Virtual Lessons Are a Game-Changer

Quick Aeres update before I start this post: She ate and swallowed food yesterday! Slowly, and she still can't drink water, but it's progress enough for us to have hope that the nerves are coming back. They put her back on the feeding tube overnight to get her hydrated and will leave it out again all day today. More to come!

On Friday I had my first ever virtual lesson with my trainer, who is still in Florida until next week. This is not only my first ever virtual lesson with her, it was my first time doing a virtual lesson at all.

Because my new phone is still not compatible with Pivo (but will be soon), my barnmate graciously agreed to video my lesson for me using Google Duo. She wore one of my Bluetooth wireless earbuds, and I wore the other, so that we could both hear CGP.

I don't know what I was expecting, but guys, this virtual lesson thing is a game changer. CGP has been teaching virtual lessons for a long time and was just as effective virtually as she is in real life. I ended the lesson having accomplished just as much, gotten pushed just as hard, and gotten just as much valuable information as I do when I go visit her. 

Totally forgot to screen record the lesson so there are no pics or vids. Next time!

The only "technical difficulty" I had is that there was a minuscule delay, maybe a half second or less, between when I did something and when she saw it and responded, or when she saw something and then told me to do something. That wasn't a dealbreaker though, and we didn't even discuss it, it just changed the cadence of the lesson slightly and made me quick to anticipate what she was going to ask me to do.

(And I should say, my lesson on Friday was primarily on quick and rapid fire transitions, so in a less intense lesson, you wouldn't notice the delay at all.)

On a macro level, I find myself getting really excited about this virtual lesson thing, as someone who has always felt disenfranchised (from a horse perspective) by living in the Midwest. If Indiana residents have access to the same quality of instruction as someone on the East Coast or in the Bay Area, that levels the playing field in ways that have never been possible before.

You mean I can have my $80,000 3700sqft fixer upper AND access to the top trainers in the country? Sign me the f*** up. (My house, six years ago!)

On a micro level, I find myself thinking about situations that were impossible before, like, oh my gosh I can conceivably lesson with CGP every single week now without taking PTO, spending thousands in gas and ulcer treatments, and putting the wear and tear on my truck. And wow, I could forgo the cost of Florida but keep riding with her all winter and not lose a step.

As much as I weirdly enjoy hauling, I cannot deny it's expensive and time-consuming

Now, are there downsides or things that aren't as good over video? Sure. Biomechanics-focused lessons are just naturally going to be better in person - especially for someone with a slow brain-body connection like me, it's a downside that she can't reach up and grab my leg and put it where it needs to be. She can't get on the horse herself if things are going sideways. If your barn doesn't have WiFi, it does use data - (an hour lesson used 0.49GB of data on my phone). And at least with Duo, we had to stay on a 20m circle because it can't zoom in and out. 

All that said, virtual lessons are here to stay for me. I signed up for a standing weekly 5:45pm virtual lesson, and hope to visit her in person once a month to augment what I'm able to get virtually. I'm excited to have weekly lessons once again!