The Three Most Important Teaching Techniques When Teaching A Beginner Or An Intermediate Rider

     I recently returned from teaching a C.H.A. Clinic in Connecticut. These are clinics run by the Certified Horsemanship Association, a national and international riding instructor certification program. It may well be the largest in the world. While testing the ten instructors involved in the clinic, and teaching workshops to help them with their further teaching, it again became evident to me that the three most important essential issues that need to be addressed when teaching someone can be addressed at a beginner or at an intermediate level. Riders just starting out in this sport do not have to be given a watered-down version of riding skills, only to be re-taught some methods and theory at a later stage. The correct basics and fundamentals can be learned starting with the first lesson.

HALTING

     Probably for the sake of safety, stopping the horse is one of the first skills that should be taught. Even with a young beginner, the rider can be shown how to use her body correctly to stop or slow down a horse. This will make them more safe, more balanced, and more effective. It is commonly taught to have the rider "check and release" with only the reins, or to "pull and release". This is incorrect for several reasons. First, it is ineffective. We have all seen a child pulled by a pony or horse while trying to stop it. It may be only at the walk, but the weight of the child's hand on a rein, and only using their hand or arm to stop, is not sufficient to really be of much use. it results in the rider being pulled out of the saddle instead of sitting deeper. It teaches them from the beginning to pull on their horse's mouth and can result in them actually being pulled out of the saddle. It also results in a horse developing the habit of "rooting", that is, leaning into the rider's hands and attempting to pull on the reins to make them longer. This is not caused by the animal being "naughty". The horse is trying to get a longer contact as it has been caused discomfort and pain by being pulled in the mouth when given an aid to stop. 
     Instead of teaching someone to pull and release to stop a horse, they should be taught FROM THE BEGINNING how to use all of their aids correctly in a coordinated method. Teach them (or work on this yourself if you are an adult and cannot get access to good instruction), to sit up straight in the saddle. The "straight line from ear, shoulder, hip and heel" rule is essential for this. It is more important to have the lower leg in the proper position than for the heel to be down. Breathing correctly is important. Take a deep breath from your diaphragm and breathe out as you ask the horse to stop. Open your shoulders and relax, with the elbows bent at a 45 degree angle at the waist.Feel the connections from your shoulder blades in back, through your arms to your hands, and through your hands to the bit (or nose of the horse if you are using a bitless bridle).Think of stopping your horse by opening your shoulders, widening your chest and connecting to the back of your body (the sacrum) as you bring your hand back SLIGHTLY. Actually, the distance between your pelvis and your hands shortens, rather than the hand pulling back. In the proper situation, your hand is actually passive, not pulling.
     A useful image is the "Alligator Tail". Picture from the back of your waist the broad tail of an alligator.  Have it's tail drop from the back of your waist, through your legs, and up into your hands. Now when you want to stop or slow down your horse, pull your alligator tail. Children readily understand this image...it is actually much of the process of the half halt which is essential in correct riding. The rider is using her whole body to explain to the horse's body to slow down. Otherwise you are just pulling on your horse's mouth, which is not where his "motor" is. If you are using a bit and not a bitless bridle or side pull, this is especially uncomfortable to the horse. When it is time to start using half halts in your riding, (which can start fairly soon- it is not for only an "advanced" rider), your body will already know the process.                                                                                    

MOVING FROM THE LEG

     For a beginner, the instructor may have been leading the rider and making certain that they understood the rudiments of halting a horse.  Now it is time to ask the horse to move forward from the leg. If the correct position of the leg has already been established, the student needs to be taught to hug or squeeze the horse. Kicking is not an option. Kicking will early on teach the rider the incorrect use of the leg. It also desensitizes the horse to leg pressure. The way the leg needs to be used often has to be demonstrated, and if the student is young, some leg strength needs to be developed. By staying tall and relaxed in the saddle, they will  also be using their seat, again a skill that can be taught now and not wait until later when they will have to be taught differently.   
     This is also an important reason not to put smaller riders on large horses. If their legs come too high on the horse's barrel they are not able to correctly use their legs to influence the animal. It may look cute, but it really is not safe or effective. When the leg is used correctly, there is a feeling of connection from the rider's leg throughout his or her whole body. 

                           

TURNING THE HORSE,  OR "SWIVELING"

 Teaching the rider to turn the horse correctly, i.e.,  from their whole body, can be taught from the beginning. I will pretend to be a "bad instructor" for a moment. Pretend you are a 12 year old student taking your second lesson. I have decided to tell you how to turn you horse, giving you too much theory too quickly.
     Jenna and Bobby have come for their lesson. I explain that they are going to learn to turn or steer their horse. I COULD say, "All right, your inside rein is the direct rein for steering your horse in the direction you want to go and bending, your outside rein is for support and is the bearing rein. Your inside leg is on the girth and generally is used a bit more for impulsion and for the horse to bend around. Your outside leg is for support and to help control the haunches."
     Jenna and Bobby may well look at their mother and ask to be taken home! Too much theory too fast. However, there is no reason why not, from the beginning, that a rider can learn to use their body correctly in this manner to explain to the horse's whole body at the same instant where they would like to go.  Instead of just pulling the right rein to go right, etc., which again is just pulling on the horse's mouth and not explaining to the body of the horse where it needs to go, it is best to learn the "swivel". The children enjoy it, and the image helps all ages of riders. Have them imagine that there is a laser beam that shines out form their navel. They can also pretend that they are wearing a large western belt buckle. All they have to do to turn their horse is to point their laser beam or belt buckle in the direction they want to go.
    Try this on the ground yourself, and then on a horse. Your inside leg automatically feels that it is put in a position to allow it to squeeze a horse's barrel at the girth, (for impulsion and bending). Your outside hip joint will be able to open and help your outside leg become a supporting leg without you independently having to move it. Now put your hands in front of you in riding position and "swivel" your hands. They automatically become a direct and bearing rein. 
     Any rider will benefit from this Centered Riding image, as it correctly influences the entire horse. It will help those just starting out in riding as it enables them to more safely control the horse. The horse more readily understands what it is supposed to do. The "swivel" image works whether you are a barrel racer, in reining patterns, performing a shoulder-in, or jumping a line of fences.  


 -Mitzi