Some ideas how to spread a program RDA?

L

Lille Klaus

New Member
Nov 19, 2007
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Hi,
I'm working as instructor at Croatia at therapeutic riding center, we have two more instructors with RDA certificates (they went to Diamond center for education)!!
Well, my question is: do you have some ideas how to make waiting list of future clients smaller?
In our program we have around 70 places in classes and those places are ocupied with riders who are riding allmost 10 years in our program, as nobody wants to leave...:D They are used to come every week.
We dont have oportunity to have more horses and instructors so we cannot take more riders.
But, there is around 100 klients on our waiting list- someone more that 4 years...

Do you have idea how to make a program in which we can have more riders durig a month or a year? Benefits of TR is visible only if rider rides regurerly once of week, there is a problem...

How this problem is managed at your centers???
 
I agree with titch that fortnightly rides might be the answer. We were debating this a while back when we had a very large waiting list, however quite a few people then left for various reasons so we were able to cut the waiting list down. We are nowhere near the scale you are, we only ride on a Saturday from 9.30am - 1.00pm with 3 riders in every 30 minutes lesson (lack of space in school) and have closed our waiting list at about 10 riders. The main way we've found to keep the waiting list moving is to be very very strict, we now have a pay in advance system where you have to pay to keep your place - i.e. if you're going on holiday etc and will miss riding you still have to pay for your lesson. We also have a system whereby if someone misses over 2 lessons in a row without phoning to cancel we have to remove them from the program as don't feel it's fair to keep someone waiting when others don't have the courtesy to let us know they wont' be able to attend.
 
Echo 8 legged pony - being strict will cut down on riders - if they don't turn up /always late etc.

Could you more make the lessons slightly shorter and fit one more lesson in after each session? Or how about putting on a different day of riding?

Also consider vaulting - it's great fun for RDA and many people can use one horse.
 
i though vaulting was runing and then jumping onto a horse! (corret me if im wrong)

so how would disabled riders do this? (ok im sure some can)
 
Vaulting is gymastcis on horse back but it is great fun for disabled riders. They usually get up from a mounting block and can do all sorts of things on the big pad. Usually it's done in walk but more able riders can do it in canter.

It's also good because and able bodied rider can sit up in front of the roller to help and support the disabled rider. We used it to give our severly disabled riders a chance to canter.

Have a look on google for vaulting.
 
Vow, what a quick reaction!

Well, we have system of 3 red minuses - not coming and not calling 3 times and they loose a place, we now work 6 days a week, and we had a system of splitting a lesson but that didn't worked because of different reasons - some still had 45 min lesson, some come late so rider behing him need to wait so class was a mess...
Vaulting is great, and we have a plan to involve this with couple of riders with small dissabilities, but allmost 90% of our riders is severily disabled...

It seems that we will need to wait better times to have more horses, more employees and more volunteers!

Thanks!
 
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