Teaching styles

A

applepie

New Member
Sep 5, 2009
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Hi everyone!

I ride at a riding school, and have just recently switched to a different instructor as I prefer their teaching style to my old instructor.

I was just wondering what everyone else looked for in an instructor, and what kind of teaching style you like?
 
I like someone who gives you a lot of feedback. I've had one guy who'll only tell you when you do it wrong - helpful to a point but you spend a lot of time thinking "is this right then???"

I've had another RI who talks constantly. Annoying.

The one I have at the mo is good. Down to earth, practical and gives praise when you get it right.
 
For me I like a RI who understands I'm doing it for fun. Someone who will concentrate on only 1 or 2 things oer lesson (I get easily confused!) with a loud enough voice. Someone who has a sense of humour and comes across as enjoying the lesson as much as I do. Somebody that can see where my limits are and work me past them a little bit without making me feel like I'm past it. Somebody who explains what I should be doing and why and makes it relevant to me.
 
I like my RI. Every lesson she asks me what I want to get out of it, and then we judge according to how much of a numpty my pony is that day whether that is practicable! She makes suggestions, uses a lot of metaphors, and makes me think for myself and anchor things in my mind so I can remember them when I'm out without her.
 
I look for clear explanations of things with consideration given to the amount of detail needed i.e. I won't understand the intricacies of the horse's muscle and skeletal movement but the reasoning behind doing something helps me remember it.

Feedback on each exercise is also essential - as is paying attention! I had one RI who would turn and talk to someone else while I took my turn in a group lesson and would therefore have no feedback to give.
 
having spent my youth being yelled at by a crazed ex-army riding instructor (he had a handlebar moustache, lived in flamboyant grey breeches and also had a love of cooking) whose 'school horses' were mostly compiled from off-the-track trotters, dangerous 'bargain bin' finds and horses who'd bolt or buck (he did a bit of wheeler-dealing on the side you see!) and whom he'd frequently chase with a lunge whip (at best) or chase by throwing pieces of wood at them (at worst! and yes! kids often fell off as a result ...) - in retrospect all i learned was to stay on, how to get a trotter cantering (useful. NOT) and how to make a nice roast lamb (he'd often go off into a cooking diatribe halfway through the lesson!)

so no, i do not like shouty instructors!

i need to know WHY i am asked to do things a certain way, i dont like being pushed out of my comfort zone too much/too fast (eg if i say NO, i mean NO - def not one of those annoying people where 'no' means 'yes' and they really just want to play a stupid game of 'being conjoled' with their instructor. if i say I am not going to jump, i will not!) and shouting wont make me learn any better! humour is also welcome!

julia
x
 
Joyscarer said:
For me I like a RI who understands I'm doing it for fun. Someone who will concentrate on only 1 or 2 things oer lesson (I get easily confused!) with a loud enough voice. Someone who has a sense of humour and comes across as enjoying the lesson as much as I do. Somebody that can see where my limits are and work me past them a little bit without making me feel like I'm past it. Somebody who explains what I should be doing and why and makes it relevant to me.
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I could have written this! Yup - describes my instructor to a tee. Add - someone who is always willing to show me something (i.e., get on my horse and demonstrate) if I'm having trouble grasping a concept, and someone who gives me time and space to think/play/put theory into practice rather than just riding my horse from the ground.

I think it helps hugely that my trainer/instructor also schools my horse twice a week - so she really knows what a quirky little so-and-so he can be - how and where he tends to lose his balance, how and where he likes to fall in/out, what he finds hard/where he's stiff, etc. I know a good trainer should be able to see much of that from the ground, but there's no substitute for first-hand knowledge.

N
 
Ri

At this early stage of learning, I believe an instructor who can communicate and also one who is organized in how they present the material is important. I prefer a methodical, step-by-step approach.

Professionalism is also very important. I do question my current instructor's professionalism. I have had issues with the previous group lesson extending into my lesson time, and then my time ending early. Basically, I was getting 35 minutes of lessons, when I paid for an hour. I keep an eye on my time and am very vigilant at this point.
 
I think my instructor is just superb. She will always give feed back and expects me to do the same. She also manages to put up with my immensely annoying questions ('what's that for, why did that happen, how do I do this'...etc etc) and will sometimes make me work out of my comfort zone a little. She will let me know if I'm riding like a right wally, but when you get praise from her you know she really means it - it's not just flim-flam,
She always reminds me that she is still learning too, and will be until her final breath, because that's what we are all doing. She's in her twenties and is not jaded, bored or otherwise disinterested just because I'm old and a novice. She is almost more like a mentor than just a riding instructor.
Good grief, hope she doesn't come on here and read this, her head will swell right up!

By the way Notpoodle - I wouldn't mind having just one lesson with your old instructor. Might not teach me much but it would certainly give me a laugh!
 
LBrider said:
By the way Notpoodle - I wouldn't mind having just one lesson with your old instructor. Might not teach me much but it would certainly give me a laugh!
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haha - he did good insults too! i have been called anything from 'a sack of potatoes' to 'a blindfolded cyclist heading for a busy junction with no hands'!
 
notpoodle - your old RI sounds hilarious!!! I think I'd have been selling ring side seat just for the barmy comments!!!! Love the blindfolded cyclists one :)

The RI who really brought my riding on and got me confident was one who knew an amazing amount, but was at a school where the YO was quite limiting in what she would allow (was almost a permanent novice yard in some ways) and the ponies were mostly a little loony with a few ailments thrown in here and there. He would very often have shouty fits if you didn't do as you were told and stubborn horses would occasionally get things thrown at them (my tactic was to take the mickey out of him if he got grumpy).

But he taught a secure seat, good leg position and soft hands......he would go nuts if you were jabbing the horse in the mouth. He also taught me one of my most valuable lessons that I remind myself of regularly, relax!

I used to ride the whizzy and naughty ponies on our lessons, there were two in particular that would bolt in the school and just hare round in a circle endlessly. He would teach you to just relax and go with it, funnily enough it was doing that which brought on my confidence on silly horses. Whenever I feel scared about something I remember riding a little pony called Misty who was rarely ridden off the lead-rein as her two speeds were a fast walk and supersonic, I was so confident on her that I was eventually the only person who could get her trotting decently without her ears in my eyes - all just because RI had taught me to relax and not be scared when she ran off.

I have a fabby RI now who has been the best for teaching the lateral movements, she fully explains what I need to do but doesn't overcomplicate it - will really miss her when I move!
 
I have been really lucky with my RIs - they have all been fab.

I like someone who will answer my endless questions about why he has done this or how to do that. Also I like to ask about how to build up his muscles and stuff like that.

I am quite competitive so I like to have someone who can push me. I really trust my instructor so if she says I can jump a certain jump I pretty much believe her and just go for it. I don't think she would ask me to do something we are not capable of.

I also think it is important the the RI understands your goals. More important is to understand your horse - how he rides and feels. My Ri jumps izzy for me every couple of weeks for schooling so she knows all his little tricks which makes it easier for her to help me with them.
 
Some interesting replies! :biggrin:

I like my new instructor because she shows me how to sit and the aids to give, to make the horse do what I want (I know that sounds pretty obvious!!). She explains why these aids work. It makes sense, and it works :)
 
Trewsers said:
notpoodle - your old instructor sounds bonkers! lol, he'd have terrified me - even if I were younger!!!
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oh believe me, he did!!

forgot to mention - one thing I definitely do not like is instructors (usually of the screechy female variety) who keep jumping on the school horses to 'show everyone how it's done and that there's nothing wrong with the horse' - that's bound to make pupils feel even worse about their riding!!
 
I did an exercise on preferred learning styles a few years ago when I was considering becoming a RI. Within the group, the results varied from liking to just do it and work out what's happening later, to me at the other end of the scale, needing to know who, what, where, why and how right from the start - including muscles and skeleton, human and equine. I think this may have made me quite a difficult pupil!

However, once I realised how extreme I had become, I made myself lighten up a bit, and guess what - my riding improved!
 
I like to be pushed and challenged, IMO a good instructor will ask what you want to get out of the lesson (esp if you're riding your own horse) and what you're working towards in the short/medium/long term. I like to have things explained to me, be shouted at a bit when I'm not doing it right but also be told how to do it right and then told instantly when we'd got it.

One of the best instructors I've ever had is actually a really close friend, we grew up together and her mum used to teach us both so we have a very simiar riding style. Our lessons turn into debates about how to get the best of the horse and we discuss things then try it out, I like that she respects my opinion - even if I'm riding her horse!
 
I really like my current RI she is calm and encouraging but she keeps pushing me just a bit out my comfort zone (I need that or I'd probably never do anything :redface:) and she laughs when things go wrong - which helps me to relax and not take it too seriously.
Oh and bitsnpieces. I know the school and RI you are talking about. I ride there now (although as you probably know RI you had has left). He was a very good teacher and the horses adored him but as a nervous old adult I never could cope with his shouting! In later years he had obviously been told not to shout - so he'd look into the distance and ignore you completely while he tried to calm down! You could see him struggling to get a grip on himself. All the kids he taught seem to love him though and the horses adored him...
 
My RI's when i was learning were no-nonsense. They didn't comprehend the word "can't" and now i can respect them and what i learned as i can stick on most things! They were pushy without being overly aggressive.

My current RI is calm, quiet but doesn't miss a trick and works me hard! She knows how to get the best out of both toby and i and is pushy enough to stop me wimping out.
 
Is anyone on here an instructor? I'm wondering now what makes a good "pupil"!

They must find it frustrating when they have to keep telling us things like "your left hand has dropped again!" :giggle: it's so hard when you've been doing something wrong and you have to change it, as you end up slipping back into your old ways without even noticing.
 
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