Today we have a fun lesson plan for therapeutic and adaptive horseback riding that incorporated the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for back to school week, sent in by reader Monique Nellis, director at Heavenly Gaits Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc.! I’m so thankful to anyone who sends anything in to share, because it’s fun to … Continue reading
Tagged with Lesson Plan …
Lesson Eval of a Rider with CP
I have a sweet rider who has CP that I wanted ideas for, so I asked my director to evaluate my lesson with them the other day. I want to share the results with you! Lesson Eval of a Rider with CP Lesson Plan Rider Diagonsis: CP, weak right side to the extend their back curves over to … Continue reading
The Cool Down & Review
Sometimes we get so into the lesson or activity we forget about appropriately ending the class and before you know it, you only have time left to do a quick lap to cool down and dismount. If your “punch line” needs a little revitalizing (like mine do lately) I hope this will help! The Review & Cool … Continue reading
Using your body to steer, and stabilizing the hands
Here is a lesson I taught today for a rider who tends to use her hands to balance and steer a lot. I came in with the goal of teaching her to ride more with her body than her hands (not the most specific, I know) with some ideas, and worked on the fly with … Continue reading
Sitting Trot: Lesson Plan by Linda
One of the goals of this blog is to help people pass certification to become a therapeutic riding instructor, and it is so neat to hear when this happens! A reader named Linda wrote me several weeks ago about how much this blog helped her prepare, then followed up by letting me know she passed her certification … Continue reading
4 Obstacle Course Patterns
Here are 4 new obstacle course patterns that I have seen used at our barn lately. Obstacle Course Patterns #1 #2 #3 #4 (The yellow star marks a convenient place to stand so you can always see everyone.) Bonus: Example Lesson Plan! Lesson Plan for Pattern #4: Direct and Indirect Rein Steering Safety Check Mount … Continue reading
Trotting Pattern
Here is a simple pattern I used today for a rider competent at trotting, working toward steering at trotting and balancing herself and her horse. I liked it a lot! You can incorporate into this pattern: Steering – direct and indirect rein Half halts – to prepare for each element 2 point – over single … Continue reading
Lesson Plan for Walk Halt Transitions
Lesson Plan for Walk Halt Transitions Set up 8 cones – 2 pairs of cones set up on each quarter line (so the rider will turn down the quarterline, halt between the cones, walk on, halt between the next cones, walk on – leave enough room for them to turn back on to the rail or … Continue reading
Incorporating Life Goals Into Riding Lessons
This post is about intentionally using riding skills to target your riders’ life goals. This concept was introduced to me by the evaluator Sandy Webster at the Advanced Workshop I attended at Heartland Therapeutic Riding. It is perhaps the most impactful concept I learned from the week, as it has changed my perspective on instructing for therapeutic riding … Continue reading
Posting on the Correct Diagonal: Lesson Plan for Group with Cognitive Disabilities
I am excited to share that the instructors at the Advanced Workshop I attended at Heartland Therapeutic Riding have agreed to let me post their lesson plans! This one is from Courtney Mellor, equine manager at Heartland, who did this as a practice mock advanced level lesson, and received feedback from the instructor/evaluator Sandy Webster, as well as the … Continue reading