Do you have an instructor or a trainer?

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Interesting discussion, and having passed the PTT a couple of months ago and working to complete my UKCC Level 2, here's my contribution. Whether I coach or instruct an individual is very situational, and in one session I will frequently change and swap between them.

For a beginner, yes, very much more instructing than coaching - but even then I will coach as much as I can (did you feel the difference? What do you think might work?). Sometimes people aren't in the right mindset for coaching so good old fashioned instructing until I have got them relaxed enough to swap approaches is the correct thing to do.

As to what term is applied to me, well I'm not fussed.

I know many people feel that BHS qualifications are antediluvian, but I've found that the emphasis is very much to coach the combination in front of you rather than bark instructions and follow a lesson plan.

 

[Rowreach]

I know many people feel that BHS qualifications are antediluvian, but I've found that the emphasis is very much to coach the combination in front of you rather than bark instructions and follow a lesson plan.

And it has been going this way for a number of years now. In fact a lot of sports coaching is completely generic now, and the principles are the same whether it's riding, tennis or sky diving.

 

[View]

And it has been going this way for a number of years now. In fact a lot of sports coaching is completely generic now, and the principles are the same whether it's riding, tennis or sky diving.

I'd open that up further - I've used the generic coaching approach in my full time non sport profession for many years.

Coaching is coaching, whatever the setting. Discuss

 

[laura_nash]

Coaching is coaching, whatever the setting. Discuss

I'd certainly agree with that. I had some private labour coaching during my pregnancy, which worked brilliantly. Visualization, mental exercises etc. Interestingly it also seemed to help my riding once I'd had my daughter and got back on my horse, even though riding wasn't mentioned. It was all about staying calm and relaxed in scary situations, so I guess it makes sense.

 

[Walrus]

I use the word instructor around my horsey friends, probably because it's more traditional and I've always had a riding instructor. With non horsey people like at work I use the word trainer. I think it helps to makes it sound a bit more "sporty" and like I'm taking it seriously and they understand the term more. If you say riding instructor to a non horsey person you invariably get the comment about "don't you know how to ride yet".

I also use the phrase "miracle worker" on a regular basis!

 

[EventingMum]

No pretention here

Trainer has fewer syllables I do think coaching has different connotations to instructing though, joking aside. Does anyone know how the UKCC qualifications differ from the BHS instructor ones?

There's not a huge difference now. BHS teaching exams can now incorporate UKCC qualifications and very much have the coaching ethos now. BHS qualifications have actually included examining on horse care via the stages exams, UKCC assessments don't to the same extent or depth.

 

[Britestar]

ETS: The bottom line is that I believe the UKCC accepts each and every rider is different and you teach/instruct/coach what's in front of you, instead of sticking to the same boring box of ideas every time.

I find this very interesting, as in my experience since many of the instructor/trainers we use in our riding club now are all ukcc accredited, they seem to have less independence of thought than before, not more.
They all ask you what your goals are and if you haven't got a definitive answer, they don't know what to do with you.
I have a 'difficult' horse, and sometimes in lessons he is uncooperative, and now I find that on these occasions they don't know what to do with him and I get ignored.
Before they would have given me simple exercises to keep him busy and make me feel I'd achieved something.
I've become less keen to pay for sessions with these people as I feel they don't went to deal with someone who didn't fit 'in the box'.

 

[teapot]

If anyone's interested the UKCC portfolios and the BHS PTT/AI one are available to download. One requires far more pages to be filled than the other...

Re horse care, it may depend on which pathway you do. I know the RDA pathway UKCC 2 has questions in it that wouldn't be out of place in the Stage 2 care, but obviously not covering every aspect, and of course no lunging.

 

[teapot]

I find this very interesting, as in my experience since many of the instructor/trainers we use in our riding club now are all ukcc accredited, they seem to have less independence of thought than before, not more.
They all ask you what your goals are and if you haven't got a definitive answer, they don't know what to do with you.
I have a 'difficult' horse, and sometimes in lessons he is uncooperative, and now I find that on these occasions they don't know what to do with him and I get ignored.
Before they would have given me simple exercises to keep him busy and make me feel I'd achieved something.
I've become less keen to pay for sessions with these people as I feel they don't went to deal with someone who didn't fit 'in the box'.

Now that is interesting as those I know who have done or are doing the ukcc are more open minded, more so than those who did the BHS pathway before the PTT changed. The PTT syllabus is unrecognisable to when I was riding in ptt guinea pig lessons and considering taking it ten/twelve years ago. Maybe those coming through the BHS system now are better than the old stereotypical 'BHS way' that a lot of us associate the AI system with? Out of interest, were they BHS trained too? If so, did they do the old PTT which was heavily regimented? I am sure there are some instructors out there who will never get their head around the 'learning journey' that the ukcc has.

I know I'm a lowly rs rider where my opinion often gets ignored, but I am heavily involved with RDA coaching. I currently have someone who's training for their BHSII picking my brains for ideas on how to teach someone we both know, knowing I've been trained under both the BHS and ukcc systems. She has more experience and abiity in her little finger than I'll ever have but she's open to new approaches in order to get the best session for the rider, outside of the BHS way...

 

[teapot]

I have a 'difficult' horse, and sometimes in lessons he is uncooperative, and now I find that on these occasions they don't know what to do with him and I get ignored.

ETS: forgot to say that I always have a 'what happens if it things don't go well/rider/horse issue' in my coaching plans, which going by the last training day I was at didn't seem to be the done thing. I thought the whole idea of 'coaching' was having the ability to adjust when things go wrong... There was a fair bit of 'well things can't go wrong when coaching/teaching surely? *shocked face*' going on :wink3:.

 

[Britestar]

ETS: forgot to say that I always have a 'what happens if it things don't go well/rider/horse issue' in my coaching plans, which going by the last training day I was at didn't seem to be the done thing. I thought the whole idea of 'coaching' was having the ability to adjust when things go wrong... There was a fair bit of 'well things can't go wrong when coaching/teaching surely? *shocked face*' going on :wink3:.

There are a few that do this and these are the ones I'm going to now. What surprises me is that 2 of the ones I previously went to now fall into the ' oh just pretend they're not here' category, when before they came up with alternatives.

 

[rachk89]

4. Unconscious Competence - "What, you say I did something well?" The final stage of learning a skill is when it has become a natural part of us; we don't have to think about it.

I do this but its mainly out of surprise I got it right.

I call them instructors. Just out of habit really I sometimes call the showjumper a coach but that's what his qualifications are.