Teaching a complete novice to ride, where to start!

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myprincess

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I'm going to be teaching a friend to ride, she has only rode once in her life! She will be learning on my steady very safe horse, although he is dead to the leg she wont come off which is the main thing.
I am an experienced rider myself and have regular dressage and jumping lessons I just don't know how to put my knowledge across to someone else who wont have a clue what I am talking about.
I was thinking of starting without stirrups to get her balancing herself using her core and using her legs to control the horse rather than just the reins, all in walk of course!
If there's instructors on here that could give me any tips it would be much appreciated
thanks in advance.
 
I always start off by telling them correct position from a safety point really such as position of foot in the stirrup, also about the reins and ho over basic aids and how they are attached to horses mouth! A neck strap is good or one of those balancing straps so they dont pull on neds mouth.
Lunging is a good place to start!
Rising trot is always the trickiest to learn :)
 
just to add the reason I will be teaching her is because she is going to help me at the yard I have 3 horses at a private yard with no help and work full time, thanks cob&onion for actually answering my question :)
 
Years ago I taught 3 of my friends to ride, one of them still does it now :)
Also taught my kids to ride. Love teaching, hoping to do my exams next year go into teaching adults from scratch
 
Lower leg and hands, then once rising trot in a correct position everythings easy:) My friend has a riding school and taught all the beginners like this, especially the heels down! One group lesson all beginners, a barrel rolled past the arena door as it was windy outside and spooked all the horses, the only ones who came off are the ones who didn't keep their heels down:D Good luck!
 
We have a beginner who rides my completely bombproof and reliable Draft horse. She had never sat on a horse before. We started by teaching her to mount correctly and how to sit and hold the reins properly. Her first ride was led by someone on foot just 10 mins round the block. Then we progressed to steering round cones in the field. I fastened a grab-strap between the D-rings, so that if she felt unbalanced she didn't have to hold the reins.
 
Why not start with the 3 S's - Stop, Start and Stear. I remember this from when I started. Focus on inside leg to outside hand and slowly work on position. This will help them grasp the basics and get their balance in the saddle while their muscles develop. Then you could try getting your friend to stand up in her stirrups and practice the 'up, down' movement before trying a short trot (holding on to front of saddle to keep balance and not pull on horses mouth). A neck strap might help save your horses mouth too

Good luck :)
 
Tbh if your not insured its probably better to go to a RS . If you still intend to go for it, id learn her how to be around horses, basic safety from the biting and kicking ends. How to properly mount and hold the reins, place her feet in the stirrups, explain a bit about posture and correct balance, feeling her seat bones then have he walk around with a leader if you can get one, her main aim being moving with the horse in walk, feeling the mobement and maintaining her own balance supporting herself in the stirrup rather than heavy on the horses back, i would not attempt trot until shes mastered balance in walk
I would not take away a first timer novices stirrups, and id pit a neckstrap on
 
I have taught two girls who left the riding school to learn how to ride properly. They had been there for years and all they could do was trot around, holding on the front of the saddle hunched over with their toes pointing down !

First of all, I had to tell them what they were doing wrong. I found myself repeating for months 'heels down, shoulders back, sit central, look up.." Eventually they adopted a good position without me going on at them. During this time they often held on to the saddle so I encouraged them to keep one hand off the saddle and introduced them to half halts, I then worked on getting them to stand up in the stirrups and learn how to balance well enough to take both hands off the saddle. Of course that was very boring and repetitive for a while! but absolutely essential and I was not progressing on to anything potentially dangerous with unbalanced riders. I used pole work and having a pony well schooled in lateral movements and rein back helped as that kept the kids interested and very happy with doing 'fancy stuff' :) Plus lead rein hacks out to vary it a bit. Big improvements were made when I mentioned that in rising trot they should think about how they sit back down, rather focusing on the rising and then falling back down. Its more difficult to teach younger children with less core strength but I found using the same techniques on older people worked very well and they picked it up very quick. Of course the basics like holding the reins and where they should expect the feet to be positioned in the stirrups is very important to start with
 
In walk I would teach her to hold the reins steer the horse in and out of barrels or bending poles and do it all without using the reins. So teach her to look where she is going and use her body to turn the horse then proceed to getting her to be able to stop and start without using the reins so all done by body movement. Then personally I would add a lead rein and ask the pony to trot a few strides so your pupil can feel the movement and then stop again and get the up down of rising trot in place please remember this is a small rise over the saddle not a jump into the stirrups with the view of three counties between their legs.
Sorry I tend to end up teaching those that have graduated away from riding schools and to be honest they then have to learn to ride the horse most just kick to go faster and haul on the reins to either turn or stop. All that has to be unlearned before you learn to ride a horse properly so why oh why dont they teach people to ride properly from the start
 
flurryjuno said:
Lower leg and hands, then once rising trot in a correct position everythings easy:) My friend has a riding school and taught all the beginners like this, especially the heels down! One group lesson all beginners, a barrel rolled past the arena door as it was windy outside and spooked all the horses, the only ones who came off are the ones who didn't keep their heels down:D Good luck!
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As a newby to B.H.S techniques, when I took my pony to an approved yard. I was astonished to see all the girls with their own ponies were riding in the heels up position, especially those who jump jump jump every day ............ I actually asked the head instructor this was a modern riding technique!
 
I know a riding school that encourages rider to ride long and let them point heels down so stirrups slip right to the heel. H&S hazard. I was always taught to teach riders to ride with heels down even if it meant their rode slightly short then slowly encourage them to ride long as long as heels are down
 
I think it might still benefit your friend to get some riding lessons with an instructor with experience of teaching adult beginners-ideally somewhere she can get lunge lessons, too. She will probably progress more quickly, and be able to help you with your horses after that, and after a few months of lessons when she has mastered the basics and you can teach her from there. She can still learn about stable management from you and get used to being around your horses.

In my experience of working at a riding school/trecking centre over recent summers, adult beginners are often a bit more nervous than child beginners, but do progress a lot faster. I think a good instructor knows when to push them, but also when to back off, and how far to push them. This isn't something that's easy to explain over the internet.

However, if your friend absolutely won't pay for lessons, and you still want to teach her, here is some general advice:

-Put a neckstrap or a breastplate on the horse so she has something to hold for balance. Don't let her balance on your horse's mouth.

-Don't start with no stirrups, but do introduce work without stirrups in walk relatively quickly, as this will help her develop balance/feel.

-Start her off on the lead rein or possibly the lunge (if you are very confident lunging). She doesn't need to stay on the lead rein for that long, but until she is able to balance in the trot, it really is much safer. It will also be easier for her if she doesn't have to worry about getting the horse going all the time at first.

-When introducing trot, keep it to short bursts at first. Tell her to hold on at least the first few times, as she will probably not anticipate how bouncy it it. Rising trot can be hard for beginners, so she may need a lot of help/encouragement at this stage.

-Don't let her canter until she is really established in the trot. Canter is a lot easier to sit than trot, it is the comming back to trot where people often lose their balance. It might be a good idea to do this on the lunge if you can, so she can hold on the first few times.

-When teaching her to stop and steer, stay close at first, as this may take a while to master!

-Don't allow her to have a crop until she is balanced and secure in all three paces (if you were going to let her have one at all).

The most important thing is that she develops a secure, balanced seat, and doesn't rely on the horse's mouth for balance. You may also need to teach her to be a bit more assertive with her aids. A lot of adult beginners are very gentle, and this means they struggle to get the horse to do anything at all!
 
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