Learning to Horse Ride - Horse Riding Lessons

I haven't really had many riding lessons and whilst I know to become a really good rider they are probably important I'm just not sure how enthusiastic I get about lessons which seem so regimented compared to the pony trekking I normally do.  I have been lucky enough to go pony trekking nearly every week since the start of the season and have definitely learnt a lot over the last six months.  I can now trot and canter comfortably on when we are out pony trekking but ... my rise on the trot is not as well controlled as it should be and sometimes I slam down on the saddle a bit and my canter is reliant on me holding the reins in one hand and a big bunch of mane in the other to ensure I keep my balance.  That said the ground tends to be pretty rough and bumpy out on the mountain so that handful of mane has definitely saved me from a couple of falls when the horse has slipped.  However, in contrast to the riding school horses, the trekking horses are not schooled and do not respond to leg aids in general but are trained more along the lines of follow the leader.

My first two riding lessons were designed to give me some confidence as it was eight years since I last went pony trekking and I had booked in for a full days pony trek - mad or stupid I don't know but I survived it.  The lessons were not overly successful as the horse was more interested in going to the middle of the ring to nuzzle it's owner than responding to my commands even in a walk.  That said I enjoyed them and was eager for more.

The third lesson was after some 10 hours pony trekking and there was a noticeable improvement and I appeared to have a perfect command of the horse during the walk. I seemed to be mastering the leg aids with apparent ease.   However, when we tried the trot I struggled despite having apparently got to grips with it whilst trekking.  The problem being that whilst trekking beginners were encouraged to hold onto the saddle whilst trotting to give confidence and progress people quickly so the trek could proceed at a reasonable pace.  This was considered a complete no no at the riding school I attended.  Secondly, trotting round the ring required an ability to steer the horse as well as stay on which I struggled with when trying to trot.  The horse was a fast trotter and I was continuously told to rein him in because he was a "trotter" and "could trot faster than most horses canter" allegedly.  Given my difficulties in steering, we agreed we should try practising the trot in the lane until I had the rise confidently and could then worry about steering.  The first few trots up the lane went fine as I trotted a short distance towards the instructor.  Then when we turned around, he asked if I was happy to try the next trot without him in front of me.  I happily agreed and asked the horse to trot on.  Seconds later, it took off!  I may have screamed and he was yelling "heels down" and "lean back".  I was panicking as there was a bend at the end of the lane down into the farmyard with who knows what round the blind bend - kids playing, a car, another horse.  I think I may have managed to slow the horse down sufficiently to stop if I had needed to, but luckily one of the grooms who was lead reining one of the kids at the end of the lane caught my reins.  According to the post mortem afterwards I had, unwittingly, instructed the horse to canter by putting my feet in the wrong place.

It was a while before I ventured back for a fourth lesson but with my trail ride approaching which was intended for experienced riders, I thought a lesson may help me improve my skills in advance of the trail ride.  (Although, I was the most inexperienced rider on the trail ride, I rode regularly at the trekking centre so they were fully aware of my ability or lack of it based on their own assessment rather than mine.)  Unfortunately, during this lesson, they did not allow me out of a walk and said that my rise was not controlled enough and I needed to practice it at a walk for longer before they would allow me to try trotting.  I was not "gripping hard enough with my thighs" and "my elbows were in the wrong place".  Basically, everything was wrong.  To make things worse, when I returned to the pony trekking, they spent the next couple of weeks berating me for the deterioration in my riding as I struggled to even find the rhythm for a trot when the week before it had been no problem.  I was so focused on all the things I had been told I was doing incorrectly that I seemed to forget all the things I had been doing correctly and do them wrong as well.

With the end of the trekking season looming, I am not sure whether I can go five months without getting on a horse so I am considering lessons again over the winter on a regular basis.  I didn't seem to gel with the last riding school I tried so I was thinking of trying somewhere different.  Any tips or advice on choosing a good riding school would be welcome.  What should I look for and will I ever reconcile the laid back style of riding on the treks with the more formal English riding style at the riding schools.  It might be worth adding that I have no aspirations to jump, do dressage or compete in any shape or form.  I just want to get out in the countryside on horseback, but to feel safer and more in control of the horse than I do at present.