MECHANICAL HORSE RIDING LESSONS - Part I

This week i had 2 mechanical horse riding lessons with Michelle Cogger at her yard near East Grinstead.

the reason i decided i wanted to have these lessons is that i´ve been suffering from a real lack of confidence due to some past bad experiences riding at my previous riding stables. i hoped that a few lessons on a mechanical horse would help boost my confidence by helping to improve my position and seat.

the mechanical horse at michelle´s yard is qutie impressive, it is so advanced that it is fitted with sensor pads which allow riders to work on their leg aids. There are also sensors in the mouth to allow the rider to work on the contact and the simulator has recently been developed further by introducing neck bend, showing riders how to keep an even contact on each rein.

on arriving at the yard, which is small but absolutely beautiful, i had a quick look round and found 8 lovely loose boxes and a fantastic indoor school completely surrounded by mirrors. the place looked like every horse owners dream! in one corner of the yard there was a large, open loose box from which i could hear a strange, mechanical noise and on closer inspection i found this to be my mount for the next 30 minutes! someone was in the middle of their lesson and i didn´t wish to interrupt so i went back to the car wondering what on earth was to be expected.

michelle came to meet me and was instantly warm and friendly. she took me in to the box where the mechanical horse "lives" and mounted me up. the stable the machine is in is surrounded by mirrors in front and to either side of you so that you can constantly check your own position and see what michelle is doing. michelle asked me to not hold on to the reins but to simply sit in my usual riding position with my feet in the stirrups, which i did. she instantly said i needed to sit back more on to my seat bones, and she held her arm along the length of my back to give me something to lean back on to, this instantly felt insecure and wrong because it was not how i was used to riding but was technically correct. leaning this far back also made my legs want to swing forward to it was quite an effort to keep those in an even vaguely decent position!

Michelle explained to me that at first the action of the horse would feel quite unusual and that rising trot was the gait most people found hardest as unlike a real horse the mechanical horse would not push you up out of the seat with every other pace so you had to learn to rise yourself without the aid of the horse underneath you. now, i´m not a confidence person, as i guess is obvious from this article but not only do i suffer from nerves i also lack confidence in my ability as a rider, something else i hoped these lessons would help me out with. however, i felt pretty sure that i could at least do rising trot! haha...WRONG!

sitting trot was quite comfortable and so we went to rising. at first i couldn´t even work out the rythm and when i was meant to rise but i soon got the hang of that, what also became apparent was that i normally tip forward slightly when i rise and so again, michelle had her hand at my back to give me some support to lean back in to to ensure that my seat was tucked well under me. however, as soon as she removed her arm, i lost my balance slightly and "bounced". we alternated between sitting and rising trot regularly and roughly every 10 minutes michelle would stop the machine and stretch my legs right out to loosen me up through the leg and thigh.

at the end of my first 30 minute session i felt absolutely exhausted and slightly less confident than when i started! i was convinced i was the worst rider michelle had ever seen and the only person who had the problems i seemed to be having!