It's annoying when a horse shoves me with his head or gets into “my space.” I might push the offending animal out of the way or make it move over. I can imagine how much this action from the horse might intimidate someone who doesn’t know what to do and has not had positive experience with horses.
For just a minute, put yourself in the place of a student facing their first few opportunities for handling an animal 8-10 times their size, and certainly dozens of times the size of the family dog. Picture yourself dealing with an overly friendly elephant. He steps your way with his big feet, and pushes you with his giant head. That would be a little scary.
The student is especially aware of the horse’s size and strength once mounted, plus now they must exercise their limited control over where he goes and how fast, plus the student has to deal with their own awkwardness.
As a riding instructor, I must understand how my new student processes this current situation. I want the experience to be positive so that I can help develop a strong foundation for future lessons. With a few considerations, I can build in a positive direction.
Common Sense
This is why we need saint-like school horses. I’ve heard lots of stories about how a rotten pony made someone a tough rider but I also know countless stories about people who gave up riding because of the same sort of beast. If we want our industry to grow we cannot relegate riding achievements to only the strong and determined individual.
Also, using assistants with beginner students can save a beginner program. Someone needs to be nearby, either with a hand on a horse or ready to help, if the student is uncomfortable or compromised. Give assistants instruction on communication with their rider so they can relay problems to you.
Communication and building a strong foundation is also why mixing age and riding levels at the beginning stages isn’t ideal. You will communicate differently with an 8-year-old than you will with an adult.
As I looked through a post I wrote in 2016, Fear in Beginners - A Lesson Plan, I realized the suggestions, exercises, and comments from the reader instructors are as relevant today as they were back then. The instructor comments are gold as far as extra tips go. The universal thread was to give students small wins. A win is a win no matter how tiny. All those pebbles go a long way toward building the foundation of confidence.
I love how the instructors broke exercises and activities down to the smallest pieces.
Jen said, “Great post! Ground work and building a relationship with the pony make such a difference. If a kid considers the pony to be her friend she is more inclined to lead rather than force.
Once mounted, my favourite is lots of games! Especially for kids. It gets their mind onto something else and all of a sudden they are doing it. Once they realise (and I often need to point it out) they get a huge confidence boost. For the very fearful ones we take it very slowly at the start – ‘lets just take one step’ then ‘now lets try two steps’ etc. Before they know it they have taken 20 steps and are smiling.”
Beth also reinforced my appreciation for ground work when she commented, “When teaching students ground work, I do several different activities in the arena.
1) I put out a series of orange cones that the student has to weave through 2) Parallel trot poles for the student to walk the horse though – then back up
3) I lay out a series of trot poles – 3 to 5 of them that the student has to walk the pony though
4) I have a big horse play ball that the student has to walk the pony around with out touching it
5) I have a mug race game so I have the student get the mug from the pole and place the mug on the next pole.
6) I have a tarp that all of my horses are accustomed to being walked and ridden over…so the student gets to do that too.
I like to have the student walk and trot in hand at the beginning of the lesson, then I have them do all of these exercises at the walk and or trot so by the end of the lesson they have both gained confidence on and off the pony.” Read the comments for the rest of Beth’s suggestions.
Sigrid suggested focusing on feel (yes you can teach riders to find “feel.”) “I really like your blogs…..feel like I am on the same page! I teach a lot of beginners and they love the Feeling Game. At this stage they are still being hand walked in their lesson. I use this game to emphasize feeling and hearing the movements of the horses feet and teach awareness of how the riders body sways with the horse at a walk, halt and back up, circles both directions and walking over obstacles. We start with riders eyes open and I explain what we are doing….for example relaxed walk 20 steps, halt, back up 3 steps, working walk 30 steps, circle etc. make this as long or short as you need. Then have the student close their eyes and do the same routine again, talk them through what is happening. Lastly do the exercise again and have them tell you what’s happening. Once they get the concept, do another series but start with students eyes closed, tell them what’s going on then have them tell you. You can make this simple to complex to accommodate your rider, all my fearful students love love this….they smile big and feel big on their horses after we do this one.”
Reading these instructors comments energizes me.
In a nutshell
- Give students ground experience so they can achieve control in basic things like leading and turning. I’ve found once they gain a bit of control on the ground, they are more confident on horseback.
- Break the experiences down to the simple and don’t miss their achievements. Beth suggests trying, “Who can walk the slowest – my lazy pony always wins this one!”
- Play games.
- Use simple obstacle patterns on foot and then mounted.
And here's my bonus suggestion:
Get students to answer questions about colors of horses, markings, parts of the horse, parts of equipment (like what are the things your feet are in), what horses eat. Let them tell you what they know, while you or the other students drop new knowledge. A mind that is working on these topics has less room for fear.
The Result
Normally, if you can help a student overcome fear, they will enjoy their lessons and will give them priority in their life which helps to create long-term riders.
Be sure to check out Fear in Beginners - A Lesson Plan.
I love when instructors share their ideas and opinions with the rest of us, so please, if you have any thoughts about fear in students, share in the comments. The more ideas and knowledge we share, the more interesting and safe we can keep lessons.
Here’s to teaching great lessons to terrific students.
Barbara Ellin Fox
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