How to Teach Confident Riding With the Use of Your Lesson Horses

We want the parents of our students to understand the method behind our madness so they can help us to give them a little push when the time comes. If you can gain this relationship with your student's parents, they will appreciate that your method of teaching is to gain confidence at one level before pushing on to the next.

The timeline for progressing will be different with every student of course, but as long as your customers understand your plans from the beginning, they won't be caught off guard when they come, and it's time to ride a different horse.

Remind Students That Riding Is Hard Sometimes

Also, in order to raise up confident riders who are able to ride a variety of horses, it is imperative that they are taught from the very beginning the nature of the horse and the challenges that come along with choosing a thousand-pound animal as your partner in a sport.

You should emphasize that all horses have different histories and different personalities and that they have good days and bad days, just like we do. Some days you will be right on, and the horse is not. Some days, the horse is ready and waiting for the signal, but you just aren't giving it right. Horseback riding is hard sometimes, and sometimes it will be frustrating. Not every lesson is going to be tons of fun. You should emphasize, though, that your students are probably learning just as much with a tough lesson as with an easy one.

There is nothing wrong with having it be hard when you ride a new horse and have some frustrating lessons. You are learning how to relate to a different horse and how they respond to your cues, and that is not always easy to figure out in just one ride.