When I started out teaching I often didn’t know what to say, because I didn’t know how to observe and respond accordingly. This post was inspired by a handout I came across a while ago and a recent book I’ve been reading that would have helped me back then! Enjoy! OBSERVATION ob·ser·va·tion – noun : … Continue reading
Tagged with teaching tips …
The Silent Stop
I was reminded recently of this technique I’ve seen several therapists use during hippotherapy, and wanted to share, because I forgot how much I love it! The Silent Stop Silently ask the leader to stop the horse with a little stopping motion of your hand. Give the rider a few moments to realize what has … Continue reading
The importance of waiting
Last week I attended the PATH Intl 2014 Conference in San Diego! Never been to a conference before + husband did his undergrad in San Diego = a good reason to go. On top of that, I met a bunch of great people, have lots of notes for future blog posts, and missed the midwest’s … 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
Teaching tips: Beginners
Tonight I enjoyed this post at Theridinginstructor.net about teaching beginners and the first three lessons. The full post can be found here but I’ve summarized the key points below for us all – I confess I’m a note-taker! Teaching beginners is not for beginners! You are establishing a foundation and confidence. Take that seriously. Repetition Everything … Continue reading
Teach to the Highest Level
Today’s Teaching Tip comes from the Advanced Workshop I attended, regarding teaching to groups with very different functioning levels of riders: Teach to the Highest Level, Then Adapt. (As opposed to teaching to the lowest level of rider ability in group.) The reasoning behind this is that by teaching to the highest level, the lower … Continue reading
Components of a Great Lesson
The following is a great list of what makes a great lesson! We use something similar at my barn for evaluating new instructors. For new instructors: use this list to evaluate yourself after you teach a lesson! If you do this enough, you’ll start remembering the components during your lessons and improve your teaching! For … Continue reading
Stations
One of our instructors in training used stations in her lesson the other day, and it reminded me of how useful they are. When you have several riders, it can help to make stations in the arena where they work on something, either until finished then find another station, or until you ask them to … Continue reading
Leg Stabilizing Exercise: 4x Posting, 4x 2-point
Today I had some riders have trouble with keeping their lower leg stable and finding their balance while posting the trot. So we did this: 4 beats posting, 4 beats 2-point I started out having them practice 2 point at the trot. Once they were stable enough doing that, I had them post for 4 … Continue reading
Hand Position and Stabilizing Exercise
Before you use this exercise, you may want to brush up on your hand position. I recommend this article: The Good Riding Hand And now, to help develop good hand posture and stable riding hands, the: Carry a Crop Exercise Have the rider hold a crop or stick across their hands like this: This picture … Continue reading