A recurrent theme on the bulletin boards seems to be the poor quality tuition and riding experience that riding schools and their instructors provide for new riders (and indeed more experienced riders wishing to improve). I’m also greatly concerned about the standard of riding in the UK generally - including by those who profess to be "qualified to teach others to ride! It’s horrifying to read about the abuse to our favourite four-legged friends that results from such appalling tuition and riding.
This seems to be a problem in the UK and abroad, but for starters I wondered if we might kick off a discussion to find out the extent of the problem in the UK and on a more positive note generate some ideas about how the system might be improved.
· Do bad experiences outweigh good ones?
· Are bad experiences confined to particular types of riding school or instructors (e.g. those not approved by national bodies such as the BHS or ABRS, or relatively inexperienced instructors)?
· What do good experiences have in common?
It would seem from the bulletin boards that some people have had bad experiences with the BHS system - my personal experiences of it overall are far from positive. Perhaps Janet George, given her responsibilities for PR within the BHS, may wish to comment. (And yes Janet - I’m a fully paid up BHS member who personally would like to see major changes from within rather than abandoning the system totally but I have real doubts about whether the BHS is willing to change).
And moving on to the future:
. How can we improve the standard of riding nationally?
· What do you want from a riding school/riding instructor?
· Do we need to start with a completely new system? Or should we be seeking to influence current systems for the better? Or perhaps supporting Heather in getting the "Enlightened Equitation Teaching Foundation" off the ground?
This seems to be a problem in the UK and abroad, but for starters I wondered if we might kick off a discussion to find out the extent of the problem in the UK and on a more positive note generate some ideas about how the system might be improved.
· Do bad experiences outweigh good ones?
· Are bad experiences confined to particular types of riding school or instructors (e.g. those not approved by national bodies such as the BHS or ABRS, or relatively inexperienced instructors)?
· What do good experiences have in common?
It would seem from the bulletin boards that some people have had bad experiences with the BHS system - my personal experiences of it overall are far from positive. Perhaps Janet George, given her responsibilities for PR within the BHS, may wish to comment. (And yes Janet - I’m a fully paid up BHS member who personally would like to see major changes from within rather than abandoning the system totally but I have real doubts about whether the BHS is willing to change).
And moving on to the future:
. How can we improve the standard of riding nationally?
· What do you want from a riding school/riding instructor?
· Do we need to start with a completely new system? Or should we be seeking to influence current systems for the better? Or perhaps supporting Heather in getting the "Enlightened Equitation Teaching Foundation" off the ground?