A reader who has been a riding instructor for 10 years asked for my opinion on how to handle a difficult student. She agreed to wait for an answer while I put a post together to share. The student is a thirteen-year-old girl whom the reader has been teaching every other week for a year. […]
Teaching
Posts about teaching, teaching helps, lesson ideas for instructors
Good riding is as much the result of conditioning the rider’s thought processes and reflexes, as it is conditioning the body and learning skills. What a rider does or does not put into their mind will have direct bearing on what their body produces while riding. Automatic Reflexes Automatic Reflexes are the moves and reactions […]
A solid and correct base of support is one of the best gifts we can give to students because it’s the foundation of good riding and balance. Definition A quick Internet search for “base of support” produced the following from Physiopedia : The base of support (BOS) refers to the area beneath an object or […]
Writing about two-point was supposed to be easy. After all, two-point is the mainstay position for the hunter-jumper world. Definition I planned to start out with the definition of two-point used by the leading authorities. That seemed simple enough. Start with the definition and build from there. Right? Wrong. I looked through more than a […]
There have been a lot of conversations lately about the direction the horse business has gone, and what needs to be done to keep things from getting out of hand. But the horse industry is like popcorn kernels. Once they all puff up and explode you can’t get it back into the same jar. Rules, […]
The following simple exercise can be used for all levels of independent riders in a variety of settings and seats ranging from a pole on the ground to a jump. This Simple Exercise has Multiple Benefits How often do we teach riders to look at an inanimate object as they ride a line or direction? […]
An over-mounted beginning rider can have so many problems that I wonder why any instructor would allow it with their students. A Schooling Show Recently I visited a schooling show where I didn’t know any of the players. The show had a laid back, peaceful feeling at a great location. The classes ranged from walk trot poles […]
Do I recommend certification to student instructors? Would I tell prospective riders to look for only instructors who have certification? It all depends, because those are two questions that don’t have black and white answers. Because The United States doesn’t have a standardized certification program like the British Horse Society in England or The German […]
Why Rate the Gait? Before your students learn lengthenings, rebalancing, corner adustments or even takes a ride in the pasture they need to learn to rate the gait. It doesn’t matter whether you teach dressage, hunt seat, saddle seat, or western riding, the need is the same and this exercise will help. The need to […]
A Reader Requested: I would like you to present an article about the trainer instructors that keep riders “hostage” by: limiting opportunities to show at their convenience, refusing to allow independent riding, scoffing at going to clinics. The limiting factor for many kids is the horse trailer. You can’t go unless your trainer wants you to go…. […]
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