So far I've only admired horses from afar, and had very little chances to actually ride. This September, however, I started university where I study to become a certified horse breeder.

I've seen many blogs on here where people show their progress with their horses and training and whatnot, so I thought maybe I could toss my story out there too.

September is pretty far now, so I guess I'll start with a little introduction and recap of the previous 2 months. It's a lot to comprehend in one go and to present in a way that doesn't become *too* boring, but I'll try my best! :D

My brief horse-history

I never learned how to ride properly, only took one class or two per year, usually during summer holidays, and in many places. With these random classes I got to the point where I was able to ride in trot by myself, but never cantered (except for a few little accidents, but never more than one or two strides). I used to help out with the two mares of my best friend, sometimes around their foals too when they had any, so I thought to myself that I would do just fine around horses in the future.

Well, turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong...

The University

With my university schedule, I spend 3 out of 5 days in the stable, and the rest two at the main building of the agricultural university, studying the theoretical classes. On Monday I have a 4 hour long riding calss, on Friday a 3 hour long one, and on Wednesday we only have 2 hours so we have riding theory and horse management/training theory that day.

I think I should mention that this university takes part in the national Gidrán* breeding program so the horses in possession of the university are all Gidrán, plus 2 draft horses for the driving classes. The rest of the horses at the stable are owned by other people and we never have anything to do with them. The university's Gidrán horses are not your usual school horses that are given to complete beginners. Or at least, not the kind I've ridden during those random classes. These horses seem sensitive and some a little high strung. There is even a stallion in the group that is ridden by the students - but of course, the stallion is always assigned to one of the more experienced students.

Anyhow, back to the story. On the first Monday we were asked about our history with horses, and out of the 15 people we had in the class, only 5 of us were beginners. I also requested to be put on the lounge first as at that point I haven't been on the back of a horse for like 3-4 years and I wasn't confident enough in whatever I remebered. The rest of the people, who claimed to be confident riders, got to ride around a little so the teachers could see their actual skill levels. While the others rode we stood on the edge of the paddock and watched them. At the beginning everything was fine, but one of the horses (Serény) started bucking and jumping around quite a lot. This behavior spread to a few other horses, and by the end of the "initiation" class it was kind of a hot mess. It traumatized me a little, not gonna lie!

The first hardship was that we had to get our own riding and grooming gear. Problem with this is that this information didn't reach me at all. So I was there, having to get everything in just a few days. With the help of my parents I managed to get everything I needed. The helmet had to be returned and a larger size bought, but this was also quite a journey as all the equestrian stores had a shortage of helmets. Especially the sizes I needed...

I don't quite remember anymore what happened that Friday, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get to ride a horse until next Monday.

The next Monday, on our first actual riding class, we were shown only very briefly how to groom and tack up a horse. It came to all 5 of us as a shock. We kind of expected to learn everything properly, so spending only 10 minutes with us and showing us everything in a hurry was very counterproductive. After class #1 we were expected to know everything from just that one time, which, we obviously didn't. We didn't even get to try the tacking up process. Just one person who stood closest to the intructor.

The riding part of that class was also strange. The good part is that we have our own instructor, and the 2 regular instructors don't have to divide their attention even to us. The bad part is that this instructor is also head of the course, and he has many classes in the main university building as well, so he's pretty busy and doesn't have much time for us. Especially at the beginning of the semester.

So, we all got a turn on the back of this lovely mare. And we were all made to walk, trot, and even canter. Needless to say, many of us fell that day. Thankfully I wasn't one of them, but it was still scary enough to see people drop. We didn't have to canter much, just a few strides. To me, he said "Let's see how you hold up in canter", and that's exactly what I did, grabbed the saddle and held on for dear life.

After the first riding class they expected us to know how to prepare our horse for the lessons. Obviously, we didn't. The instructors were mostly busy, so we asked for help mostly from our classmates. They were all so surprised when we told them that we were made to canter. Many of them said they wouldn't put us in a saddle until we have a sure sitting on the horse. Thankfully someone always helped us out, though to this day I don't know how to tie the "horse-knot" as we say it. When we asked our instructor, not even he could show us how to do it xD He fumbled with the rope a bit then told us that it doesn't really matter how we tie the horse so long we can untie it.

All in all, based on the first few classes, this whole thing feels rushed. The more experienced part of the class didn't even get to ride most of the time, they were only doing work in the stable, because the instructors were too busy with whatever other business they had. After the middle of October it kind of stabilized and now everyone gets to ride on the riding classes, but it still feels like they're rushing us beginners a bit too much. We canter at the end of every class, even though we don't have a sure sitting in trot.

*Girdán is one of the old traditional breeds of Hungary, and is an endangered breed. It has about 200 horses registered in total. The breed is an all-round sport horse, but especially used in eventing and cross country. All Gidrán horses are chestnut, all shades of chestnut are permitted.

Riding

The horse we were given for the lounge class is a pregnant mare, due to foal sometime in February. She's super sweet and the most patient horse I've ever seen. Even when four of us were fumbling with grooming her at the same time, she stood without moving much, head lowered, eyes almost closed. Even when the instructor was late and we had to wait 2,5 hours in the cold, with the saddle on her back, she just dozed off into sleep. She too, however, has her things that make it a bit harder for us. Once she starts cantering, even if only one stride or two, she would want to go again. And when she's asked to canter again she goes super fast at first. Sometimes she even bucks a little with the first person, that's how happy she is that she can finally go. She's also very sensitive to the boots, so it's very easy for her to jump into canter even when we don't want her to. Also once she realizes that it's canter time, you just have to think about cantering and she's already two strides in.

During the first few classes we did a couple of exercises like turning in the saddle this way and that, making circles with our arms, in walk and in trot as well. We are usually made to ride without stirrups, but sometimes we pick them up or drop them again. I personally like riding without stirrups much more. I feel like stirrups are just "in the way" and they always make me lose control over where I put my legs. Without stirrups I feel in balance, but as soon as I put my foot in, my feet tend to slide forward to not lose the stirrups. It's something I'm struggling with since the beginning, and still couldn't fix, in two months.

Thankfully our instructor is very understanding and patient with us. When I told him that I was scared of the canter, and he saw that my steps were shaking as I approached the horse, he didn't push me that class, but we did more of the exercises mentioned above. We also did one that we call "change of sitting" - not sure about the English word for this. I basically had to put one leg above the neck of the horse to the other side, hold the saddle with both hands, and then with one movement bring my leg back to the correct side but towards the tail of the horse. It's a little hard to describe, but basically I did a full circle with one leg, starting from one side, then above the neck to the other side, then above the rump back to the original side. He said these are good to boost confidence in the saddle and they worked wonders. That Friday I did more of these with the other instructor (because our own lounge instructor is only with us on Mondays) so my "saddle-fright" went away a little bit, and the next class I wasn't scared to ride anymore.

The last class, which was this Monday, was the very first time that I felt truly good in the saddle. At some point it felt like I'm somehow sitting "inside" the movement of the horse rather than "on top" of it. At that point the instructor noted that I'm sitting very nicely and deeply now and this is what I should remember. In this kind of position the canter was also not so scary, it was rather enjoyable! I even asked for an extra round of canter when the intructor said we could switch.

I think that the biggest challenge to me now, besides my fear of cantering, is the muscle strength. With only one proper riding class per week my "riding muscles" are not developing how they should and I lose grip at the knees after just 10-15 minutes. No matter how hard I try to close my legs and hold onto the horse, they just no longer work. Usually by the time I reach the canter part of my class I only rely on my balance, because my knees are just flying above the saddle, and even keeping them on the saddle requires a lot of effort. Due to this I also cannot properly do the "eased trot" as we call it without stirrups, because my legs are just not strong enough to lift me up, no matter how hard I try to hold on.

I like how your not training or wanting to be a vet probably every person who likes horses that I know wants to be a vet and I'm over here like that's not the only thing you can go to college for.

Funny thing is, I wanted to be a vet when I was little. Even went to a special biology-focused class in high school for it. But then chemistry came and I just couldn't understand it for the life of me so I gave up on becoming a vet xD

see yeah I feel like no one understands how hard the work is the girls at my school wouldn't survive one of vet classes pretty sure they can't even finish an ag assignment on time when we where given like a whole month to watch some videos and do like 3 quizzes

I'm really enjoying following your progress!

(I know it's a recap, but still haha)

I'm not sure if you are allowed to ride out of class, however I recommend doing some bareback work (with permission of course). It's really helpful. My seat improved tremendously, and I am a lot stronger and better at holding on for longer periods. You can also practice some exercises outside of class, I know I'm going to fail at explaining these, so I would suggest to just look them up online

There's also multiple ways to tie a quick release knot (horse knot) and those can be found online as well!

I'll take a video of me tying my horse today as well, and show you one of the ways I do it :)

It can take a little practice but once you do, it only takes a few seconds

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I'm sorry one of the instructors is like that. One of the boarders at my barn has a trainer that comes and the horses really don't like him. He's just.. off. My horse is normally quite calm, but that trainer makes him jumpy (makes me jumpy too)

I guess the best thing you can do is watch and make sure not to be like them.

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Anyways, good luck! I'll be sure to keep following your updates :)

if you cant ride bareback you can always drop your stirrups its not as good as bareback but it helps