Riding Instructor

[Louise8]

I have just gained a position at a BHS riding school as a trainee/assistant riding instructor for beginner/lead rein lessons. I will be under the supervision of a qualified member of staff. However, I have watched many of their past beginner lessons, and found that they are always identical, and in my opinion, the children will not learn a great deal. The lesson only lasts 30minutes, and 10 of these are taken up by mounting and dismounting. This leaves 20minutes. There are usually 6 children per lesson, all with a leader. The children get to do 4 circuits of the school in trot each, the rest of the time is spent walking around the school. I have asked what I would be allowed to change, and the school recommend I keep to the same lesson format as they usually do.
Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could help these beginner children enjoy horse riding, and get their moneys worth, without upsetting the riding school owners? I do understand that safety is the first concern of the school, which would mean my fun ideas for different horseback balencing games (eg not holding reins, work without stirrups, circling arms etc) would be unadvisable, but i do want to make the children enjoy their time and learn.
PS: i would like replies asap, i start work midweek! Thank you so much!

[fizz21]

Where I ride they do:

Round the world

Half Scisscors

Simply Simon says

I hope you have a great time teaching the kids

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by Louise8
I have just gained a position at a BHS riding school as a trainee/assistant riding instructor for beginner/lead rein lessons. I will be under the supervision of a qualified member of staff. However, I have watched many of their past beginner lessons, and found that they are always identical, and in my opinion, the children will not learn a great deal. The lesson only lasts 30minutes, and 10 of these are taken up by mounting and dismounting. This leaves 20minutes. There are usually 6 children per lesson, all with a leader. The children get to do 4 circuits of the school in trot each, the rest of the time is spent walking around the school. I have asked what I would be allowed to change, and the school recommend I keep to the same lesson format as they usually do.
Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could help these beginner children enjoy horse riding, and get their moneys worth, without upsetting the riding school owners? I do understand that safety is the first concern of the school, which would mean my fun ideas for different horseback balencing games (eg not holding reins, work without stirrups, circling arms etc) would be unadvisable, but i do want to make the children enjoy their time and learn.
PS: i would like replies asap, i start work midweek! Thank you so much!

Wow! It does seem like you have a problem here, but remember, "a problem once solved will be simple".
Have any of these students taken time off for some private lessons at the lunge? Oi...if it takes them ten minutes to mount and dismount, there's certainly a problem.

You might want to talk with your "high council members" (HA! I mean...your riding school owners" about having an entire lesson up for behavior around horses, how to dismount and mount correctly, and how to put on tack. You might also want to talk with the kids' parents on each child's riding experience.

Riding without stirrups, circling arms, yadda yadda...If I were you, I would wait until your students are a little bit more experienced. Unless these excerxises are taught on a lunge to first timers, disastor might happen. I've seen a mixture of experienced and amatuers riders made to ride without stirrups once and when the lead horse spooked, the rest spooked as well and those begginers without the stirrups of heaven...most of them fell of or lay entangle on their saddles.

And last but not least...good luck! Remember to talk it out with the owners...if they don't even reconsider your request and you still feel very uncomfortable about teaching methods at that stables, you might want to reconsider even teaching there.

[Mehitabel]

i avoid teaching kids whenever i can (i'm not good with them!) but we do a lot of kids lessons. i definitely wouldn't recommend no stirrups with little kids, but no reins with a sensible leader is pretty safe - if the other instructors are worried, do it at stand only. we do a lot of bending round blocks, and steering over poles and things, kind of mini obstacle courses.
if the kids are really small (we have 3 and 4 year olds) then standing at letters and calling out animals that begin with that letter can be fun. and we do follow my leader and simon says and stuff as well. good luck!

[Wally]

If you have a sensible leader there is no reason why they souldn't go without stirrups. It is important to get leg exercises into the system too.

I replied to your other thread on the same subject.

[H & Bailey]

Do some bending races at walk to get their steering in practice..spread the cones right out if they are not very good.
flag races are good too in walk or trot try and match the pairs so the abilitys and ponys are the same.I always used to do little races and games at the end so they remember how fun it was!

[CrazyfurAnimals]

How about an egg race? Get an egg (preferably plastic so that if they drop they won't make a mess! :) ) and make two teams. One person from one team will carry the egg across on a spoon (this will teach them balance) and have the horse walk (or if they are good enough, you can have them trot! :) ) across the arena and hand the egg to another player on the team. The first team to finish the egg race wins.

[Wally]

Just thinking, one of the most important things we teach our kids is to think about what is going on under them!

If they can learn that the horse isn't just a thing to be sat on and kicked. The sooner you start teaching "feel" the more natural riding will become. Get them to look out for the belly swinging, the one side of thier bum droping, then the other, make it fun, make a game out of it.

[Mehitabel]

something we do as early as possible is to get them aware of their weight - riding circles or changing the rein by just looking where they want to go and things like that.

Wally - when i was saying i don't like little children without stirrups, i mean *little* children! as soon as they have a decent amount of leg on the pony's side so they won't just slip off round corners, then i agree - the more no stirrups the better!

[Wally]

We have 3 year olds who ride without stirrups every lesson, no problem, if the leaders are sensible and aid balance by supporting the leg there is no reason why not. Mind you we do have teeny tiny ponies for them to ride so they can reach round the pony's back.

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by Wally
We have 3 year olds who ride without stirrups every lesson, no problem, if the leaders are sensible and aid balance by supporting the leg there is no reason why not. Mind you we do have teeny tiny ponies for them to ride so they can reach round the pony's back.

Better make sure the kids are ready to ride without stirrups first, though. Forcing them to do something that they are not ready to do wouldn't really encourage them in the riding department.

[Mehitabel]

that makes sense. we don't have really little ponies, the smallest ones are about 12.2 and fat, so the little kids' legs often don't come past the saddle.
all our tiny ones are ancient and don't work much.

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by Es
that makes sense. we don't have really little ponies, the smallest ones are about 12.2 and fat, so the little kids' legs often don't come past the saddle.
all our tiny ones are ancient and don't work much.

Hee hee, some of the older kids at my school (7+) opt for riding larger horses than the small, skinny ones ( I qoute, the SKINNY ONES) because of their uneven, fast trot and tendency for giving sore buttocks from the sitting trot :D They enjoy riding on the broader horses and balance on them just fine after a few months of non-stop riding.

[lauraanngilmour]

hi, im laura. i am 16 years old and although i am not formally qualified to teach, i feel that i am very experienced in takin lessons for beginners as i have done so for many years. i work at an abrs riding school and take a few lessons on a saturday with children agen between 3 and 10. although i have the optional use of both indoor and outdoor schools, i prefer to take my lessons in a small paddock as i feel this is more interesting for the children. which is more exciting for a 6 year old child, corrugated steel walls or being able to see wildlife etc.? in my lessons, i allow the children to have a ride with no reins. first i get the child to stand up and down in their stirrups in preparation for a trot with great emphasis on leg position, lookin forward not down etc. i also get the children to stand up and down in their stirrups while placing the hands on their hips. this helps the child to use their legs to push up, rather than the ponies mouth. after doing a few more exercises similar to these, i finish off the lesson by asking each child a few questions about their pony such as name, colour, what are the sat on then asking things like what type of bit does the pony have and various parts of the horse. i hope u find this useful, please email me back to let me know how u get on as i am very interested in teaching and would like to teach at a much higher level when i am older. laura x

[qwerty]

Ask them to point to certain things, eg. stirrup, cantle, poll etc. This envolves some bending so make sure they seem fairly balanced.
I think it will be hard for you to plan a lesson without seeing the children first! I'd have lots of plans for different abilities! :D

[Wally]

Our smallest is 34 inches. Teeny tinies can safely do round the world and leg swinging, toe wiggling, bicycle riding and the like. They even manage half scissors.

If the child is nervous they get to choose, the first thing we tell them, first lesson is that this is their fun and if they feel scared or wobbly to shout "stop" and we will. If they don't want to try something because they feel worried they are to tell us.

If a child feels in control of a situation it is less scary. Group lessons where I have seen instructors trotting whole classes of kids round and round with no real concern for the individuals in the class is scary to watch.

It's strange that so many times riding instructors are heard to "force" people to do things they don't feel happy with. Why does this still happen?

[Mehitabel]

i think it happens because people don't question their instructors, and have the idea that they know nothing and the instructor is the fount of all wisdom! perhaps it comes from not being allowed to question teachers at school. some people also get anxious about teaching, and hide it by being shouty or overly forceful. when i tell people i'm a riding instructor, they invariably say 'ooh don't shout at me" or similar. even when i finally persuaded my bf to get on a pony for the first time, he said "will you shout at me if i do something wrong?" (and that's not a comment on our relationship!!)
i had a real bully of an instructor when i was doing my exams, we regularly used to end up having shouting matches because she was yelling at me, and nearly always had at least one person in tears.

[BlueSky]

I think Es is right. My first ever riding instructor was really awful, she shouted a lot, and she wasn't nice to the horses at all. I think they must have invented the 'kick the horse, haul on the reins' way of teaching!:eek: I know a lot of people who rode at that place, and not one person I've spoken to has enjoyed it there.
After I left there, it took a lot to get me riding again; I thought all riding instructors shouted, and it wasn't really until I watched one of my friends' lesson at another school, that I felt confident enough to start riding again.
To stay on the topic, here are some things my riding instructor does with the little ones, or beginners.
Steering through cones, first in walk, and if they are confident doing that, then in trot.
Place trotting poles quite large distances apart, and asking the pony to stop when it's front legs are in front of the pole, and back legs behind.
Having the kids hold the reins in one hand, or just let go, and have them reach for different parts of the pony, or themselves, i.e. their toes, the pony's tail or ears.
Making a small kind of maze out of trotting poles, and have them steer through it, without going over the poles.
In the summer, often we take them out in the fields, and they practice steering through gates and stuff like that.
Er, I can't think of anything else! Oh yeah, we do work without stirrups as well.

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by Es
i think it happens because people don't question their instructors, and have the idea that they know nothing and the instructor is the fount of all wisdom! perhaps it comes from not being allowed to question teachers at school. some people also get anxious about teaching, and hide it by being shouty or overly forceful. when i tell people i'm a riding instructor, they invariably say 'ooh don't shout at me" or similar. even when i finally persuaded my bf to get on a pony for the first time, he said "will you shout at me if i do something wrong?" (and that's not a comment on our relationship!!)
i had a real bully of an instructor when i was doing my exams, we regularly used to end up having shouting matches because she was yelling at me, and nearly always had at least one person in tears.

We have a rather large indoor arena at the Police Mounted Force so my instructor (or instructors, depening on who's there) so it seems like they're always yelling. But they assure us during and after lessons that they're only trying to make themselves heard over the large space. They sound like they're really angry, but they're only trying to make themselves heard. Poor things...they get really sore throats afterwards.

I'm really blessed that my instructors treat me like their own kid and I can ask them all kinds of questions, anything from cantering to how to hoofpick. I really learn better that way!

[Mehitabel]

when i say yelling, i mean "what the (bleep) do you think you're doing you stupid girl that's no way to ride tell that (bleeping) horse who's boss when i say canter i mean canter now!!!!! why isn't that horse on the bit you're useless how on earth do you expect to ever pass an exam"
and so on. i have a very well developed loud voice myself! it isn't the volume, it's the tone of voice!

[qwerty]

Ceraptor - just a query - are you in the mounted police force? I'd love to do that!!!

I do think that there is often a lack of communication between instructor and pupil. I find it is better when the instructors treet you more like a buddy!!!

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by qwerty
Ceraptor - just a query - are you in the mounted police force? I'd love to do that!!!

I do think that there is often a lack of communication between instructor and pupil. I find it is better when the instructors treet you more like a buddy!!!

Hee hee...not yet. I've only started full-time riding last year and I'm no way even close to be in the force. The nice police dudes there just teach me how to put my butt on the saddle like I've got glue ther ;) Most of the police there have been riding for about ten+ years - my teacher's been riding for about thirty years or more, I'm not sure :D

But I'm welcomed there because its basically voluntary work (and you get to do plenty of fun stuff or so I heard...last trip they rode through a jungle up in northern Thailand.) when I'm older and get some more riding experience...or, er, getting rid of my fear of riding on concrete. Those people CANTER on concrete whenever there's a royal process happening some where and it scares the chubby mammoths out of me. CONCRETE...ugh...

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by Es
when i say yelling, i mean "what the (bleep) do you think you're doing you stupid girl that's no way to ride tell that (bleeping) horse who's boss when i say canter i mean canter now!!!!! why isn't that horse on the bit you're useless how on earth do you expect to ever pass an exam"
and so on. i have a very well developed loud voice myself! it isn't the volume, it's the tone of voice!

Wow. Talk about pure pressure. If I ever had an instructor like that, I'd slip off the saddle, brush my boots off, and walk out. No one deserves to be treated like that.

[Mehitabel]

in the end, we got on very well, but it took a few shouting matches and me getting off and putting the horse away a couple of times before it happened. i was on a training scheme, and to be fair, she did know what she was talking about, and once we got to the point where she spoke to me as an adult and listened to me if i said i wasn't happy about something, (things like the saddle not fitting and stuff - it was an army camp and a bhs approved riding school, and i'd shoot my ponies before i'd send them there) i learned an enormous amount from her. but yes, she could be a cow of the first order, to put it politely!

[qwerty]

I didn't know the police could teach people! Is it just your branch or do they all do it?

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by qwerty
I didn't know the police could teach people! Is it just your branch or do they all do it?

Here in Thailand the police as well as the soldiers teach :D I ride at the Mounted Police because its really close to my house, but most of the people here in Bangkok including some of the royal family (our Princess is a grade-A jumping competitor) ride at the Military School where the soldiers teach (it's Thailand's most affordable place to ride, and probably the best after the Polo Cub). I personally prefer it at the Mounted Police because its not as crowded! At the Military School you have to sign up for a horse in advance for a month because of the long waiting list. At the Mounted Police I have all the space I want to ride and I can have private lessons. But they're both known to create winning riders and have very fine horses.

[qwerty]

Doubt that would happen in England!! :rolleyes: :(

[Wally]

Frances was taught at the Royal Mews by the cavalry!

This is why she stands no nonsense from anything!:D :D

In the army if you fall off it is classed as dismounting without permission and you get into trouble.

This is what I tell little kids who come riding who are a bit scared! I tell them they havn't been given permission to fall off and until I tell them they can ....they can't!:D :D So far I catch them if manure happens!:eek:

[Ceraptor]

Originally posted by Wally
Frances was taught at the Royal Mews by the cavalry!

This is why she stands no nonsense from anything!:D :D

In the army if you fall off it is classed as dismounting without permission and you get into trouble.

This is what I tell little kids who come riding who are a bit scared! I tell them they havn't been given permission to fall off and until I tell them they can ....they can't!:D :D So far I catch them if manure happens!:eek:

Oh wow! I had no idea falling off in the army was considered dismounting without permission! Wow...

[Wally]

Good heavens yes, in the army you do exactly what you are told, question it and you are in trrouble.

Frances was told to wear spurs as a novice,...dress code dontcher know!! She said she didn't feel happy, they said Tough you wear them. She gripped up as nervy novices do, horse charged off, she fell and broke arm!

She did manage to get onto the comittee and get the silly rule thrown out, thankfully.

[Mossy]

Unauthorised dismounting eh? Not quite the thing Frances. Something else which effectively discourages gravity assisted dismouting are hard roads! I've landed on more than I care to think about.
However back to the point. In any lesson make it fun and give the student something positive to go home with. People learn to ride for fun and if they don't enjoy it they won't come back, or nag their parents into bringing them back. There is great deal to be said for old fashioned course and lesson planning. Not something the BHS teach I am told. Good luck and if your first idea does not work adapt it. Lack of comprehension by the pupil is due to poor communication by the teacher not a function of the student's failure to understand.