This simple technique has helped me a lot. In any situation a rider doesn’t want to cooperate or is confused, explain “First [do this], then [do that].” Then stick to your guns. Repeat and be patient. For example, I have some young riders that get easily distracted or would rather collect beanie babies than practice … Continue reading
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The Benefits of Therapeutic Riding and the Influences of the Horse
This is a wonderful explanation of the benefits of TR and how the horse influences the rider! This is a great list for new instructors to become familiar with the processes of therapeutic riding, how to explain it, and how to use it. Check it out! “The Magic of a Horse” by Hoofprints on the … Continue reading
Teaching Tips: Using Words
I did part of my Instructor in Training hours under the a wonderful woman named Carrie who started HorsePower Therapeutic Riding. One of the things I learned from her are a few simple techniques that empower riders to use their words and/or communication skills to do things for themselves. I wanted to share with you some … Continue reading
Gallop NYC Volunteer Training Video – things to look out for as an instructor
This a great video that Gallop NYC recently shared with me. I am posting it for two reasons: 1) For centers: it’s an example of a volunteer training video! GallopNYC told me “The idea was that we wanted to show volunteers things to avoid but we did not want to model those behaviors live. We … Continue reading
Teaching Tips for Competence and Praises
Some concepts to ruminate on today… “To help our children feel motivated and competent with us, we must first give them work they can achieve rather than unsolvable work. In the field of education, this is often referred to as the 80/20 rule. First give them 80% work they can achieve before giving them the … Continue reading
Transferable Skills
Although a therapeutic riding instructor’s main goal is to teach riding skills, many of these can be related to life skills. A camp I once worked at called these “teachable moments”. The following is an exerpt from one of GallopNYC’s resources that I thought was a good list of transferable skills to be on the lookout for … Continue reading
Token System Lesson Plan
What is the token system? The Token Economy System is a behavior modification system based on the positive reinforcement of targeted behaviors. You give the students tokens for the desired behavior, which they can later trade in for a reward. It can be used to reward students who already show good behavior and to motivate … Continue reading
Teaching Tips for your Back Pocket
I think the hardest thing about learning to instruct riding (or anything) is that in the beginning you don’t yet have a pocket full of tips and tricks to pull out for every circumstance and skill. The more you teach, watch others teach, read, and take lessons yourself, the more you’ll add to that back … Continue reading
Teaching Tip: Use Beanie Babies
(Drawn by yours truly on Photoshop, haha). I have found that young riders love beanie babies. Actually, a lot of my older riders do too. Beanie babies are something familiar and calming, and can be great motivators. Here are some ideas. Beanie Baby Activities Woah at the Animals – place beanie babies around the arena … Continue reading
A word of encouragement
A word of encouragement to new instructors: Some riders you will click with teaching them immediately. Some riders will take a longer time to adjust to you, and you to them. You will not teach exactly the same as anyone else, And that is okay. You will teach the way only you can teach. As … Continue reading