Musing on what do you want from lessons and teaching styles?

[scats]

I became a bit disillusioned in some trainers because what they were telling me was great didn’t ‘feel’ right. I’m not the worlds best rider, but I have always had a lot of feel on a horse. Even as a child I could recognise when a horse felt crooked or not through, but obviously at that age I lacked the skill to fix it.
I have had trainers shouting across that my horse is going beautifully but I know that underneath me they are not entirely straight, or a hind isn’t stepping through enough. I just find the whole thing soul destroying and messes with my brain.
One of the best people I’ve had for teaching me is actually one of my best mates. He’s got his stage 4 but no teaching qualifications and he’s not ridden higher than elementary, but he has an amazing ability to actually see what’s going on under the rider and fix straightness issues so minor that most people miss them. He doesn’t bark instructions, he makes insightful comments and suggestions from his observations.

 

[ycbm]

I tend to stay away from instructors that want to fix or change my position. I have a few physical issues which means I can't ride perfectly but I can ride effectively and I know how to do that for myself. If that makes sense?

It makes a lot of sense provided the instructor knows about your issues.

I have a thing about trainers who only train the horse, not the rider.

I was watching a friend's lesson one day, and my friend had obviously repeated to this trainer something I'd said about trainers that only train the horse and don't adjust the rider. Either that, or it was a complete fluke that she turned to me when my friend's horse was moving quite nicely and said "if the horse is moving well then why change what the rider is doing? ". I kept my mouth shut for one, but I thought "maybe the horse could go even better if the rider was in balance? ".

I have another thing about the difference between encouragement and false praise. I'm not a child, I don't need to be jollied along all the time. I've left one trainer partly because I was being told constantly how good the work was, yet when I got home and watched my video it just wasn't.
.

 

[scats]

It makes a lot of sense provided the instructor knows about your issues.

I have a thing about trainers who only train the horse, not the rider.

I was watching a friend's lesson one day, and my friend had obviously repeated to this trainer something I'd said about trainers that only train the horse and don't adjust the rider. Either that, or it was a complete fluke that she turned to me when my friend's horse was moving quite nicely and said "if the horse is moving well then why change what the rider is doing? ". I kept my mouth shut for one, but I thought "maybe the horse could go even better if the rider was in balance? ".

I have another thing about the difference between encouragement and false praise. I'm not a child, I don't need to be jollied along all the time. I've left one trainer partly because I was being told constantly how good the work was, yet when I got home and watched my video it just wasn't.
.

The first thing I do if an issue arises with one of my horses is forget about them for a bit and check my position and riding. It’s amazing how many times the issue seemingly disappears when I remind myself to sit and ride in the best balance I can.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I think for me, (as somebody who hasn’t had a lesson in a long time!) I really need to understand the why.
It’s all well and good telling me something, but I explain it to me. A lot of the lessons I had in the past were more of a “do this”, but rarely was I actually explained the how and the why, so the information was never clear or absorbed.
As somebody who struggles with confidence occasionally, I need somebody to show me some empathy - but also will recognise when I need to get on with something and not let self doubt hold me back. If somebody fully believes that I am capable of something, and it’s just my brain holding me back - then by all means tell me to suck it up and get on with it, because almost always I will do so! I think it must be quite hard for instructors to be able to switch between teaching riders who learn/deal with situations differently.

 

[Skib]

I found I couldnt concentrate on the horse and on the teacher at the same time. I eventually asked the RI to tell me to do something, leave me to do it and then I would return to her and halt to hear her corrections and comment. Then I would repeat if necessary.

 

[Hallo2012]

personally with my trainers hat on i always try to say..."we are going to do X to try and achieve Y" and then we go on to the exercise and I will give hints to improve eg "ok good but next time make sure you keep the inside leg on to help with ABC" etc and when it looks better "there, there, there, can you feel that? can you feel the ABC now?"

i detest the barrage of now circle, now change the rein, now halt etc as what does it teach people? nothing.

i try to explain he theory, then help then through the pattern and also confirm when its the moment they were looking for ("there")

with my pupil head on, having ridden to a decent level I am more than happy for my trainer to say eg right off you go and do a spiral with some transitions and keep going until it feels better, and he will add in the odd correction but mostly will say "yes" in the moment that i need to look for as i have a fair bank of knowledge to draw on-this will change once the boys are at a higher level but prelim-psg is well within my comfort zone.

i think it very much depends on your level and the horse-one of mine can be very very hot initially and what can he say other than "yes just keep going until he settles" as he knows I am pretty sticky and confident BUT if that was one of my pupils and i knew they were losing confidence i would give much more input in to how to handle it.

as always it really varies combo to combo.

 

[palo1]

personally with my trainers hat on i always try to say..."we are going to do X to try and achieve Y" and then we go on to the exercise and I will give hints to improve eg "ok good but next time make sure you keep the inside leg on to help with ABC" etc and when it looks better "there, there, there, can you feel that? can you feel the ABC now?"

i detest the barrage of now circle, now change the rein, now halt etc as what does it teach people? nothing.

i try to explain he theory, then help then through the pattern and also confirm when its the moment they were looking for ("there")

with my pupil head on, having ridden to a decent level I am more than happy for my trainer to say eg right off you go and do a spiral with some transitions and keep going until it feels better, and he will add in the odd correction but mostly will say "yes" in the moment that i need to look for as i have a fair bank of knowledge to draw on-this will change once the boys are at a higher level but prelim-psg is well within my comfort zone.

i think it very much depends on your level and the horse-one of mine can be very very hot initially and what can he say other than "yes just keep going until he settles" as he knows I am pretty sticky and confident BUT if that was one of my pupils and i knew they were losing confidence i would give much more input in to how to handle it.

as always it really varies combo to combo.

It is a really good skill to be able to identify the 'moment' that the rider (or student in other situations too) needs to feel in order to experience genuine learning; good instructors/teachers can do this but often have to wait and find different ways of getting to that point. Sadly, some instructors and teachers more generally rely more on 'method' teaching rather than 'feel' teaching which requires much more insight and nuance. In my area of work, I can see a student doing the 'right' thing but unless they also have the sense/feel of that, no amount of praise or criticism will help. I have to wait, ask in several different ways and then time the positive response really accurately. It is tricky lol!!

 

[eahotson]

I feel that too many trainers over complicate things and generally whatever level you are riding at, the same things re-occur. I work best with a trainer who can identify the one thing (on that day) that will improve my horse, offers some tools to help me that I can use when I am on my own and gives me time to process instructions/suggestions instead of bombarding me with words. I've often just wanted to say, please can you shut up and give me a moment and now I'm old and a bit cranky I'm happy to express that opinion, politely, of course! I also appreciate a trainer who will push me out of my comfort zone as long as I respect them and they know me and the horse. I spent many years paying for someone else to ride my horse from the ground whilst I passively followed instructions. It really doesn't work and I made zilch progress. I also hate being told something is good when clearly it's not, I'm not paying someone to massage my ego and I'm perfectly happy to be told when something isn't good enough (because generally I already know!).

there are advantages to being old and cranky.

 

[Cob Life]

I have another thing about the difference between encouragement and false praise. I'm not a child, I don't need to be jollied along all the time. I've left one trainer partly because I was being told constantly how good the work was, yet when I got home and watched my video it just wasn't.
.

I’m the opposite, I don’t want false praise but I do need an instructor who tells me when I’m doing well having had an instructor previously that never gave praise and just gave criticism.

My instructor still corrects me but will often pick out something to improve ie. “He’s in a nice natural outline, just ask for more activity from the hind end”

 

[Jango]

I think it's just trial and error you need to try lots of different instructors till you find one who gets results but also works for you as an individual. For example I hate it when the instructors want to come back to halt/walk and talk endlessly about theory. I know the theory, I want their review of me doing the exercises in person. I like the small, constant reminders and tweaks to improve my riding, but I'm quite a good multitasker.

 

[View]

It's so much a two way relationship. And how I work with a rider one week may not be the same next week - because I am seeing and hearing different things. One of the most powerful tools in my kit is silence - let the rider work it out for themselves, if it is safe to do so. I set my clients up to not need me, or to be ready for a coach at a higher level (although some of them will come back to me when there is a confidence blip). I also want my clients to tell me what their goals are, and how they are feeling that day about riding.

Some days as a rider I need someone to just say to me "did you feel that?" or "what happened there" other times I need them to explain to me the why. Sometimes I need my hand holding (metaphorically), other times I need a kick up the backside.

So why on earth would I think that any rider always needs the same from a coach?

I love teaching the kids before they learn fear - but they learn through fun and games with me, and I do use a lot of the old exercises with the calm ponies. I dislike teaching with pushy parents shouting out instructions and confusing the little ones (or not so little ones) - this has led to me walking away from some clients. I also coach the kids of some sensible riders who realise that Mum and Dad are not going to be listened to as much as they should be.

I suppose that my rambling musings are saying that my style as an instructor/coach is very fluid - and is based on the needs of the combination in front of me at that moment. I try to agree a plan with all riders/groups for that session at the start, and always try to give next steps/homework out.