Make the most of riding lessons--for both students and instructors.
Successful riding instructors know the wisdom of following these three simple tips. Your riding skills will grow by leaps and bounds!
1. Videotape your lesson and review it later.
Oftentimes, seeing what your trainer is seeing while she gives you verbal instructions produces an "aha" moment for the learner. Your trainer may tell you to bring your legs under your hips or to be careful not jump ahead of the horse, and you think "But I'm already doing that." Then you look at the video and say, "Oh, now I get what he was talking about."
2. Divide the lesson into three parts.
First quarter: Devote the first quarter of a lesson to working on things that are solidly in the student's comfort zone. This builds confidence while it “warms up” the horse and rider for the next part.
Middle half: The middle half should be new stuff that puts them in their stretch zone. Introduce new skills after the student and horse are receptive to trying something new. After all, they’re feeling pretty strong and confident now!
Last quarter: The last quarter should be more comfort zone stuff so that both horse and rider leave the arena feeling confident, not stressed or defeated. They will be more likely to practice what you’ve taught them and incorporate the new skills in their everyday riding. If they leave defeated, they will simply put everything you’ve tried to teach them out of their minds to protect themselves from feeling like “losers”.
Homework should be whatever was done during the middle half of the lesson. After a few lessons, that stuff becomes comfort zone stuff, and the student really feels that progress was being made. (As in, "This used to be hard for me! Now it's part of the easy stuff!")
3. In dressage, do NOT fool around when it comes to the geometry of a dressage arena.
Get it clear in your mind how a 20-meter circle spans the arena, along with a 15-meter circle and 10-meter circle. DO NOT GUESS. DO NOT FOOL AROUND WITH THIS. Get it accurate. Or suffer the consequences in your dressage scores.
You will not not only lose points if you aren't sure e.g., how far a 15 meter circle spans into the arena, you will also be late or early on your transitions, and will find yourself making constant micro-corrections to your horse while riding the movements--which totally annoys your horse and ruins his movement and flow.
Hilary Moore, dressage instructor, FEI competitor, and USDF associate instructor stressed the importance of DRAWING your dressage tests, especially at the lower levels. "Draw your test movements", she states, "so that you know what each should look like, including the exact geometry of the arena. You need to know exactly where your figures hit each point."
Why does this matter? Janet Foy, an FEI "I" and USEF "S" dressage judge explained that the most common errors riders make at the lower levels is riding incorrect figures. She often asks riders how many meters are between the letters, and is dismayed to find they have no idea. She points out that it isn't possible to ride accurate circles if you don't know this.
Happy riding!
As long as you’re here, check these out!
Equestrian Products That Make Your Riding and Horse Care Easier and Better!
Training and Riding tips for Everyone
How to develop elastic rein contact
Copyright Denise Cummins December 15 2015; updated June 20, 2024
Oftentimes, seeing what your trainer is seeing while she gives you verbal instructions produces an "aha" moment for the learner. Your trainer may tell you to bring your legs under your hips or to be careful not jump ahead of the horse, and you think "But I'm already doing that." Then you look at the video and say, "Oh, now I get what he was talking about."
2. Divide the lesson into three parts.
First quarter: Devote the first quarter of a lesson to working on things that are solidly in the student's comfort zone. This builds confidence while it “warms up” the horse and rider for the next part.
Middle half: The middle half should be new stuff that puts them in their stretch zone. Introduce new skills after the student and horse are receptive to trying something new. After all, they’re feeling pretty strong and confident now!
Last quarter: The last quarter should be more comfort zone stuff so that both horse and rider leave the arena feeling confident, not stressed or defeated. They will be more likely to practice what you’ve taught them and incorporate the new skills in their everyday riding. If they leave defeated, they will simply put everything you’ve tried to teach them out of their minds to protect themselves from feeling like “losers”.
Homework should be whatever was done during the middle half of the lesson. After a few lessons, that stuff becomes comfort zone stuff, and the student really feels that progress was being made. (As in, "This used to be hard for me! Now it's part of the easy stuff!")
3. In dressage, do NOT fool around when it comes to the geometry of a dressage arena.
Get it clear in your mind how a 20-meter circle spans the arena, along with a 15-meter circle and 10-meter circle. DO NOT GUESS. DO NOT FOOL AROUND WITH THIS. Get it accurate. Or suffer the consequences in your dressage scores.
You will not not only lose points if you aren't sure e.g., how far a 15 meter circle spans into the arena, you will also be late or early on your transitions, and will find yourself making constant micro-corrections to your horse while riding the movements--which totally annoys your horse and ruins his movement and flow.
Hilary Moore, dressage instructor, FEI competitor, and USDF associate instructor stressed the importance of DRAWING your dressage tests, especially at the lower levels. "Draw your test movements", she states, "so that you know what each should look like, including the exact geometry of the arena. You need to know exactly where your figures hit each point."
Why does this matter? Janet Foy, an FEI "I" and USEF "S" dressage judge explained that the most common errors riders make at the lower levels is riding incorrect figures. She often asks riders how many meters are between the letters, and is dismayed to find they have no idea. She points out that it isn't possible to ride accurate circles if you don't know this.
Happy riding!
As long as you’re here, check these out!
Equestrian Products That Make Your Riding and Horse Care Easier and Better!
Training and Riding tips for Everyone
How to develop elastic rein contact
Copyright Denise Cummins December 15 2015; updated June 20, 2024