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Great Riding Teachers Are ActorsChoose an English Riding Teacher by Observation, Not Credentials
An English riding instructor can have a list of abbreviations after her name, and still be horrible. Here's how to find a great, safe, wonderful riding teacher.
There are few organizations in the United States that certify riding instructors. The most popular seems to be the Certified Horsemanship Association. Its criteria for Level 1, 2,3, and 4 instructors are disappointing, however. Those criteria include no teaching skills per se. Even the knowledge requirements are structured so that lower-level students might well be taught by those too inexperienced to deal with beginners. The most demanding of all riding students are beginners, as they deal with both new skills, new emotions, and a totally unfamiliar milieu. The problem remains: How can you find a qualified instructor for yourself or your child? Good Teachers Use DramaticsGail Godwin, novelist and professor of English, said, "Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater." In practical terms, you should look for a riding teacher with a sense of the dramatic. For example, if a student falls of his horse, the teacher should fine the student for losing control of his mount. Some teachers exact a 50-cent fee and put it into a candy-bar kitty; one demands home-baked chocolate chip cookies from junior riders, a bottle of red wine from adults. The point? The student learns that he will not be reprimanded for being lazy about his horsemanship, but there will be an entertaining price to pay. Sometimes, granted, the horse is at fault. But far more often, the student has just been inattentive, or didn't fight hard enough with the skills he had to retain his seat. Either way, the entertainment value of the fine is both non-threatening and instructive. And fun. Humility Can Mean GreatnessLook for a teacher who does NOT claim to be the best possible rider in the entire known universe. Often, the first time a student falls off a horse, the student is embarrassed, thinking that the almighty instructor must never have suffered such humiliation. At that point that the teacher must tell the student, "Oh, yes. Not only have I fallen off, I have fallen off in a show in front of all my students and the local newspaper. More than once." Or whatever is true. It is very difficult for a student who wants knowledge so badly - the case with virtually all riding students - to measure up to a "perfect" teacher. Creativity is a Key to Teaching and LearningLook for a teacher who presents the boring things in interesting ways. It is boring to continually practice a 20-meter circle. If the teacher sometimes asks for a 20-meter egg, or an 18.5-meter circle (there are no such markers even in dressage arenas, giving the student food for thought), at least the boredom of the necessary has been somewhat diminished. Being There Is KeyThe most important qualification for a good teacher, however, is to avoid (to continue Godwin's theatrical analogy) "phoning in the lesson." If a teacher appears to be bored, is inattentive, spends time talking to people other than students - well, she's phoning in the lesson. First and foremost, with all her wits and knowledge, compassion and toughness intact, a good riding instructor must BE THERE, from the time the first riders enter the arena, until the last horse is tucked into his stall for the night. It's a tough, demanding job. Those best at it have a sense of drama, a sense of humor, a dose of humility, and the desire to be right there, doing just that. Look for all that, and you'll find a valuable teacher.
The copyright of the article Great Riding Teachers Are Actors in Horses is owned by Laura Harrison McBride. Permission to republish Great Riding Teachers Are Actors in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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