Category: Uncategorized
-
It’s Not the “Right” Way — It’s Just Your Trainer’s Discipline!
When we’re growing up, we learn a specific way to ride depending on our trainer’s discipline. She may may be a Hunter or an Eventer. She may teach Western Dressage. She has a discipline! Many trainers, including myself until the past few months, fall into the trap of believing that their way of teaching is…
-
How to Teach Riders to Get the Correct Diagonal
Sometimes, as a trainer, teaching students how to get the correct diagonal can be daunting. From the student’s perspective, it can be confusing trying to understand how to get the correct diagonal. Here is how I teach my students how to understand and always get the correct diagonal! 1. They must first understand what “inside”…
-
How to Teach the Posting Trot Easily and Quickly
The posting trot is one of the first things riders learn. My students always ask, “How do I stop bouncing?” Teaching the posting trot can be difficult especially to young children. Here is how I teach the posting trot after my students have found their balance at the walk: Step 1. Let your student feel…
-
The Reality for Most Lesson Horses
As a lesson student, you usually go to the barn once or maybe twice a week. You arrive, your trainer tells you who you’re riding, you go get the horse, you ride, put it away, and then come home. What you don’t know is that your favorite lesson horse was probably already ridden a few…
-
From Fantasy to Reality — How to Appreciate the Changes in Horseback Riding from Childhood to Adulthood
When you’re a little girl and you’re excited to go to the barn, you’re anxiously wondering: “Who will I ride today?” “I hope it’s my favorite horse, Star!”“I know Star loves me and waits for me to come ride her!” And then you grow up. You learn that most lesson horses dread seeing you when…
-
Why does the horse world feel so…rude?
I began riding horses in 4th grade. It took one trail ride out in Wyoming to get me hooked. Back on the East Coast, I started taking lessons at a pasture-boarding only barn, so there was no “barn atmosphere.” After learning how to ride English, I moved to a legitimate barn, and all of the…
Redish Equine Journal 