Thank you for your thoughts and feelings, Sabine. It can be helpful in human terms to have some kind of picture for anyone we encounter. Yes, I spent a long time in school, scientist, fairly late middle age. Your picture of a hands-off, give me just the fun, don’t bother me with the gritty parts, kind of guy, though, just isn’t me. If I’d had kids, most likely I would have raised them. (It was me out there in the barn every night at 10PM in the cold unbolting the plate to pack more iodine-soaked gauze in under the bar shoe when the horse I started to learn on had a tough, persistent abscess, and hand walking her daily for weeks. And me meeting driving from work at noon to meet the farrier every four weeks. Not her owner.)
As for enjoying riding, isn’t the only reason anybody ever does anything because there is some emotional motivation? :yes: Learning to ride has been one of the most challenging things I’ve ever attempted. I’m certainly not in it for competition. It is an interest, not a life’s work or compulsion for me. Other parts of my life provide whatever competition I might like.
Although I can completely understand where you are coming from and add to that- you have probably been lucky to have found a couple of talented and caring and safety conscious trainers- that gave you true rewards in your riding experience and made you sure- that teaching how to ride is a mixture or magic knowledge about how the horse behaves- and encouraging/soothing and well competent support and teaching- so your riding felt better and better.
As for my learning, my teachers were kind, competent and safety-conscious when I didn’t or don’t know enough to stay out of trouble. I was fortunate to have encountered each at the particular stage I did. Doubt any of us (or the horses!) thought there was much magic in the process, though for me there sure was a lot of discovery.:yes: Any progress I made was a combination of resourcefulness on their part, patience on the part of both trainers and horses, my effort in and out of the saddle to develop body sense where little had existed, a few flashes of insight, and sticking with it through times when progress seemed slow, and revisiting previous skills when it was time to upgrade them to move on to the next stage, all while keeping my ego out of the way as much as possible so as not to obstruct what I was being taught.
My understanding is that this is pretty much the same iterative process that with greater or lesser intensity, and different emphasis depending upon discipline, that most riders undertake at all levels. I learned rules (or guidelines since everything occurs in a context, not all contexts are alike and rules often don’t allow for special situations). I always asked for and received explanations for why they were appropriate. If something doesn’t make sense, I keep asking until it finally does. (I’m told there isn’t a lot of that kind of back and forth discussion in the European system, though perhaps I misunderstood.)
So since you ask, that is my own situation, but how is that really pertinent to the question of instructor licensure or certification? That isn’t what shapes my views. And Lord knows, I never could make it as a riding instructor!
I am aware that the credential/certification process in this country is absolutely assinine…it is beyond what can be tolerated, I have had many RN friends- that had to be re-certified when moving from state to state and had to put a whole year of learning in- as adult -accomplished practitioners of their profession…absolutely crazy!
But- my view comes maybe from a bit different point: I have ridden all my life- first in Germany- and I was grilled by tough Reitlehrers and members of the SRS and all Hungarian army guys- culturally- kids over there are not important- adults are…contrary to the culture in this country.
I was taught by rules- the rules made sense- they preserved the horses safety and body and saved the rider from accident.
So it is here, too.
I was taught by classical principles- these are founded on hundreds of years of teaching and collecting the expereinces of very accomplished horsemen of their times- I would btw venture to say that even Caprilli was first taught the old-fashioned jumping style- before he ventured to change it to what made clearly more sense…LOL!
I’m sure of it.:yes: Just like Picasso.
[COLOR=black][COLOR=black]I was lucky to get a good foundation. I have ridden with many different trainers and clinicians in this country- and have learned a lot- I would admit gladly that I have learned from every single person that ever took the time and stood there and focused on one or the other detail of my riding.
BUT- I always put it into the context of the skeleton of riding that I learned in my teens- which also included 3 months stints at the Verden Hannoverian Verband…where we learned about skeletons, and horse diseases and how to treat them and all that good stuff…so I consider myself a truly ‘layered cake’…the benefit of my hard core early learning and the variety of ‘innovative’ and ‘classical’ and ‘competitive’ training that I have received since.
I have ridden many young horses and experienced the realm of a horses personality and fear and stuff you could never imagine…so I consider myself an amateur road warrior…BUT when I decide who to train with- I resort to peeps that have a system, a foundation, an intellectual approach- especially because I still have young horses and must make sure that - just like kids- they get off to the right start.
Therefore- I do believe- and I know it is very hard to describe- because in Germany it is a real culture and a pride and a trade with a pride- that a proper educational path and some kind of apprenticeship and final accredidation- nationwide would greatly help the horse training profession out of the middle ages into a well-respected and prosperous future.
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I respect the rigor of your training and the extent of your knowledge. My current trainer (long ARIA certified, and maybe certified by some other group, too, who knows?) is every bit as committed to continual learning and effective teaching, I think. She is eclectic and pragmatic, thank goodness.
Not everyone’s goals are the same. She teaches to meet whatever goals her students have. I think this is very important. In teaching as in horseshoes, one size does not fit all, so we don’t want to allow just one size to be sold.
We all here agree that education and competency is key. All that said, I still do not see how one can make the logical leap from these points of agreement to an imposed mandatory and uniform system. Advanced students are even more likely, it seems to me, to discover quickly whether they are gaining knowledge and making progress all by themselves, although since I am not advanced, that is only a generalized assumption based on a couple of conversations with people who are.
), it’s useless, since that’s not their criteria…according to your words above.
