If you are a riding coach or trainer, what is expected out of you from your riding students and their horses? If you are a rider, what do you epect from your coach at the barn and at a show?
What is not included, expected or tolerated.
I expect them to have experience and knowledge, and the communication skills to help me become better. 
The experience doesn’t have to always be direct riding experience, although that is probably best. But as a coach, they need to have been there, done that. Newbie coaches/trainers/instructors need to be in a mentor program, not on their own. Having worked under more than one mentor (I hope) the time will come when it is time to go out on their own. Just IMO.
Their experience needs to be broad enough to know a different techniques and options that can be effective in different situations. And what to avoid, as well.
That includes coaches/instructors/trainers who crossover to another discipline. They need to know the discipline and its rules thoroughly, from direct experience and mentoring. They need to understand the why’s as well as the what’s of how it works and what the rulebook says. Just casually telling students that “it’s all the same” doesn’t cut it, for me.
It is not easy to be a truly talented coach/instructor/trainer. To learn it, or to do it. The best are very special people.
As an instructor I expect my students to arrive on time and listen. Depending on the level of the rider I want their horse to be neatly groomed and tacked.
As I have probably spent more money on riding lessons than on my college education, I will add a few general thoughts.
As a student, I will be honest and realistic about my goals for my riding and my horses. I will be prompt to my lessons, with horse prepared and properly turned out. If I don’t understand, or am over faced, I will tell you and you will not argue-you will explain it differently, or re-present the exercise. We will give each other 110% of our attention for the duration of the lesson. My check will be good.
I rely on you, as my instructor, to keep me safe and my horse happy. If I am being unrealistic, or too ambitious about my horse or my riding, you need to speak up. When I do something well, tell me “good job”. If it’s wrong, don’t sugarcoat it. You will always, always, tell me the truth-even if I don’t want to hear it. You will be professional, and the horse’s welfare is most important-this should be a given.
Be frank and matter of fact about money. Don’t procrastinate and let a situation become so awkward it costs you a student. It’s not personal-just business, so stay businesslike. It will be better in the long run.
Treat all your students with the same respect-teacher’s pets are bad for morale. Be ready to say “Thanks, I appreciate your business.”
Coach here.
When I’m accepting a new student, one of the first things I evaluate is if I think they will be happy in my program and if their goals are realistic and work with a time line I’m comfortable with. I’ve had students who couldn’t canter with any foundation or balance and who only clung to their horse by the reins, yet they would like to be jumping in shows in 6 weeks. Sorry, no thank you. Even if they come to me with no balance and foundation, that’s fine so long as they realize they’ll be jumping only when they are prepared to do it reasonably safely. It’s important students have realistic goals, and also that they’re more invested in being correct than in simply getting as “advanced” as possible as fast as possible. I do not care at what level you’re showing, I want to see you riding correctly, period.
Another issue is, I’m huge on how the rider affects the horse. I’ve had riders come to me who knew it was just a hot mess with their horse (these are usually boarders as they’re on their own horse), but put it all on the horse. Any corrections of them would be met with not outright argument, but defenses and excuses. They usually consider themselves quite rational but it would be too damaging to their ego to recognize that 90% of what’s going on is because of how they’re riding. These people are impossible to teach because they resist you and make excuses at every step. I cannot force you as a rider to do anything, but if you want your riding to improve you need to understand and accept that most of what a horse does undersaddle has to do with the rider or with other health/pain issues. I promise you your horse does trot around in the pasture inverted and counter-bent. Often (but by no means always) these people are armchair trainers who are fairly well-read and fancy themselves horsewhisperers, but just simply lack the feel and judgment that comes from experience.These people also tend to like to use gadgets and simply can’t see that they’re doing something which is sound in theory but either not appropriate for the situation or their timing and feel isn’t sufficient to do it correctly. These people are more looking for validation than guidance. So a willingness to listen, learn, and improve oneself is a biggie.
Finally a look for students who are interested in being a horseperson rather than just a show rider (not that the two are mutually exclusive). I do not have horses tacked up for students when they arrive, and they’re not allowed to groom and tack up without my supervision until I feel that horse safety and horse sense have become internalized, even if it takes me extra time which I’m not being paid for. I have more respect for the student who begs her parents to let her stay around after her lesson and help do evening chores than I do for the student who pops in and out for her lesson on her way to the mall. A horseperson is much more than riding in the way that having a vegetable garden is much more than just eating salads. So I look for a commitment to the horses as a whole and a desire to learn more than just “the fun stuff”.
I’m fairly good at tailoring my teaching style to the student, but I would recommend students look for a teacher who teaches in a way compatible with how they learn and who rides how they would like to ride-- all instructors are far from created equal. While a student may need a few lessons to get a good handle on a lesson horse, the horse should be compatible with the student, able to do what the student would like to do, and above all be safe (although no horse is 100% safe and an ignorant student can cause even a great lesson horse to do something “wrong”). I get tons of students in who have zero confidence because they were overfaced by a trainer, either on what they were asked to do, the horse they were put on, etc. While in riding mishaps are absolutely inevitable eventually, a student should not be put in a position where they are inevitable because of laziness, ignorance, or greediness of the instructor.
I also caution students to think long and hard about group lessons. While learning to ride in a group is invaluable if you intend to show (even to just ride in the warm-up arena), the individual instruction tends to be lacking. This is simple logic… one instructor can’t be watching and coaching all the students at the same time or even equally, so often only the best and the worst get their money out of a group lesson. It’s time on a horse, yes, but if you need individual attention then pay for it. A lot of group lessons turn into pretty much the instructor shouting what gain to travel at and what direction to go, and are not a good value for the money or an effective way to improve. If it’s comparable in price, pay for the private, you’ll get a lot more out of it. Either way avoid instructors who only shout instructions to do with your horse instead of looking at how you and the horse are actually going, and you are not paying for your instructor to be on the phone.
[QUOTE=lesson junkie;8626898]
As I have probably spent more money on riding lessons than on my college education, I will add a few general thoughts.
As a student, I will be honest and realistic about my goals for my riding and my horses. I will be prompt to my lessons, with horse prepared and properly turned out. If I don’t understand, or am over faced, I will tell you and you will not argue-you will explain it differently, or re-present the exercise. We will give each other 110% of our attention for the duration of the lesson. My check will be good.
I rely on you, as my instructor, to keep me safe and my horse happy. If I am being unrealistic, or too ambitious about my horse or my riding, you need to speak up. When I do something well, tell me “good job”. If it’s wrong, don’t sugarcoat it. You will always, always, tell me the truth-even if I don’t want to hear it. You will be professional, and the horse’s welfare is most important-this should be a given.
Be frank and matter of fact about money. Don’t procrastinate and let a situation become so awkward it costs you a student. It’s not personal-just business, so stay businesslike. It will be better in the long run.
Treat all your students with the same respect-teacher’s pets are bad for morale. Be ready to say “Thanks, I appreciate your business.”[/QUOTE]
THIS!!! ALL OF IT.
[QUOTE=Mathilda;8627815]
Coach here.
When I’m accepting a new student, one of the first things I evaluate is if I think they will be happy in my program and if their goals are realistic and work with a time line I’m comfortable with. I’ve had students who couldn’t canter with any foundation or balance and who only clung to their horse by the reins, yet they would like to be jumping in shows in 6 weeks. Sorry, no thank you. Even if they come to me with no balance and foundation, that’s fine so long as they realize they’ll be jumping only when they are prepared to do it reasonably safely. It’s important students have realistic goals, and also that they’re more invested in being correct than in simply getting as “advanced” as possible as fast as possible. I do not care at what level you’re showing, I want to see you riding correctly, period.
Another issue is, I’m huge on how the rider affects the horse. I’ve had riders come to me who knew it was just a hot mess with their horse (these are usually boarders as they’re on their own horse), but put it all on the horse. Any corrections of them would be met with not outright argument, but defenses and excuses. They usually consider themselves quite rational but it would be too damaging to their ego to recognize that 90% of what’s going on is because of how they’re riding. These people are impossible to teach because they resist you and make excuses at every step. I cannot force you as a rider to do anything, but if you want your riding to improve you need to understand and accept that most of what a horse does undersaddle has to do with the rider or with other health/pain issues. I promise you your horse does trot around in the pasture inverted and counter-bent. Often (but by no means always) these people are armchair trainers who are fairly well-read and fancy themselves horsewhisperers, but just simply lack the feel and judgment that comes from experience.These people also tend to like to use gadgets and simply can’t see that they’re doing something which is sound in theory but either not appropriate for the situation or their timing and feel isn’t sufficient to do it correctly. These people are more looking for validation than guidance. So a willingness to listen, learn, and improve oneself is a biggie.
Finally a look for students who are interested in being a horseperson rather than just a show rider (not that the two are mutually exclusive). I do not have horses tacked up for students when they arrive, and they’re not allowed to groom and tack up without my supervision until I feel that horse safety and horse sense have become internalized, even if it takes me extra time which I’m not being paid for. I have more respect for the student who begs her parents to let her stay around after her lesson and help do evening chores than I do for the student who pops in and out for her lesson on her way to the mall. A horseperson is much more than riding in the way that having a vegetable garden is much more than just eating salads. So I look for a commitment to the horses as a whole and a desire to learn more than just “the fun stuff”.
I’m fairly good at tailoring my teaching style to the student, but I would recommend students look for a teacher who teaches in a way compatible with how they learn and who rides how they would like to ride-- all instructors are far from created equal. While a student may need a few lessons to get a good handle on a lesson horse, the horse should be compatible with the student, able to do what the student would like to do, and above all be safe (although no horse is 100% safe and an ignorant student can cause even a great lesson horse to do something “wrong”). I get tons of students in who have zero confidence because they were overfaced by a trainer, either on what they were asked to do, the horse they were put on, etc. While in riding mishaps are absolutely inevitable eventually, a student should not be put in a position where they are inevitable because of laziness, ignorance, or greediness of the instructor.
I also caution students to think long and hard about group lessons. While learning to ride in a group is invaluable if you intend to show (even to just ride in the warm-up arena), the individual instruction tends to be lacking. This is simple logic… one instructor can’t be watching and coaching all the students at the same time or even equally, so often only the best and the worst get their money out of a group lesson. It’s time on a horse, yes, but if you need individual attention then pay for it. A lot of group lessons turn into pretty much the instructor shouting what gain to travel at and what direction to go, and are not a good value for the money or an effective way to improve. If it’s comparable in price, pay for the private, you’ll get a lot more out of it. Either way avoid instructors who only shout instructions to do with your horse instead of looking at how you and the horse are actually going, and you are not paying for your instructor to be on the phone.[/QUOTE]
Mathilda…are you me??? LOL, such a well thought out and well written post. I think I will print it out and post it in my new tackroom!
As in Matilda’s case, I teach. I have spent a lot of time figuring out the biomechanics of the horse- rider combination. ( I know, I know, there are now a lot of articles on this, not all of which I agree. I predate this information era 
)I am also willing to go over, and over the same instructions and explanations until they sink in. I try to always explain why and how this or that exercise works .
I tend to have little patience with the rider who takes one lesson, doesn’t ride for a week, then rides now and then, and eventually wants another lesson. I don’t mind re-teaching, but do want students who try to do their homework. I am also quite willing, in fact can’t be stopped teaching the proper way to lead, hold a lead rope, and all those little things that people never learn even though around horses for years.
I consider riding a building block exercise. Gotta have a firm foundation first.
The Curmudgeon.
