standards of riding slipping?

I'm very lucky to have found a good riding school (and a small local "village" one at that, not a smart equestrian centre). When I was an owner and mainly rode my one horse we worked to a higher standard than I achieve on theirs. However, they have certainly brought my riding on in terms of getting a tune out of different horses, learning to improve a horse in a short space of time, and generally teaching me a different "method" that works for their horses. The RIs and YO are also lovely people who look after their horses well.

They cater to quite a lot of riders who are just looking for a nice hour of horsey time rather than improving their riding. There is definitely no kicking and pulling allowed. I was in a group lesson for a while that I found frustrating because it had a similar format each week and we didn't seem to be making any progress. After a while I twigged that the others were happy riding a few school figures, having a laugh with the RI and enjoying being around horses for an hour a week. And why not? The RI's job mainly involved making sure they didn't do any harm, had a good time, and offering advice to anyone who wanted it.

This wasn't really my cup of tea so I switched to mainly private lessons and they suit me much better. Because I knew enough to explain what I wanted and they could accommodate me. However, even at a good school I guess you can end up in the wrong group and not learn much!
 
When I started back riding after moving to Shropshire I was pleased to find my current school. We are taught to ride correctly although the instructors will let some things slide while fixing more important things- good coaching technique in my opinion. ..

Have finally started jumping here and it is so much more enjoyable than it was before as I am in control and far better balance! Occasionally things go wrong- horse was steering like the QE2 last week- my fault as wasn't used to taking enough contact on that horse!

Also doing some dressage. Still need to work on contact and not gripping up in canter transitions.

Also depends on the horses. Jumping 2'3 felt relatively easy as it was easy for the horse. Less well schooled horses teach different things.
 
Embo said:
Part of the problem is that instructors aren't mean enough any more - because they're not allowed to be! Riding instruction has changed dramatically in the last 5-10 years.

Humiliation was a hard truth of learning to ride when I started out, but I found it very effective! If you went the wrong way, wrong diagonal, weren't sitting correctly, your lower leg wobbled etc, you would get shouted at, told off, made to do it again properly until it was second nature.

These days it's all praise, even if the person/child is hopeless, the istructor has to tell them how good they are. Or face the consequences from the parents.

My instructor is also my friend so she can be mean if I'm being rubbish. If I had a penny for the amount of times I heard "what the hell was that!?" lol. I can laugh it off as I'm aware of my own ability.

RS students aren't necessarily so resilient. And the parents think their kids are riding prodigies.
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I really disagree with this I'm afraid. Different people learn in different ways and there are many of us who don't learn at all well with the "shout and humiliate" school of teaching. It knocks confidence and means that those who have been humiliated are thinking less about what they are doing than about whether everybody else is laughing at them. It's meant to be fun as well as instructive and I for one don't enjoy being shouted at, unless it's being done tongue in cheek by somebody I know well, but then it's not real shouting! I always try as hard as I can in my lessons and inevitably some lessons work better than others, but the instructor should respect the fact that I try my best even if I'm not quite getting it right yet. I don't pay £32 per hour to ignore the instructor, so if I'm not getting it right they either aren't explaining it well enough or they need to find another exercise to get me to the right place.

I do agree that things can go too far the other way and I have changed instructors before now because the one I was with wasn't demanding enough, and therefore I wasn't learning. You can be demanding and give the pupil a tough lesson whilst still making it fun and pleasant. I definitely don't agree with the "tell them they are brilliant even when they are rubbish" school either. But I don't think the human race has deteriorated that far in the space of one generation, so I would look at the standard of training instructors rather than the standard of the people being taught, if you want to get to the root of the problem.
 
The vast majority of riding schools of the past (1950's) had no outdoor or indoor arenas.
We would be taken for road hacks and learnt to be confident riding on the roads and in traffic.
One would occasionally end up on the beach and jump the breakwaters or some fields were we were allowed to go for a canter.
We were allowed to fall off and remount and crack on.
Todays riding schools spend most the time teaching people to ride within the environment of an outdoor or indoor arena and in theory should be able to teach riders good basis skills and positioning at the different paces as well as more specialised training such as jumping, dressage etc.
Riding is very much more technical these day and I am sure the standard of instruction is too a higher standard but some things have been lost such as hacking out on the roads.
 
Cowpony said:
I really disagree with this I'm afraid. Different people learn in different ways and there are many of us who don't learn at all well with the "shout and humiliate" school of teaching. It knocks confidence and means that those who have been humiliated are thinking less about what they are doing than about whether everybody else is laughing at them. It's meant to be fun as well as instructive and I for one don't enjoy being shouted at, unless it's being done tongue in cheek by somebody I know well, but then it's not real shouting! I always try as hard as I can in my lessons and inevitably some lessons work better than others, but the instructor should respect the fact that I try my best even if I'm not quite getting it right yet. I don't pay £32 per hour to ignore the instructor, so if I'm not getting it right they either aren't explaining it well enough or they need to find another exercise to get me to the right place.

I do agree that things can go too far the other way and I have changed instructors before now because the one I was with wasn't demanding enough, and therefore I wasn't learning. You can be demanding and give the pupil a tough lesson whilst still making it fun and pleasant. I definitely don't agree with the "tell them they are brilliant even when they are rubbish" school either. But I don't think the human race has deteriorated that far in the space of one generation, so I would look at the standard of training instructors rather than the standard of the people being taught, if you want to get to the root of the problem.
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This! I have lessons with instructors of both types, the positive praising type is at my uni riding and the shoutier type is at home. I have learnt huge amounts from both of them, I don't personally have a preference but most people do!
 
I really think it depends were you go/who your teacher is. The independent teachers who visit our yard are mostly good, some very good and there's also a yard not far for us where the teaching is to a very high standard. But there's a riding school further along the coast with shockingly bad instruction. They want to get the kids jumping ASAP with zero consideration for any foundation work. They've got tiny kids who can barely sit on the pony no steering zooming round courses and I can't go there anymore even to watch friends as I really don't want to be rude, but I couldn't keel my mouth shut as a freelance coach myself. I think everyone want everything NOW these days (that makes me sound old !!) and they're not willing to put the hours in and the hard work. When I was learning to ride I was a working student training with A circuit show jumpers and was also given a Grand Prix dressage instructor as my coach wanted me to learn properly. I'm not saying everyone has to do this, but I learned the value of spending hours in the saddle to achieve a proper balanced seat and good hands before moving into anything else but this seems to have been forgotten. Which is a shame because it's not long before these kids who have no foundation become unstuck and get frustrated because they can't move up the levels as the basics aren't there. I see it all the time and it's sad.
 
Embo said:
Part of the problem is that instructors aren't mean enough any more - because they're not allowed to be! Riding instruction has changed dramatically in the last 5-10 years.
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This

When I first learnt to ride I was allowed to ride the same horse every week. Once I was a bit more confident (and they felt I was more competant) the riding school would TELL you who you were riding. I remember being put on ponies I didn't like and my dad asking if I could swap. They would make you show them that you couldn't ride that horse before allowing you to stop. It was normally when I was reduced to tears or fell off! But it meant I got a good variety of different horses/types.

I used to work at a riding school and there was one particular girl who rode the same pony every week Most people booked next week's lesson on the day and I don't know what happened but she hadn't been put down for the following week and her favourite pony had been booked for someone else. When she turned up she was adamant she wasn't going to ride anything else. I offered her another horse but she wasn't interested. Colleague tried bargaining saying why don't you try this other one for 15 mins then swap? Nope, not interested. INstead they went home again! I was gobsmacked and was thinking we need to stop letting people choose who to ride! This girl could only ride one horse. When she finally grew too big for the pony and had to change she really struggled as said pony was a bit push button whereas all the rest were typical lazy ones!

My riding lessons growing up consisted of the same thing really, basic riding together, trottig/cantering to the rear of the ride, basic school movements. I never was really taught anything remotely more advanced. I've been with an instructor for a year and half now and that has consisted of having 20 years bad riding undone! Then again, if when I was at the riding school (when I was about 10) a new instructor walked in and said "no no no, this is all wrong, lets go back to walking until I correct your position" I think I would've wanted to give up!
 
I entirely agree there is no place in teaching or learning for humiliation and aggression the best way forward especially for young people is positivity and praise for every little thing achieved. Confidence and self respect can be destroyed by overly critical teaching. That is not to say that bad or ineffective actions be praised but every try and achievement should be encouraged and encouraging. Thee cocky youngsters will also respond well to praise and positivity even if just to get them to learn/acknowledge they can be wrong sometimes
 
Elbie said:
This

When I first learnt to ride I was allowed to ride the same horse every week. Once I was a bit more confident (and they felt I was more competant) the riding school would TELL you who you were riding. I remember being put on ponies I didn't like and my dad asking if I could swap. They would make you show them that you couldn't ride that horse before allowing you to stop. It was normally when I was reduced to tears or fell off! But it meant I got a good variety of different horses/types.

I used to work at a riding school and there was one particular girl who rode the same pony every week Most people booked next week's lesson on the day and I don't know what happened but she hadn't been put down for the following week and her favourite pony had been booked for someone else. When she turned up she was adamant she wasn't going to ride anything else. I offered her another horse but she wasn't interested. Colleague tried bargaining saying why don't you try this other one for 15 mins then swap? Nope, not interested. INstead they went home again! I was gobsmacked and was thinking we need to stop letting people choose who to ride! This girl could only ride one horse. When she finally grew too big for the pony and had to change she really struggled as said pony was a bit push button whereas all the rest were typical lazy ones!

My riding lessons growing up consisted of the same thing really, basic riding together, trottig/cantering to the rear of the ride, basic school movements. I never was really taught anything remotely more advanced. I've been with an instructor for a year and half now and that has consisted of having 20 years bad riding undone! Then again, if when I was at the riding school (when I was about 10) a new instructor walked in and said "no no no, this is all wrong, lets go back to walking until I correct your position" I think I would've wanted to give up!
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Yes but at 10 would you really expect to be taught things that are much more advanced than that? I had my own pony and regular lessons at 10 and wasn't taught more than that, jumping yes, basic flatwork and beginning to get to grips with the idea of bending but really nothing more advanced than that.

We get told who we are riding at uni riding too and that is good, it's good to be made to ride different horses! Instructor has given in during the past couple of weeks though as I am about to graduate so won't be able to ride my favourite horse here again so he's being letting me ride her ;)
 
windand rain said:
I entirely agree there is no place in teaching or learning for humiliation and aggression the best way forward especially for young people is positivity and praise for every little thing achieved. Confidence and self respect can be destroyed by overly critical teaching. That is not to say that bad or ineffective actions be praised but every try and achievement should be encouraged and encouraging. Thee cocky youngsters will also respond well to praise and positivity even if just to get them to learn/acknowledge they can be wrong sometimes
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Largely agree with this. I do think there's a time and a place for stern words, but in an atmosphere that is generally supportive and positive, rather than constant criticism and negativity. We use both positive and negative reinforcement on the horses so why not the riders too?

Many people who are brash, cocky and boastful actually seem to have pretty low self-esteem. While it's tempting to take those people down a peg isn't it better for an instructor to simply offer praise and criticism when they are due? Especially with riding, where it's so important to convince the horse you are competent and confident, bursting someone's bubble isn't always going to be helpful.
 
I will never forget the strange experience of going to a friend's RS for a 'pony day', years ago.

I'd never set foot there before, but got immediately asked which horse I wanted to ride :D
 
Yes standards are dropping, that much is pretty evident. The question is why?
No single factor is causing this decline, many are playing their part.
People are buying or sharing horses far too soon.

The sue culture is restricting schools from really teaching riders to feel, balance and fail. Experience and knowledge is often gained through failure but thats no longer an option.

The quality of instructors, both in riding schools and freelance is not great. Watched a freelance giving a jumping lesson recently. Became pretty obvious the instructor did not have any real clue what they were doing. Recipient of the lesson thought it was good. Problem is people have become used to poor instruction and no longer realise how bad the instruction they are receiving is.

People tend not to want to put in the effort required to really suceed in riding. There's a gadget or supplement to solve every problem (supposedly).

There seems to be some sort of badge of honour being scared of doing something these days. Wish I had a pound for everytime I listened to a group of people comparing how scared / nervous they are. Almost inverse willy waving.

Then we have the constant reduction in level for affiliated competition. Why bother putting the effort in to becoming competent to jump a 1m track when you can go BS at 70cm. On the flip side 40cm classes unaff for adults on horses? The whole competion areana is becoming something anyone can do with little ability other than staying in the saddle. There is little incentive to put in the hours at home.

But lets enjoy the current level while we can. In 15 years time it will be even worse.
Respectfully
Grumpy old ****** from the 60s
 
You only have to read this forum to know standards are non existant . The number of 'I can't ride my horse so what bit should I use so I can stop it ' type posts are innumerable - suggest they get some lessons and learn to ride and they tell you they don't have the money. It's the quick fix, disposable generation I'm afraid - everyone wants it *now*. As for being too good to do flat work - that just speaks of someone who knows nothing about horsemanship...
 
I think part of the problem is that running a proper riding school is now not a viable business proposition. By proper I mean professional instructors who can do what they teach and have competition or other quantifiable results. Schoolmaster horses in all disciplines that are able to give a correct feel for movements, lunge horses likewise. It costs so much to run a business, let alone staff it, that lesson costs outstrip the cost of buying and keeping a horse, added to which people don't seem to be prepared to put in the pure work and time that it takes to become a real rider. So you have, it seems, legions of horse owners who are not riders.
 
Parental pressure when paying for lessons is a pain in the backside, even though it puts their darlings life at risk. I used to work full-time as a driving instructor, & hated it. Firstly, many parents couldn't understand why little Jonny / Jilly wasn't booked for their test after only a few lessons, afterall, they passed after only a few lessons & they are a good driver (really, shall we go for an assessme nt drive?). No thought that road conditions have changed in 20 years, as has the test standard. Then parent tells them to do things differently, such as teaching kid to coast, not drive at a spped appropriate to their skill level bringing in loads of bad habits, poor observations. If I had a pound for everytime a kid said in a lesson 'my dad says I should be doing it this way not the way you showed me', really? When was he last trained in road craft? Want to compare accident/points accumulation with mine? Has he taken any further driving instruction since scraping past his learner test aged seventeen two decades ago? Then the parent says I think Jonny / Jilly should be booking their test! Really? Not in my car. Let him / her do it in your shiny new company car that you belt around in. No? We'll do it my way then. Then you might get the threat to change driving schools if you don't bow to their will like a petulant child having a tantrum. Go ahead, I'm a professional. If you can find another professional willing to risk their car and your childs life for the price of a couple of lessons, you aren't a responsible parent & they are not a professional worth accreditation.

What gets me, is you are trying to teach their little darling the skills they need to stay safe and alive on the roads for life, & they are happy to ignore this to save the cost of a few lessons. This is the price they put on their childs life.

These days people are very opinionated 'experts' in areas where they have little training. That they risk their children so Jonny / Jilly doesn't have a tantrum because they haven't jumped isn't surprising. If the parents knew more, they would understand the importance of flatwork first. These are the first to scream about sueing when an accident does happen. It's down to the RS to say we have standards, if you don't like it we aren't the school for you. There will always be places with no standards willing to mop up these dregs, they are not professional establishments you wish to frequent. RS should also be realistic about the level their pupils work at. I may not be overly pretty, but I'm a calm, quiet rider who is used to arabs & tbs, with the ability to settle them. There are worse things to be.
 
These days people are very opinionated 'experts' in areas where they have little training. That they risk their children so Jonny / Jilly doesn't have a tantrum because they haven't jumped isn't surprising. If the parents knew more, they would understand the importance of flatwork first. These are the first to scream about sueing when an accident does happen. It's down to the RS to say we have standards, if you don't like it we aren't the school for you. There will always be places with no standards willing to mop up these dregs, they are not professional establishments you wish to frequent. RS should also be realistic about the level their pupils work at. I may not be overly pretty, but I'm a calm, quiet rider who is used to arabs & tbs, with the ability to settle them. There are worse things to be.

I totally agree with this, there's lots of reasons behind why many peeps think standards are slipping but i have seen for myself that some parents just want a 'quick win' so that the child is happy!

I had a young girl share my horse briefly, I was told (by her parents) that she was an experienced rider and was jumping at Newcomers height. When she tried my boy i wasn't that impressed but decided to give her a chance because my boy takes some getting used to so i offered to give her lessons/pointers myself which were declined, i then saw her ride again after a few weeks of our 'trial' and there wasn't much improvement on the flat so i suggested using my dressage instructor... to which i think i just got lip service. Her father constantly told me how amazing she was but as time went on i wasn't seeing an improvement and was hearing reports of her riding my boy like a giraffe around the school (he's very well schooled and works in an outline easily) then she started complaining that she couldn't jump him because he was stopping at x poles (he's an ex showjumper!) so i persuaded her to have some lessons with a jump trainer, which she finally did but i could see she wasn't capable of jumping more than a cross pole on him. eventually she started not turning up to ride, then cancelled because she'd been jumping a riding school horse over 4ft (hmm!) and had fallen off. I decided to tell her father that this wasn't working and amazingly he was surprised and upset with me because he thought she was doing so well!?!?! I was terrified that she'd attempt a big fence and get hurt!

I don't know whether this was a case of a teen who just wanted a push button jumper, or whether she believed the hype from her father about how amazing a rider she was (very sweet but totally untrue) but i wasn't going to put my horse, or her at risk any longer.

It's very sad because as much as i love riding i love being around and learning from horses just as much, i think a lot of 'riders' nowadays miss out on the best bits of being with a horse.
 
Teaching anything means you have to be adaptable. Some pupils you can tease a bit, others you can't. Some you can be a bit more critical to, some you can't. Some thrive on praise, others might get a bit too cocky. I used to like my pupils to knit together what they were learning. You can really tell you are winning because they may say, oh that's why we do x. I used to teach group lessons in a very ordinary suburban RS, plus some private ones wherever. The group lessons were often mixed ability which can be a test for thinking on your feet, but the lower levels learned from the better riders and the better ones enjoyed being the guinea pigs. Space could be a bit limited if it was a large group so you have to work that into the lesson, but that is good practice for the riders if they ever find themselves in a collecting ring. I used to produce info sheets for people to take away and think about and practice on their own two feet, and the little ones got colouring sheets, exploded tack to identify, that sort of thing. Even complete beginners or little children learned how to run up stirrups on day one. The cooling off period at the end of each lesson was used to discuss things like the history of riding, different breeds, different colours of horses, points of the horse. I find so many people these days know NOTHING about their hobby other than how to do it and that is really sad. Theory is just as important as practical skills. Interestingly though, you would be surprised how many parents complained because little Emma only did two canters all lesson and I would have to explain why that had been the case. They think they have paid their money and will gallop about and jump for 50 minutes, never mind the poor pony doing a 6 hour day. I used to hate the screaming abdabs you got from parents when little Jonny fell off too. Luckily it didn't happen very often and I used to instantly ask the pupil why they had got off without asking first. It always diffused the situation and stopped the little ones from crying most of the time but oh the parents! It never seems to occur to them that if you get on a horse, sooner or later you will fall off it again. Falling off is a skill you have to learn like anything else. I learned it on a pony which chucked me off every 15 minutes and as soon as I learned to stay on he used a different method to dump me.
 
When I get paid at the end of the month (long month due to job change!) I'm booking a lesson first thing, the problem is there are a lot of riding schools around here and only 1 I know of that I wouldn't touch with the proverbial pole so I might have to go for lessons at more than one before finding the right one.
I want to find an instructor that will teach old school values such as leg more than hand - a lot of riding schools these days seem to gloss over the leg or in the case of the barge pole one don't teach leg at all! Which really shocked and saddened me actually - etc etc.
There's a classical instructor nearby that sounds promising so hopefully she'll be the one to go to but unfortunately with people's standards not being what they used to be even word of mouth isn't always a good way to find somewhere.

I remember back in the day (which wasn't that long ago really) being taught how to correctly fall from a horse as a child nowadays I don't think RS's do that because of health and safety.

I think it's a real shame that a combination of instructors not teaching correctly and people wanting quick results with the minimum of work makes for lowering standards and the worst of it is that the kids being taught now don't know any different and will perpetuate the problem by possibly becoming instructors and passing on the instruction they themselves had :(
 
Having started learning to ride at a RS two years ago, my first lessons was with a lady who livery'd there and taught on the one night. She was really good for a beginner, and was a good balance between praise and "what on earth are you doing". I always made sure I only had a lesson when she was working.

It wasn't long before she gave it up though and instead one of the grooms taught that hour instead. I tried a few of the different "instructors" there, who basically were teenagers/young adults. They barely gave me any tips or instruction - i'd have to ask myself and they spent most of their time chatting to one another or on their mobile. In 8 months, they started to push me to jump which I didn't want to do... it would end up in me falling off or flapping all over the place. I just wasn't established enough in my flatwork.

After a year, I'd had enough (tried other RS's too but the one good one I found was miles away and cost a fortune with the petrol too).

I started looking for a novice share and found my current ride. It's now been a year with him.
I started having monthly lessons with a dressage instructor and also with a jumping instructor (even with her we worked on only flatwork for 4 months before I even tried a jump and that was only this month!). My riding has improved so much. I remember when one of my instructors asked me to get him moving forward and into a nice outline and i replied with "what is an outline?"

Says it all about the RS really.

That being said, I bet most of you would still scoff if you saw my riding.
But i'm still learning, and finally with the right instruction.
 
Being picky I can now chose who I teach so only carry on if the pupil is willing to learn and is enjoying the lessons no point in flogging a dead horse so to speak but I do have that luxury as I only teach because I want to and only charge for the fuel to get to the pupil so I have to get something out of it too
 
At least the kids at riding school today will never have the experience of being chased down a jumping lane with a lunge whip on a rake thin ex army horse with a rock hard half panelled flat saddle with no stirrups and hands on head. I'm still quaking at the thought 40 odd years later.
 
I think, as has been said, there are probably a range of issues.

Running a riding school is very difficult and I know a lot in the local area have closed down since I was a child. In order to keep business, you do have to offer what people want- and this can meen instructors don't correct faults as much as they should, and allow people to jump when perhaps they shouldn't.

Also, a lot of parents want to see their children progress and at the start aren't willing to pay for lunge lessons or private lessons. In this sort of setting, and instructor probably can't correct all of the rider's faults (and it could be a bit overwhelming for a beginner) and this allows bad habbits to become established, and these can become difficult to correct. Equally, if you've never ridden a really good horse, it can be hard to know what you are trying to achieve.

Insurance issues and fear of being sued must also play a factor- this can mean people are never allowed to do things like ride bareback which might improve their balance etc.

Having said that, I have worked at a riding school/trecking centre type place which mostly catered to holiday makers and the number of people who claimed to be able to walk/trot/canter or even jump and had awful positions, no balance and generally very little idea of how to ride was a bit scary. Or said they were experienced and neglected to mention they hadn't actually ridden for 10 years. We did see some children who supposedly had regular lessons but seemed to have very little idea of how to ride!

I do think customers/their parents have to take some responsibility. If you really want to learn how to ride, there are riding schools/instructors out there who can teach you, but some people would rather just say, oh I can jump X height etc.
 
Here's a thing, 'tho. I live in Ireland, which is pretty much the same, or worse, than you lot in the UK. But when I go to Spain or Portugal or France for a bit of a 10,000 mile service (I mean lessons, BTW), I see real riding schools, with plenty of clients of all ages, and guess what? They seem to be able to ride really well, even the littlies on tiny ponies (I will remember 'til my dying day a tiny, tiny girl on a shetland pony canter 8m circles, go sideways in trot and really MAKE him piaffe - and it was a tiny, shetlandy piaffe too!). There is a great tradition of horsemanship in Portugal and Spain which has gone on unbroken. There is also a great tradition in the UK/Ireland, but it is very different, and I think there has been a break in the chain, so to speak, and now things are a bit adrift. What to do?
 
I was also taught to jump with no stirrups down a jumping lane with hands on head! Loved it, but also loved doing flat work.

Nothing wrong with positive instruction, but instructors mustn't be scared to say when it's wrong. This can be done without making client feel bad, but honesty is essential. If I'm doing it wrong I want the experienced pair of eyes on the ground to tell me & offer advice on improvement, what I'm paying for!
 
I think a lot of it is the old health and safety these days. I came from an era where you were taught without stirrups, you fell off A LOT beause you were not balanced and then you learnt. Jumping with no stirrups with your arms stretched out, doing round the world while trotting in an arena etc.

According to YO whose 12 year old daughter is now in pony club, there is no doing anything without stirrups, because it isn't safe!! When were horses safe?!!

So, whilst I would say that if you never fall off when you are young due to balance issues, you will probably fall off a lot more when you are older. Falling off is inevitable, and I think the old adage of 'you are not a rider until you have fallen off 7 times' is probably and indicator. I fell off a great deal more than 7 times when I was young, but perhaps I was crap!!
 
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SO1 said:
I am not sure if the BHS qualifications provide much training on how to deal with difficult clients or parents who want to do more than they capable or those who just do not want to listen to what they are being taught and think they know best.

Teaching young people to ride requires the same skills as teaching young people any subject it is not just about subject knowledge the how to teach people and plan lessons element is very important and I am not sure that the BHS qualifications spend so much time on that aspect than say someone who is for example training to be a secondary school teacher.
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I am BHSAI and spent a lot of hours producing my portfolio - which in its self is a demonstration of the fact that I can plan effective lessons suited to the varying needs of clients. You HAVE to show you are capable of creating structured and effective lesson plans for any type of rider.

I actually think that the reason standards of teaching are not always as you would hope is that less people are going down the BHS qualifications route - largely (and understandably) due to the cost.
Also from a riding schools perspective - it is far cheaper to employ unqualified staff.

The backbone of the BHS teaching exams is safety, safety, safety.. Never mind what parents/clients think, all the BHS training I've done has meant that is drilled in! I think the ability to deal with those situations confidently and tactfully comes with time and practice though.
 
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