BHS instructor questions..

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Irishdiamond

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For all you BHS instructors out there :) would really appreciate any replies.

How did you get where you are now?
Do you work full/part time?
What's your favourite part of your job?
What's your least favorite part??

I would love to possibly eventually (way down the line) teach but not sure I'm cut out for it. Would love to hear people's opinions on how they like it vs dislike it.

Thanks in advance :)
 
1) A lot of work and dedication! A combination of experience, practice and study. If you want to know something more specific, just ask.
2) I'm self employed and work freelance. I work 6 days a week. Some days I teach a dozen lessons, some days just 2 or 3 (which is when I also do paperwork etc, plus some voluntary stuff). It varies day to day and week to week. The bad weather can really knock work back.
3) Seeing clients progress and develop, watching their successes.
4) The difficulties which come with people who ignore your advice and then expect you to mend it! (Unsuitable horses, pushing their horses too far, injuring them etc). Also, being thought of as 'on call' 24/7.
 
How did you get where you are now? - Dunno, it just happened :-) No, not really...I've worked with horses full time since I was 14, been lucky to be taught by wonderful horsemen/women, worked all over the world. I took the BHS exams when I was 30, so was able to take what was useful and discard that which was nonsense (and there is a lot of nonsense...)

Do you work full/part time? - part time now;was full time for many years

What's your favourite part of your job? - I like helping people "get it", and I like helping horses be ridden more kindly

What's your least favorite part?? - "The Unteachables", people who already know everything ('cos they read a book, or tinternet); people who blame their horse for everything; people who won't make an effort; people, basically....
 
As previous posters above, I got where I am through hard work and lots of study!

I am head girl on a large riding school, livery and polo yard, and I teach every day I'm working so five days a week. This can be anything from six hours to one hour. In school holidays we run pony days, pony weeks, and activity hacks (for instance, the next one I have to organise is the mounted adventure easter egg hunt for ten children) and we are a pony club centre so have rallies going on too. As well as all this we hold regular (fortnightly) competitions and have larger shows and ODEs in the summer. I have to be honest and say that I dread school holidays now.

My favourite part of my job is the clients who I have built a relationship with. Those who absolutely love to ride and love to learn, and who enjoy a bit of "banter" (oh god I hate that word!). The clients who make you laugh all lesson, and who make you sob with pride when you watch them ride their first winning dressage test, or complete their first one day event.

My least favourite part of my job is all the rest of the teaching. I must be honest and say that around 95% of my teaching is NOT fun. If I could freelance maybe and stick with clients who genuinely love to learn and want to improve, I'd love that. However, being a riding school instructor does not allow me to do that. I do have certain clients who are "mine" and only books lessons with me, but the vast majority are taught by a mixture of instructors with us.

I teach an alarming amount of children who don't actually want to ride, and adults who really dislike being out of control and not being able to do something instantly. I teach rude people. People who answer back and swear blind that the horse is the problem (when they do this I take great delight in getting on said horse and demonstrating how easy it actually is to get going). My biggest pet peeve is the people who won't try something because they think it will be scary. I know what it's like to be afraid, but I wouldn't dream of saying no to my instructor before I had tried something. I seem to spend far too much of my time waiting for people to stop stropping so they can have a go at something, and then wanting to strangle them when they say afterwards "oh, that was actually fun". I hate the people who just wilfully ignore their instructor. If I'm in the middle yelling 'MORE LEG! SIT UP!" I expect to see them try to use more leg and sit up. Luckily though, these people almost invariably fall off when they ignore me, and our rule is if you hit the deck your instructor gets a bar of chocolate. I loathe pushy parents who can't ride themselves yet still seem to be the authority on equestrianism in children. I despise the stupid questions - children seem more and more to need help with everything, they will never have a go at something and then ask for help if they can't manage. I get the "Are my stirrups wonky" from children who have one leg up their nose and the other almost on the floor, and every time I die a little bit inside.

Being entirely honest, I would rather not teach because the majority of my teaching is not enjoyable.

However, those moments with clients that you've worked with for a long time, when they achieve a milestone and give you a huge hug at the end of it, those are priceless. That, and getting children enjoying the sport from day one - I love that.




Writing this has made me realise I teach too much hahaha!


ETA - things I never thought about when training were silly things like how cold it is teaching in winter when no matter how many layers you wear, you will still freeze just standing still. How tiring it is being "on" all day - I'm not very good at being cheerful for hours on end and find it exhausting. I am now an expert in not going for a wee for hours on end. In the summer I have a glorious tan, but only on my arms and face. And I am very good at sneakily inhaling jelly babies when I'm starting to feel like I'll fall down.
 
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1. Grew up around horses, was a very successful junior showjumper, took my BHS exams in between other things- life, uni, work etc.
2. I do part-time freelance. I'm a secondary school teacher (steady cash, good holidays!) and teach freelance at weekends.
3. Watching a horse and rider progress and helping the, achieve their goals
4. Teaching in bad weather!
 
1) I worked for rides as teenager and was lucky enough for my riding school to think I could make a good instructor so they decided to formally train me. I gave up for a while due to poor pay but had my current employer approach me at a show and ask me if I'd consider coming to work for them.
2) I do set part time hours/days but also freelance on my days off.
3) I love seeing someone finally 'get it' when they are learning something especially if it's something they have been struggling with for a while.
4) Those who don't actually want to learn, either because they don't really want to ride or they think they know it all, and standing around in a sand school for hours getting cold and wet in the winter and sunburnt and sweaty in the summer...the sun bounces off the sand and you bake when it's hot!
 
Was horse mad as a child and didn't have a clue what to do other than horses when I left school. I was very lucky having an amazing horse who took me to levels I could only dream of in show jumping which maintained my interest. I trained for and sat my AI as soon as I was old enough to do so and taught PC and at some local riding schools.

I then realised I wasn't going to survive long term working on yards, living in grotty accommodation (this was the early '80s) so started a totally unrelated degree but trained for my BHSII whilst I was a student. During that time I kept teaching PC and some clients freelance. Things slowed down a bit when I got married and my horse got older so I didn't do so much but then my parents bought some land and started a livery yard, it soon became clear there was a demand for a riding school so my teaching increased again and I started training working pupils too.

I've always worked a mixture of hours, initially I worked things round my son who my mum looked after for me and then I worked round his school hours with a couple of evenings too. My dad was always around to run the day to day side of the yard and I organised the teaching side but had other instructors too. Once my dad was unable to work I took over the management too. I've been lucky in that I've always been able to juggle my hours round other things which allowed me to become a BHS examiner and support my son eventing. Now being self employed has allowed me to adjust my work to cope with becoming disabled.

My favourite part of the job is seeing clients improve and enjoy their riding. Currently I teach a wide variety of levels including RDA riders, older riders, first time horse owners, career students and Pony Club riders (I coach our PC Intermediate and Open riders across all three disciplines). Competition success is always nice but equally much pleasure can be had from helping weekly riders. The majority of my teaching is on a one to one basis now which I prefer.

The worst part of the job used to be teaching outside in all weathers before we had our indoor arena! I hate pupils who don't listen or those who blame the horse or are rough and bad tempered. Fortunately these days I have really nice pupils so enjoy virtually all my sessions and they all understand my limitations due to my illness and understand if I have to perch on the mounting block for a minute or two.
 
Irishdiamond said:
For all you BHS instructors out there :) would really appreciate any replies.

How did you get where you are now?
Do you work full/part time?
What's your favourite part of your job?
What's your least favorite part??

I would love to possibly eventually (way down the line) teach but not sure I'm cut out for it. Would love to hear people's opinions on how they like it vs dislike it.

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...


Through hard graft lots of luck and a well off hubby
Full time
Looking out onto my yard surround by the countryside
trying to keep every one happy
 
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