Instructing the new student... who's never ridden before... and is my mother...

[Meredith_Clark]

My mom has always been a support horse mom. Willing to hold a horse while I use the port-a-potty, but that’s about it! She recently retired after 45+ years in education and decided she wanted to start riding with my sister and I. We’re thrilled!

Thankfully I run a small lesson program (in addition to being a teacher myself!) and have great horses to take care of beginners. She wants to do dressage like us and show when she’s able.

The problem is… i don’t really teach adults and I’m not sure what to do with her! My lessons are almost exclusively young, beginner riders and children with emotional disabilities. We do a lot of games and fun stuff while learning the basics. My mom caught on fast and knows go, halt, turning and we even did leg yields today (her horse competed 2nd level) but I feel awkward and like I’m always running out of ideas.

Eventually she’s going to start riding with my trainer who comes to the farm weekly for my sister and I, but until then… any ideas ? I feel like this makes me seem like such a lousy instructor but SHE’s always been the teacher to me, I’m lost now that the tables are turned.

[GraceLikeRain]

What about encouraging her to talk more. “What did you feel when you were doing that?” “Without looking, does it feel like one leg is behind when you halt. If so, which one?” “if you close your eyes, what part of you feels the most tight right now. where do you feel the most relaxed”. Providing a space for her to process what she is feeling and experiencing may be really rewarding for her. With adults it can also be really fun to work on how the breath impacts the horse or how subtle shifts in the body can impact how straight or crooked a horse moves.

[hybriseris]

Oh it’s MUCH harder when it’s someone you’re related to/are in a relationship with! No reflection on you! :lol:

When I started teaching my boyfriend to ride - who, much like your Mom, had a lot of the concepts down from being a very invested support-person - I made a lot of patterns to work on turns, transitions (depending on what gaits she’s comfortable with), and getting a feel for the strength and timing of her aids.

Today w/ boyfriend I set up four ground poles as a box in the middle of the ring like a diamond. He had to turn using legs and seat only, cross the diagonal and walk through the box. When he was comfortable at the walk it was the same drill but either trotting the rail and getting walk before the box, OR walking the rail and picking up trot before and through the box.

I notice with Boyfriend, it seems to really be sharpening his perception of when and how he needs to ask for his turns and transitions and when he starts to really get the hang of something we switch it up using the same obstacle. Hopefully something like that would help you avoid any awkward moments of feeling stumped about where to go!

[merrygoround]

Keep thinking of her as an advanced beginner. Fall back on riding camp programs, and patterns, from there teach her to use her body to lengthen and shorten strides at the walk. Starting first at the walk with all of these things such as circles and turns, gives her time to build muscle memory. At mid -60’s , she’s far from ancient, if in reasonable condition to start with. Working with minimal rein use now, will hopefully keep her rein independent.

[MissusS]

I’m a mid-thirties adult beginner. I started taking lessons last summer with a friend, then switched to a barn she recommended for the winter with an indoor arena. My first few lessons with my friend really focused on just understanding what it feels like to be on a horse. I think we only did 3 maybe 4 lessons together before the freezing temps hit. One thing we did together that was AMAZING was a short bare-back trail ride where she was on the ground doing all of the leading work and I was essentially a passenger. It really helped me get a feel for the movement of the horse. She would ask me to try to feel the feet of the horse, etc.

I’ve now had another 10 lessons with the second trainer plus just completed a 4-day camp. In that time we’ve done a lot of lunge line lessons (probably 8-10 of them total) that focused on my body positioning, balance, and seat. We also are working hard on dropping and regaining the stirrups at a walk which I seem to have a pretty hard time with.

During camp this week I learned a lot more about keeping the horse straight, executing turns, etc. We even did a bit of a “musical ride” type exercise that was so much fun and SO hard - matching my pace to another rider in the arena, meeting at C, turning away from each other, following each other, etc. We also did some ground work lessons where I learned how to lunge the horse and also using the dressage whip to move the horse’s feet. One really tough one for me as a beginner was putting the horse into the “bathtub” (rectangle drawn in the arena footing).

[SillyHorse]

Longe, longe, longe!

[Rerider54]

Patterns, think dressage tests. Even if she can only walk and trot you could read off a test and have her pretend she is at a show. And there are so many to choose from. You could even use ones from previous ‘years’, I mean the outdated ones. This will mean she has to ride correctly and THINK at the same time. Then when you come across something she has a bit of trouble with you simply work on that. For me, improving the roundness of a circle with correct balance or a straighter centerline because of better forward energy MEANS a lot. Good for your mom for taking up an ‘endless’ sport. It will keep her fit, involved and challenged for years to come.

[Rackonteur]

@Meredith Clark

My mom has always been a support horse mom. Willing to hold a horse while I use the port-a-potty, but that’s about it! She recently retired after 45+ years in education and decided she wanted to start riding with my sister and I. We’re thrilled!

Thankfully I run a small lesson program (in addition to being a teacher myself!) and have great horses to take care of beginners. She wants to do dressage like us and show when she’s able.

The problem is… i don’t really teach adults and I’m not sure what to do with her! My lessons are almost exclusively young, beginner riders and children with emotional disabilities. We do a lot of games and fun stuff while learning the basics. My mom caught on fast and knows go, halt, turning and we even did leg yields today (her horse competed 2nd level) but I feel awkward and like I’m always running out of ideas.

Eventually she’s going to start riding with my trainer who comes to the farm weekly for my sister and I, but until then… any ideas ? I feel like this makes me seem like such a lousy instructor but SHE’s always been the teacher to me, I’m lost now that the tables are turned.

How did you teach her how to hold your horse while you were in the portapotty? This is the same thing, only multiplied. Same method, same attitude on both your parts.

Good luck to you both! It sounds like fun.

[atlatl]

Perhaps you can use the test directives to help teach her more than the patterns, but also the rationale behind the movements and the things that go into a quality execution of the movement.

[RedHorses]

101 Dressage Exercises, 101Ring Exercises, etc.

Not just to have a pattern to do, but to try and feel the goal and resulting improvement of that factor in the horse.

In my experience beginner adults want to know more about the ideas behind the doing, while kids just want to do.