Recently I’ve met a few people interested in getting certified who aren’t ready to start the process yet, or aren’t 18 yet (which you must be to get PATH certified), but they want to start doing something to prepare. So I thought that would make a perfect blog post – what you can do to get a … Continue reading
Seat Aids – to energize & slow down
Today I researched and taught the seat aids. It worked out pretty well, and I got some great feedback and ideas from a friend, so I thought I’d share! The Seat Aids Helpful Warmups Shoulder circles backward – tends to be tight – one at a time then together “growing taller in your spine” Lift … Continue reading
Skills: Basic Hand position
Some things I’ve compiled about hand position: What Keep your hands in the correct english riding position. Why “When your hands get out of position, you’re much more likely to lose balance, and you end up reacting to what the horse does rather than directing his actions.” (John Lyons’s Perfect Horse) Gives you a more … Continue reading
Lesson Plan: Matching Cards & Pole Weaving Activity
Once you have a set of matching cards, there are so many uses…here is another one! Supplies: 1 barrel 4 cones setup in square 4 weaving poles Matching cards (for resources see Matching Card Games post) – one set on the barrel, one set on the poles velcro or tape – one set of cards … Continue reading
Riding Lesson Planning – template by Amanda
Amanda at Running Shoes and Cowgirl Boots recently wrote a simple great post about how she plans her riding lessons – and I’m not just saying that because she refers to this blog, but because I think it’s a great resource, complete with a PDF template for you to use. Check it out! Riding Lesson Planning (http://balancingonhoney.com/2013/07/30/riding-lesson-planning/) … 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
Senior Citizen Program Activities (groundwork)
Senior Citizens are a special group of people that often have physical and/or mental disabilities that your program may have the capacity to serve. We recently had a group come out and I want to share what we did, and see what you have done! Some of these ideas are from a Senior Citizen Program … Continue reading
Crafts for Rainy Day or Horse Camp
Horseshoe Wind Chimes Supplies: horse shoes (we got a bunch donated from our farrier) string, scissors beads sequins with holes in them bells feathers paint, brushes, cups anything else you think would be fun to use Instructions spread out supplies on a table in cups or buckets cut string and tie to horseshoes string beads, sequins, … Continue reading
Cone Weaving Pattern
This is a nice cone weaving progression pattern. Steering progression: Introduce/Review direct rein steering. Teach how to adjust rein pressure depending on how tight a turn you need. Practice: weave just the wide cones, at the walk, working on direct rein steering Weave the wide cone and the narrow cones Weave the wide, narrow, and … Continue reading
Skills List
The Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia has a great list of skills to teach riders through 3 levels posted on their website. The have created a Rider Achievement Certification program along with it. It’s a great resource! http://www.travinc.org/programs However, the links don’t all go to the right download, so I’ll link them here too: http://travinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/TRAC_1.pdf … Continue reading