Hello folks - I know this is a rider forum, but I am on the other side as an instructor and I have some questions for you! I was just wondering how important is it for you all to have a really good instructor. If you are searching for an instructor for your child, what would you be looking for in them and their facility? Are you looking for someone to entertain your child or to really TEACH them about how to correctly ride? I'm just wondering because I am forever frustrated with wanting to teach what I feel to be the correct way to ride and am frustrated with pressure on pushing the kids before they have mastered different things such as control of different body parts like heels, lower leg, upper leg and seat, torso, arms and hands, etc. so they can progress correctly and become safer and effective riders! I just feel very strongly and was taught that in order to progress there has to be some mastery of something, anything, be it eye control, leg control or rein holding control. This isn't to just win ribbons, but to churn out good, quality horse people that are safe and effective! Any input you all can give me would be greatly appreciated!!!
Hello Rider. :) Well, I am not too sure on what I could give you as far as input goes, but I can share with what I enjoyed about my instructor. I must agree with you, you must master the basics before moving on to master much harder and challenging tasks such as galloping away. I lucked out with my instructor, I took my riding lessons when i was about 16 years old I suppose. She was very nice. She made sure I was well aware of the proper necessities to tack up a horse. She ensured that I was aware of how tight/loose my cinch was and so on and so forth. What I really liked about her though was that she was very blunt, openly admitted to being legally blind in both eyes. She had no problems correcting me on proper movements and positions of my body to make sure both me and the horse, as well as other riders, were safe. I personally only had to use her for the basics of horse riding and reminding me of the cues to direct the horse. Sorry if my post did not help so much, but I think it may have given you some sort of idea on what she was able to focus on.
I wish more instructors would teach kids about communication with the horses. I have seen far too many kids who are excellent riders technically, but are clueless about what their horses are trying to tell them during saddling, warm up, grooming, etc. Teaching a kid to capture a horse's mind and will before attempting anything physical would be teaching a kid to be a true horsewoman, not just a rider. ----------
Dixie Mom
"The art of riding: Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
I'm looking at it from both sides of the issue; I am an instructor (a couple of other people on here are, too) AND I periodically take lessons myself. I don't know if I have any advice that could help you, but I definately feel your pain, so here goes:
It sounds like you are in a place I found myself some time ago, until I decided I didn't need that kind of stress in my life. You are absolutely correct that there needs to be progressive learning, and it takes time to learn to ride correctly, and not every lesson can be exciting and fun. Learning to ride is a lot of hard work!
Here's the problem with trying to teach the average person to ride: I have found that most people, kids and adults alike, do not understand what's involved in learning to ride, and don't want to understand. They don't REALLY want to learn to ride, they just want to get on and have the horse be something like a bicycle they can just have fun on with no effort on their part. Problem is, that ruins the horse. I use my own private horses to give lessons on, and I don't want them ruined. Also, people like this tend to blame the horse for their own inadequecies. I get tired of hearing "This stupid horse can't do ANYTHING!" They don't want to hear that they are having troubles because they aren't doing something right. I now have a rule; first time you call my horse stupid will be the last time; if you think my horses are stupid you don't need to ride them. I have another rule; you ride my horse the way I tell you to or get off it.
Parents can be obnoxious, too; I remember years ago I used to put on little fun shows for my students, and there was this one mom who wanted me to allow her kid to barrel race so she could show her off to the kid's grandparents. I said no, because my horses are all trained to some degree on speed events, and at the time, I didn't have a horse that a beginner could take in speed events. The mom asked if she could just ride Rosie, as that is the horse she was taking her lessons on. Rosie is a good pony with kids for hunter and western pleasure and she is a good beginner horse, but show her a barrel and she WILL run. The kid was only six and did not know how to canter yet, but I knew if I let her ride Rosie around the barrels, Rosie was probably going to run, and the kid was going to be scared at the least, and probably fall off and be hurt. So I told the mom it wasn't safe and explained why; she was so mad she never brought her kid back. It was probably the best thing for the kid, though, her mom had her in soccer AND ballet AND piano as well as riding lessons (did I mention the kid was SIX). I have told several parents in the past that I refused to teach their child anymore because their child had no desire to learn and frankly wasn't having fun anymore, it was just frustrating for both the kid AND me.
There has been enough other stuff like this with people (not just kids) down through the years, that to save my sanity I will no longer teach anyone but serious students of horsemanship, and I explain this to people right up front. I only have two students at the moment, but both are going to be excellent riders and they really want to learn to ride and they are fun to teach.
Here's my 2 cents (actually it's probably only worth about half a penny, but hey): I would avoid parents who only want a fun activity for their kids like the plague if I were you. They tend to be the most rotten if they think the kid isn't progressing fast enough. These are usually the parents who become irate if Junior isn't galloping by Tuesday. You have to understand with these parents; one activity is usually just as good as another, and if horseback riding doesn't work out, there's always soccer or tap dancing or piano, but by golly, if they're gonna ride they'd better bring home those blue ribbons so they can show the grandparents how precocious their little "darling" is (and believe me, if they ain't winnin', the blame is all going to fall on you and that piece of crap horse you made them ride). Little girls who love crap like the Saddle Club tend to be real difficult to deal with, because they have this romanticized ideal of what horses should be like, and they are the first ones to give up because it's "too hard" or sit on the horse and scream bloody murder if it kicks a hind foot at flies. I don't want you to think that there aren't kids out there worth teaching; there are! I've had lots of good students through the years that made teaching worthwhile, and they have a love of horses that will last a lifetime, and enough skill they can enjoy riding them. But it takes some effort to weed out the chaffe.
Every student of mine MUST wear long pants, boots or hard shoes with a heel, and a proper ASTM certified riding helmet, no exceptions (I have spare helmets). They or their parents (if under 18) MUST sign a release form before their butt is ever on one of my horses, or if they bring their own horse on my property. Part of that release form states they recognize the importance of following instruction and AGREE TO OBEY SUCH INSTRUCTION. I also have a sign on my arena quoting state equine liability laws. There is one for every state, you can order them from State Line Tack, and I suggest you get one if you don't already have one. If you would like to see a copy of my release form, I would be more than happy to email it to you. Feel free to use it word for word if you'd like, just change that info that pertains to you (it does you no good if your students agree to hold ME harmless, after all ; )).
I would also be happy to share ideas and lesson plans with you if you have a need for such things, although you probably have lesson plans of your own. I do have ideas for some games that help kids learn what they need to learn and keep it from beeing TOO boring. Let me know if you'd like me to share.
Regardless of what you THINK people want, you need to be the best instructor you can be. Okay, maybe your students are bored, but they just haven't mastered the skills to move on. Better a boring lesson than an unsafe one, in my opinion. If this loses you students, so be it. If they truly didn't care enough to want to learn to ride right, they aren't worth having as students. You teach the way you know you need to to teach people RIGHT, don't lessen your standards for anyone, and the good students will find you and be darn lucky to have you!
I can't offer any opinion on what kids should learn apart from yes, the groundwork and relationship with the horse should be looked at first before anyone gets their bum in a saddle. From an adult's point of view, this is my idea of a good instructor.Bearing in mind I came to lessons after the accident and in a state of panic (probably different for non-traumatized pupils): I need clear advice delivered in a friendly manner. If I'm doing it wrong consistently I want to be told how to improve not just told off all the time. I want praise when I do it right and NO sarcasm when I don't. I want it to be enjoyable - if it's not I'll stop going (I did). I want empathy for my fears and I want my teacher to check out with me I'm getting what I want. I don't want her/him talking to their friends or protégés when teaching me. I do not want to be treated like a child. I have had good, bad and indifferent instructors. The very best is my horse trainer Jo who is fantastic with horses and people. Don't want much do I??????!!!!!!! I really think it depends on what you want to do in riding. I guess lessons will be different if you want to learn to do dressage or whatever or if you want to ride out on the trail safely. Whatever, I think the teacher and the pupil's goals need to be clear and going in the same direction. ---------- Bitless - not witless!
My instructor is great. She also teaches children as well. I went for a lesson with her after being thrown last year. She told me that the lesson would be what I was comfortable with. If I only was comfortable walking then I would only walk. My first lesson was at a walk on the end of a lead line. Then my second lesson there was no lead lines attached and I trotted. She had put me on a "more chalenging" horse to help bring more of my skills to the surface. She has done very well in the two lessons I have taken to pair me with good horses. She also made my daughter's lesson great. My daughter has been in the saddle a couple of times but she had never been full "hands on" (ie. controlling the horse/pony) My instructor and I talked about this and both agreed on where we would like to see her. My daughter was also rebuilding her confidence as well. (she saw me fall last year and has been terrified to get back in the saddle since.) My instructor worked with her the same way she worked with me. She worked with my daughter's comfort level and expanded it tremendously. It was a little bit of work but after the lesson my daughter asked "When am I going for my next lesson?" It is great to see children want to go riding. I know it will be a quite a while before she could join me on trail rides but she is striving toward that goal. She also likes my instructor as well and the way she teaches. The instructor we had prior just wanted to give my daughter "pony rides." I wasn't too happy with that. When I brought her to where I take lessons now it was totally different. The first lesson my daughter learned reign controll, leg pressure, and to watch her heels. (the instructor loves her riding posture.)
So to sum it up, Sorry I wrote a volume here, as long as a child is enjoying themselves, learning to ride correctly, and is safe I don't object. (Helmets are a must. My daughter and I both have our own.) The mintue they are pressured by parents or an impatient (or rude) instructor the fun is gone and it becomes work.
KUDOS! to Dog-shrink and LadyinBlack. I could not agree more. I'm the last one to blame a horse. I know if it's not going well, I'm probably the weak link. I like critical feedback but it needs to be constructive and build on what I AM doing well. Being positive is important. That's not to say you need to say what's not true, like someone has a good seat if they don't. I also know tho that you can get away w/ some feedback w/ adults you could not w/ kids. You can end up alienating them if you're too abrasive. I want the straight unadulterated truth, but I've failed enough on my own that I want the feedback. The one complaint I have is this......trainers that tell you to do this or that BECAUSE.... and give you no reasoning for why. I always wonder, "is that because that's just the way they were taught or do they even KNOW why to do it this or that way". Giving the reasoning, helps to guide the student into understanding the philosophy behind "rules" and helps the student differentiate between different methods and find what's best for them. One last thing. My husband coaches olympic level athletes, but he learned a long time ago that he is NOT good w/ little kids. He's just too harsh and blunt. He now only works w/ older kids or adults who are ready to hear his feedback. So you can be "right" or be "happy", but not always both, so if younger kids aren't responding to you, you may have to switch to a different population. Just my opinion.
my daughter had lessons on riding when she was much younger. She had several complaints and in the end no longer wanted to go. I can tell you what not to do based on her experience and hopefully you arent like this (I'm sure you are not as you are actually taking the time to find out what kids want) Here goes:-
The instructor would shout at her and she felt humiliated in front of the other children. Ok, the instructor was just correcting her but children can feel humiliation as much as an adult so children need to be treated with as much respect as any other adult customer. A quiet word on a one to one is easier to listen to when things go wrong.
I remember once she told me how in school she was asked to write something on the blackboard so the teacher could show the class her handwriting. She thought she was going to be praised in front of the class and felt so proud but the teacher used her handwriting to show how she disliked the way she wrote her "g". Again humiliation. So never use a child as an example on how things are done wrong infront of others.
The instructor would shout out terms that she didnt understand and was too embarrassed for an explaination a few weeks down the line. "Inside" "near" "on girth" "give him the cue". Its a foreign language to children....to anyone in fact.
Showing a child how to do something is so much clearer. Walk the way you want them to go around the arena and explain "this is what i mean when i say ride the diagonal" etc.
Dont assume children know their left from their right. Check first..you may be surprised.
Children learn better if they are having fun and feel they have achieved something. Yes the lesson should be learning the basics, etc but they must leave the lesson wanting more not glad that its over.
The instructor took groups, some would go on a trail ride, some have lessons in the sand school. No one remembered who went where last time and my daughter would have weeks and weeks in the sand school while other kids did more trail rides. She was not a bad rider...there were just no records on who went where.
The instructors were busy so instead of taking time with the kids my daughter sometimes felt they were just extra hands to clean the tack.
Children learn best by reward, not shouting or critism. Even the smallest thing they do right remember to praise them. They will literally grow 10feet tall before your eyes with pride and will adore you.
Children seem to like teachers who are happy and smile. After all, who wants to be in the company of a misery guts who looks like they would rather be doing something else.
..and if they are helpful remember to thank them. So many adults dont do that and her instructors at this place never did. Children may be children but they suffer the same emotions as adults.
As for their parents. When you are a parent its a natural instinct to protect your child. Remember they are the one who listens when their child gets in the car and say how upset they felt when such and such happened. They also want to feel they are getting their moneys worth and will be resentful if they dont feel that. Also some parents know nothing about horses and will be understanding if things are explained. That brings me to my last point. I feel its good to end a lesson with what they did well, what they need to focus on next time and how did they feel it all went. Some parents would like that feed back too, others, I know, wont care as long as the kids had a good time. Parents take kids to riding lessons/riding because the kids want it, its expensive and time consuming to take the kids there so i dont think its used as a babysitter substitute. If they appear to not be interested themselves its because riding and horses arent their particular interest, just the kids hobby, thats all. (IMO)
I feel that a good instructor can inspire a child to become a great horse rider. A bad instructor can put a child off for life. Its a big responsabilty to be at this crossroads in a childs life and a great gift. I would have thought there is greater job satisfaction in developing a childs skills and promoting a desire to be with horses with a child who is not serious with riding in the beginning, to the job satisfaction gained of having a really keen naturally gifted child from the beginning. So I feel it would be a shame to limit yourself to only serious minded children who wish to ride for ribbons.
It's really odd, but it has been my experience that "serious-minded" students are the ones who DON'T care about ribbons, they are the ones who truly want to learn to ride right. It's the kids (and their parents, and adult riders for that matter) who don't want to put in the time and effort it takes to ride right that are after that all-mighty blue ribbon. "Naturally gifted" children are also harder to teach, because they think they know it all already and don't need instruction. I'd way rather teach someone to whom riding does not come naturally but is so desperate to learn that they are willing to work hard. I am not "naturally gifted," myself!
I agree, it is MUCH more satisfying to teach someone to ride correctly and instill a love of horses in them that will last forever than have a barn full of kids that all they want to do is compete and win.
It sounds like your daughter had a lousy instructor; I'm so sorry. I had a few of those as a kid. I hope she decides someday she'd like to try again!
I saw an instructor at a recent show that made my blood run cold. She had a group of about 5 or 6 little girls with her and had brought two horses, neither of which I would EVER EVER put a child on, especially a beginner. All the kids DID have helmets on, thank the Lord! I had a student at that same show, riding my 23 year old TB mare. One little girl went in the same class as my student, a first year rider walk/trot class. The horse was a huge pinto that was only about 4 years old and obviously VERY green; I learned later he'd never been to a show in his life! The kid was only 6 years old. She had her reins upside down, to boot (didn't anyone tell her how to hold her hands correctly?!) When the judge called for a trot, the horse predictably ran away with her, carreening around the arena. She about ran into my student and succeeded in scaring the crap out of my student's mom (Lady just stood there, giving the pinto dirty looks, of course)! I don't know what happened after that, exactly, but I do know the judge had words with the instructor and for the rest of the show, she had to lead her students in their classes at the end of a lead rope.
After that class was over, my student's mom came up to me and said, "I want you to know that after watching that I feel SO lucky to have found you. Your horses are safe and you have taught my child so much. We could so easily have ended up with someone like that! It just makes me appreciate you that much more." So my head swelled to giant proportions! But that is an example of someone who gave in and didn't teach the kids anything, just plunked them on a horse and let them have at it in the name of fun.
Afterwards, I heard the kid's parents consoling her (the judge did give her a ribbon for being brave and not falling off!), and the kid (keep in mind she was only 6) replied, "But I didn't have control of my horse! I didn't know what to do!" Her dad pointed out that she had got a blue in lead line (the judge gave all the kids blue in lead line), and her answer was, "But Dad, I didn't do anything to EARN that ribbon." She's only 6 years old and she gets it! Her parents obviously don't! That poor kid deserves a better instructor and a better school horse, I think she's one of the ones I'd LOVE to have as a student.
To ALL of you: I'm going to cry on your generosity here!!! I've been sooooo frustrated for so long on this stuff! Thank you all so much - it means alot to me. Meezer - the people I am currently dealing with now - Lord help me! "Why isn't poopsy doing more?" Mommy, I'm bored, can't I do what shes doing? How come shes off the lunge and I'm not? I can trot off the lunge you know - I'm really good at it." Ugh!!! Why me! Where do these people come from and why are they following me? I don't want them! Problem is - I work for a farm and they want to dump them on me because they are burned out and don't want to teach them! All I can do is be who I am and I can't back down from people as I have so many times in the past for fear of losing them - I think subconsciously I want to loose them. Somewhere in you message you summed it up so well - the summary on riders - I'm going to keep this and refer back to it. Again - its totally appreciated!
I'm pretty much on board with Dog-shrink (have we had the same instructor? LOL!). I've had lessons with 3 different instuctors and I've seen the pros and cons of all 3, none were bad, none were great, they each had a different take, but none of them understood my learning style or took that into my lessons. The good was the 2nd instructor took me from the ground up, built the foundation, safety, tacking up, how to lead a horse, turn a horse, stand up straight, mounting, dismounting, balance, position, etc... however after a year we never did go over diagnols or explain how to know when to be up/down or anything beyond walking, turning, sitting trot (badly on my part) and some posting trot... that I got from the 3rd instructor (in one lesson!). I'm still learning it, but she explained the dynamics to me... I don't think most instructors really go over the dynamics of a horse... actually a lot of what I've learned I've gleaned from reading articles online and watching "horse movement simulators" sad as that sounds, it helped. I don't mind being yelled at when I'm doing something wrong but when my instructor got irritable with me because she thought I wasn't listening (I was terrified and only focusing on the horse) I would just shut her off completely. Also the chatting with whoever comes along when you're having a lesson, even with my husband who comes with me for most of my lessons, is really irritating, or coaching others in the ring while you're suppposed to be the focus. It's great to want to help everyone... but if you're paying for a private lesson keep it that way or charge everyone for a group lesson. I feel like I've missed a lot because I wasn't the sole focus... I also think I could have benefitted from having more group lessons where I could go off on my own and practice and get some feedback here and there. Also its great to hear both what you're doing correctly and what you need to work on... and an explanation of why and how. If you're doing something just because you're told to, with no background, it doesn't have much staying power. Honestly, and I'm sure not everyone would agree, but even in college we had homework and notes, it would be great for instructors to give some sort of study guide or written explanation of some of the dynamics, diagnols, leads, etc at least for the technical stuff that's easier to see from the ground. Those online simulators have helped me immensely, that and attending other students lessons to 'watch and learn'. There is a ton of work that goes into being a good instructor, I think just based on the fact that you want to hear what people think of it indicates you're a cut above the rest! I know some don't care what the rider's purpose is in riding they just over focus on one area (I have one that just won't let go of hand position and we never do anything else) and as much as it is good to be 100% correct, if you're not going to any high level competition, if you get the basics down so you are safe and capable of controlling your horse, that's probably good enough for what they want to do. Just try to keep it fun, that's why most people do it, because its fun. For me its my relaxation therapy so when I come away from a lesson feeling beat down from constant harassing about my thumbs and hearing that I'm going to "ruin my horse" it really sucks the fun out of it. Everyone wants something different from their riding, but it should be enjoyable work most of the time!
I so agree about the instructors that talk to people on the side while teaching a lesson. That brings back awful memories for me with an instructor I had as a kid! This lady would talk and talk and talk - so finally one day I'd had it - I was only 13 or 14 mind you! I mean, how many times can I walk my horse around the darn ring before we are both bored out of our minds! So I said to her, "um - are you going to teach me now?" And you know what she did? She walked out of the ring. I disrespected her! Darn right I did! It was an ongoing thing that she did all the time - it wasn't just once! And for a child to have said that to an adult it had to have been real bad! I'm sensitive to that now with my students - I do my best to give them full attention because I want to get stuff done so we can move along and progress. I find myself getting stuck every now and then on equitation details but then eventually you've just got to say, "enoughs enough on this - lets move on to something else and come back to that later". Its a system used by some pretty famous trainers too I think - explain, demonstrate, observe, review, introduce something new to keep it fresh - or something like that anyway. And with all that try not to work on too many things at one time since the human brain can only take in so much at once.
