, which is SO hard to do when it is your own horse isn’t it? Take away the emotion that comes with riding your own horse and you may find that you can function more clearly, and focus more effectively on what you need to do. Our own horses usually have a few quirks to say the least, which will have an impact on how we ride; anticipating a jump into canter, a lean in this transition or stiffness on one rein. This will be removed – although possibly replaced by different quirks in your schoolmaster – so you can concentrate on hopefully a more ‘correct’ and maybe straighter way of working. This can help you work on your own straightness and symmetry not just in how you sit, but how you use your body. This is excellent if you are 1-sided, have a ‘weak’ leg/fixed hand or general bad habits. Often, you and your horse know each other so well that you can hide each other’s asymmetries, but working on a different horse can highlight these much more because the horse won’t be used to you and will also expect the correct aids. You can learn so much about your body and go home with so much to work on.

If your horse is off work, lessons on a schoolmaster can be beneficial to keep you fit and maintain your skills. If you have had time off – especially through injury – you might find that lessons away from your own horse are a good way to regain fitness, skills, and possibly confidence without the worry that you will be taking your horse backwards. And speaking of confidence, if you have had a fall which has caused a loss of confidence – or even if you are just feeling that you are not as confident as you could or should be – riding an experienced horse that will ‘hold your hand’ a little may be just what you need; you will be more relaxed physically and mentally and achieve a whole lot more.

Right now, I suspect that most people are just desperate to get out and about on their own horses, but bear this in mind for the future. You will not only learn a huge amount to transfer to your own horse but will probably find you are inspired to up your game even more. Lots of training centres offer schoolmaster lessons, so have a look and make some plans!

Louise