Back in the Saddle: 7 Years On
After a 7-year hiatus from horse riding and making the decision to get back into it last year (before lockdown threw a spanner in the works), I was finally able to have my first lesson back recently. Following years of toing and froing with regards to getting back into the sport, I realised I had spent far too long denying myself of one of the things I truly love to do.
As a bit of backstory, I rode from around the age of 9 until 14 at a few different equestrian centres around Hertfordshire and all in the English style of riding; primarily dressage, in which I briefly competed, and some jumping here and there. I used to volunteer my weekends as a kid to help out with riding lessons and birthday parties, hacking out with and supporting children even younger than me and looking after the many horses on the yard I was at in Welwyn. I was that horse-obsessed kid! I loved the responsibility and being around the horses and I even strengthened some of my greatest friendships through being at these places. However, it always felt like there was something missing.
Riding in the mountains of France years ago truly opened my eyes to what else is out there and the fact that not everything has to revolve around English (as is standard when finding a place to ride in the UK). Although riding ability was briefly judged prior to the ride abroad, it was very much a “get on and get up” experience; so very different from the riding lessons I was used to but something I loved. Sat up on a Lusitano brought over from Portugal who was deathly afraid of water, I sure learned a lot, and fast! These experiences just further confirmed my love for trail riding and being out in nature on horseback. It’s a very different feeling of connection and freedom than what I was used to back on the local yards, and it felt like the horses were enjoying themselves so much more, too. Nature can also be explored in such a unique way as you are essentially one with the wildlife, who pay much less attention to a 4-legged creature than a gaggle of tourists!
I can only speak here from personal experience-and there are always going to be bad apples regardless of the sport in which you find yourself-but the majority of the yards I rode at back home had quite the ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude and it unfortunately felt very much as though there was a hierarchy; people, especially adults, being unsupportive and envious of each other rather than showing support to riders of all levels and lifting each other up. Stressy instructors led to stressy students and horses, or so I came to see, and I have since been determined to find somewhere where the opposite is true.
After more research into it over the past year, I once again came across Western riding and immediately knew it was something I wanted to get into and fully immerse myself within. Having ridden occasionally in a western saddle at my first riding centre, I was at least vaguely aware of the different discipline-which is sadly not very big within the UK, although there are select instructors and riders doing an incredible job of supporting and promoting the sport within the UK; British Reining and Western Equestrian Society are two of the key organisations over here. Western may very well have been something that I ventured into sooner if it weren’t for the judgments made by people on the yards I used to ride at; some even thought those who rode Western were somehow less competent or professional, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
This research lead to the discovery of Sovereign Quarter Horses, a centre for western riding lessons, camps and clinics as well as a leading Quarter Horse breeder within the UK.
I was overjoyed to find that there is such a renowned centre for Western equitation and instruction within the UK and with such incredible instructors: David Deptford of Sovereign Quarter Horses has a brilliant record of championships and representing GB in the sport of reining (https://www.fei.org/stories/sport/reining/everything-you-need-know-about-reining), with fellow instructors Sarah and Olivia also holding very impressive achievements in a range of western riding disciplines.
The instruction I received on my first lesson back truly went above and beyond what any other instructors in the past were able to provide me, and I can truthfully say I felt I learned more in that single hour than I did in the years of riding at other places. I felt 100% comfortable in the saddle (helped, of course, by how wonderfully trained their horses are), even overcoming a past fear of cantering after I was bucked off during a lesson at my old centre. I walked away from the lesson feeling so much more confident in my riding and more than ready to return next month for my next lesson.
David’s calm, understanding manner of teaching immediately instil you with a sense of ease in the saddle and you are given the time and space to get a feel for things until you are pushed safely out of your comfort zone. It is so much easier to feel immediately passionate and excited about the sport when you are being taught by people who genuinely want to see you do well, while also allowing you to think and learn independently. Whereas lessons at my previous stables consisted mainly of being told to strictly follow each other around the outside of the arena, this lesson with David gave me the freedom to move about the arena as I wished from the get-go-unsurprisingly, you feel much more in control and competent!
It is safe to say that coming back into the sport after a break was definitely the right thing for me; being a little older, more experienced and more in tune with myself allowed me to fully focus with absolutely zero distractions, and it felt incredible to be so in tune with the horse. It is so exciting to have found one of the things that really ‘clicks’, something I can continuously work on improving within, and I am eagerly looking forward to what is to come in this journey!
For further information about SQH and information regarding lessons, events and clinics: https://sovereignquarterhorses.com/about/
