Erica,
Thank you for your kind comment. I love your suggestion utilizing visualization homework. Replaying good points and positive change is a great idea and could especially be helpful for adults that are a bit timid or nervous. Thank you for making this suggestion. And thank you for reading The Riding Instructor. Barbara Fox

Dear Emily,
Thank you so much for your encouraging comments. It really lifted my spirits tonight!
Barbara Fox

Patti,
I love what you are doing with your friends. Riding is exciting and important but there are so many benefits (for the horse and the human)from the time spent on the ground with horses. You are doing something special.

I agree with you 100% about parents taking “Horse 101”. Years ago, when my daughter was small, she took violin lessons. I was required to learn the basics so that I could understand how hard it was for her. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Another advantage to parents taking a basic class is that they it can prevent that gap between parent and child that often happens with riding when the kids learn so much.

Thanks for your good comment and thank you for reading The Riding Instructor

Barbara

All parents whose kids are taking lessons should be required to take a “Horse 101”, at least so they understand why a one hour “lesson” actually requires three hours of prep and aftercare and why they may have to wait an extra half hour while their child cools off their pony or why their child is so devastated when their favorite mount is hurt , sick or sold. And what parent hasnt been asked to hold the horse at a show while their child goes potty before a class – can they do this safely?

Another good, thoughtful article – thank you!

“Teaching can be draining for good instructors. We put a lot of effort and care into our students, wanting them to succeed and love horses. When students are struggling we don’t receive much back which can be pretty discouraging. It’s one of the reasons we need to encourage one another.”

Well said, and there are so many types of struggle. We have the US Army War College here in town. With every class we get new students, either Army officers, their wives or kids. Our country has been at war for over 10 years. Military families have struggled for a long time. High divorce and suicide rates.

And then there are the “regular” struggles, low natural athletic ability, attention deficits, the know-it-all over empowered youths of today. The list goes on. I think teaching riding was easier 10 or 20 years ago.

But the rewards are enough for me. The successes keep me going. It is good, I think, for instructors to share the challenges they face each week.

Thanks

Hi Cassie,
When students sign up for lessons I have them write a little bit about their goals on the lesson application. Periodically I go over the applications and usually find that my goals have over shadowed their goals, especially when it’s a student who just wants to learn about horses. I have a progression that I want to move them along with because I know how much there is to learn. It’s also because I know that once they get past the struggling beginner stages, riding becomes so much more fun. When that happens, teaching becomes more fun right along with it.

We have a traditional riding program and don’t teach therapeutic riding except for with a boy who has down syndrome. I know people say this all the time, but Will was a gift to us. Will is so delighted just to see the horse and have the chance to ride that he reminds all of us that the joy is in having the opportunity and experience. Will doesn’t speak with us but just bubbles with excitement. No one is worried about how quickly he progresses which gives us the opportunity to absorb Will’s joy of riding. You can’t walk away from his lesson with out smiling. Will gives us our “fix” for the week!

Teaching can be draining for good instructors. We put a lot of effort and care into our students, wanting them to succeed and love horses. When students are struggling we don’t receive much back which can be pretty discouraging. It’s one of the reasons we need to encourage one another.

I like that you’re willing to keep students at a level for as long as they need it. They come out much stronger for it. Keep up the good work.

And thank you for encouraging me!

Barbara

Dear Bob,
Thank you so much for your very kind comment. It’s very interesting to me to work with the types of students that come for lessons in 2015. Like you, I’m used to a different back ground and grew up in the generation that believed you could achieve what ever you wanted if you worked hard and worked smart….work being the operative word! That generation made opportunities for themselves. We became the audience at the schooling arena, the kid who would work for the opportunity to hang around the barn…at the beginning my lessons were confined to a really great summer camp program named Equitation Lodge and for the rest of the year I figured it out with my own horse or one from the summer camp program. Since I didn’t come from a horsey family, I was on my own. I drained the library of every book that had the word horse in it’s text! And was regularly glued to Fury, My Friend Flicka, Roy Rogers and any cowboy show just because it had a horse in it! I remember riding my horse home and sneaking my mother’s vacuum cleaner out to take care of his loose hair in the spring. Eventually my Dad banned me from riding in the yard. It was killing the grass. And the school hated finding manure on their ball field. They banned horses in general! I was obsessed. That was the late 50s and early 60s.

Kids are shaped and directed differently in this generation and so we end up in sort of a “Love the one you’re with” situation. I find myself looking for ways to replicate some of my horse life for them- certainly not the part about destroying lawns- but finding ways for them to spend the time with the horses.

I love your attitude about teaching and by offering half leases in the summer you’re creating opportunities, too. I also like the idea of Equestrian Summer Camps- as long as they are well done. Camps give kids the time with the horses and with other horse kids.

The snag I run into frequently is parents who do everything for their children, not wanting the child to suffer or struggle; seeing failure as a bad thing. But that’s a whole other topic which I’ll save for another day.

Thank you again for your comment. Your input always stimulates my mind.
Barbara