Can you be a better teacher than you are rider?

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WishfulThinker

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Probably a silly question, but do you think you have to ride well to teach well, or do you feel the 2 go hand in hand?? I say this because I am not a brilliant rider, I have trouble (like a lot of folk must) coordinating my aids and seem unable to move above a certain level on a horse, however i've been told that I am quite good at watching someone and assessing how they are going and whats wrong and what needs to be done - yet if I was to get on said horse I would not be able to carry out the instructions.

Also, when you look at a horse working what do you see? Do you see how the muscles are working and can you work out in which direction the forces (as in upward and forwards, compared to downwards and forwards etc) are going?

Just something I am curious about.
 
Im hopeless at both
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Great question actually! I definitely think you can be a better teacher than rider, especially when you are someone like me who is a capable rider but suffers with nerves the older I get! I have an inherent sense of "feel" which I can convey well to riders, but when it comes to my own riding I freeze. Very frustrating I have to say...

I love watching how both horse and rider are going, and agree 100% with watching how the muscles are working etc.
 
that a tricky question, i think its possible, but at the same time if i was being given instructions by someone who couldn't do it themselve i might get frustrated but thats just me
 
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that a tricky question, i think its possible, but at the same time if i was being given instructions by someone who couldn't do it themselve i might get frustrated but thats just me

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What about if they could do it, but nerves cripple them?
 
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that a tricky question, i think its possible, but at the same time if i was being given instructions by someone who couldn't do it themselve i might get frustrated but thats just me

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What about if they could do it, but nerves cripple them?

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ah well fair enough then lol. i kno i get nervous when theres loads folk watching me.
 
That's interesting Sallypops, thanks. It's just that a couple of my friends keep asking me to teach them but I'm not sure if it is right as no way would I get in the saddle and do the work they do!

Sorry to hijack your thread OP, I'll bow out now...
 
some very good teachers are also good riders that just cannot afford the horsepower their pupils can afford

also some very good teachers have got past the age of wanting to get onto nutters to prove a point even if they have/had the ability

but I do think you have to have the 'feel' as a rider to be able to teach that level of sensitivity to a pupil
 
When I was training to teach (back in the day) I used to be always (and still am) pagued by lack of confidence in my own ability.
I would get things over complicated in my mind.

However when I was teaching I could see how a horse was going and diagnose the route of a riders problem. and what exerscises would help.

The weired thing was that if I ever got on to demonstrate, say a canter transition - something I might have problems with myself on occasion - I was always successful and it never entered my head that the horse wouldn`t respond well or that I would fudge it.

I guess when I was instructor mode I felt I could do it but when I was in student mode my insicurites would get the better of me.
Problem was I couldn`t keep myself in instructor mode all the time.

To this day I am still better at teaching others then I am as a rider.
 
I agree with Penny and I feel I am a much better teacher than I am a rider, for the reasons given by Penny.

This is the same reason why if I am riding I am quite happy to take opinions from most people on ways to improve, I am a strong believer you can see much more from the ground than you can feel on a horse unless you are super talented.

My ideal riding situation is riding alone with mirrors. I can see and feel as much as possible without feeling under pressure.
 
I have always said that some people are amazing instructors but not always the best rider's, and some are very talented as a rider but don't have the skill to teach, some obviously are fantastic at both.(show offs!!)

I had a lesson the other week with someone who in my opinion is a very very talented rider(show jumping),both at international level and local level(have watched them produce several novices this winter very well indeed) was very excited about the lesson, which was an anti climax, i still rate them hugely as a rider, but wouldn't have another lesson with them.

I have had instructors in the past who although have not set the world on fire as a rider, have been very good trainers with a wide knowledge, and been very good at explaining what to do and why. I'm very lucky now as my regular trainer is equally talented at both.
 
I agree with boss.

I do think some teach better than they ride but in all honestly, you cant teach something you have no experience of.. e.g. trying to teach a horse and rider to piaffe when you're clueless as to how it feels or how to ride it yourself (and reading a book doesnt count).

A lot of good trainers are good at explaining how something should feel and if you've never ridden it correctly yourself, you cant then portray that to another person.

Many people also prefer trainers who can get on and SHOW them and if you're not capable of doing that, then they tend to lose faith in you.

My best trainer by far had never competed at a high level although rode high school dressage but she could get on and show me how it was done at least
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For me, if theyre all talk but cant perform then i lose interest but i dont go on competition record.
 
Yep, I think you can - I used to teach the kids at the yard occasionally if I wasn't doing yard duties and I loved sharing and teaching them stuff. Take jumping a course for example.

I could explain it and demonstrate by running around the arena and making sure that if they werent happy with the canter round corners, to come back to trot, re-balance and ask again etc. Best approach to the straights, making sure they look up and not at fillers etc. Off they'd go and do it!

But get me jumping - you've got to be behind me with a large stick. But for me, my biggest problem is confidence in my own ability and nerves (although less so now).

When I watch people ride, whether in a video or with my own eyes, either watching lessons or at shows, I tend to sit there picking up what they could do to improve the horse and themselves to be more effective.

I think the biggest problem/hurdle is when you've got a nervous rider who could be of any ability, not just starting out but yet the instructor just can't get them to improve their confidence; and do I think this comes from you've got have experienced it at some point to teach it well.

Take me for example - my BEST ever jumping instructor who really got behind me, encouraged me and gave me the confidence to ride bigger wider fences had suffered herself with nerves about her own ability, especially jumping. She'd overcome it and her speciality were nervous riders as she could relate to them.

Take another instructor who just couldn't work out why I wasn't confident jumping and instead of addressing it head on (basically I need a shove up the backside and be made to ride so bigger grids, having to make me think about approaching it on the right stride, rather what I was doing as a whole) but instead I had weeks of doing nothing bar 1ft6 x-poles which didn't help one bit.

Good threaddddddd
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I think you defintely can be a better teacher than rider.
You cant teach something you havent felt yourself though, imho

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I agree with that totally, but can only relate it to skiing, I teach skiing but only to the level that I ski at myself. So I am much better than all clients and did local level racing but will never be as good as people who compete in the international ski racing circuit. However I know I have more empathy with the middle aged learners than the younger instructors have, so I think I can teach them better. I know more about how they feel.

I would think its similar to competant riding instructors who have never competed at the very top end of their sport. For that you need specialised trainers, for most people a good instructor will do the job.
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I think teaching in equestrianism has two 'prongs'.
Firstly you are teaching the rider , secondly you are training the horse. Sometimes you need to be a good rider so that you can help train the horse .
Other times it is a case , as many of you have said about giving the rider feedback from the ground of what you can see. This gives them an idea of the relationship between the feel of what they have , the effect that feel gives and therefore some idea of what goal they are trying to achieve. For the second part you do not actually have to be a good rider but you do have to be a good teacher/coach.
This point was brilliantly made at the National Trainers forum at the College at Keysoe. Two coaches from the world of international cricket coaching taught someone to imprive their golf, when neither they or the person they were teaching played golf!! Obviously this only applies to a basic level and i think that proves up to a certain level you do not need to be a good rider but you do need good teaching skills.
Above a certain level you need to be/ have been at the top of your game as both.
Yes when i teach and train i see the biomechanics of what i have and understand what i want it to be. Same for the rider.
I also think you need to understand how the horse thinks. As i have said many times 'the horse always knows how to be a horse we do not always know how to bw riders.'
 
I used to have lessons of Dr Woodward, who was disabled and used to teach you from her car parked in the middle of the school. I'm not sure if she was always disabled or not and had therefore ridden in the past, but she could teach.
 
Without question yes.

Good teaching requires the ability to understand and explain the mechanics as well as analyse individual student's needs. Need to be able to present both solutions to problems as well as know when to correct an error, ignore it or point it out for working on later.

Also need to be able to create trust between you and pupil.

You can be an outstanding rider and awful at all of above but as long as you are teaching at the right level then you certainly can be a better teacher than practitioner.
 
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