Be a Sham-Wow
by Barbara Ellin Fox
What does it take to be a good riding instructor? Is a person a good riding instructor because they have been on the Olympic team? Are great competitors good teachers? Are good riders good teachers? Does a certificate or a rating make a person a good riding instructor? Does it take great patience to teach? Do you need good tools; such as good horses, the right facility, and super clients? Should you have trained with the big names in order to be a good riding instructor? Must you be from another country? Should you have taken a teaching course or studied psychology and learning styles? Do young horsemen and women make good instructors? Do old horsemen and women make better instructors? If I had to choose one quality that I would like to have in my riding students or my student instructors it would be “teachable passion”. The definitions for passion range from ardent love to the suffering of Jesus. An additional definition for passion is “boundless enthusiasm”. A person with boundless enthusiasm for a subject, in this case riding, is like a sponge. A person with passion studies their subject and makes the information their own. A person with teachable passion is ever learning, ever listening, ever observing, ever growing. Students and instructors with teachable passion are more like a “Sham-Wow”, soaking up 10 times its weight, than a sponge. Passion is a quality of a good riding instructor. Passion imparts enthusiasm and encouragement to students. Passion enables the instructor to stand at the center of the arena in the sun, wind, and cold, season after season, lesson after lesson. It gives us grit and makes it necessary for us to go the extra mile for our students. Passion keeps riding instructors “giving” endlessly to students and parents, and makes it possible to deal with the difficult situations. Passion helps to pull us up by the proverbial bootstraps when we hit the lowest of lows and it helps prevent instructor “burnout”. Teachable passion is a quality that you will find in most “upwardly mobile” instructors. This riding instructor is always learning more about horses, more about teaching her students, more about handling stress and competition, more about riding methods… The Instructor who has teachable passion is the person who is boundless; boundless energy, boundless enthusiasm, and is not bound by limitations. These are the teachers who produce great students and enduring horsemen. And these are the instructors who are still around to teach the children of their current students. Some of the synonyms for passion are zeal, inspiration, desire and enthusiasm. Each of these is an emotion. I’m not a football fan but I love Vince Lombardi. Vince Lombardi was a man who knew about emotions. He loved his sport and he loved life. His enthusiasm was contagious. Vince Lombardi said, “If you can’t get emotional about what you believe in your heart, you’re in the wrong business.” Vince Lombardi had passion. So I’ll ask you again. What does it take to be a good riding instructor? Or better yet- what does it take to be good at anything? Give me passion anytime. It motivates. It inspires. It helps us achieve our goals.
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