Your instructor should be your ally in keeping you and your horse safe, to help you progress in your riding skills. What makes a great instructor for one person won’t be the same for another. Here are some qualities that I believe make a great horseback riding instructor, and the type of a trainer I hope to become one day.
Knowledge
A great instructor has extensive knowledge of riding, horse health, and horse care. You only want to learn from someone who is well-educated in these topics, and who can give you accurate, reliable information.
Experience
A great instructor has a wealth of experience. They should have competed at multiple levels, ridden a wide variety of horses, and studied under different trainers themselves. When looking for a new instructor, make sure you ask about their level of experience, the disciplines they’ve ridden, and what their riding history has been.
Ethics
Great instructor is ethical. They maintain the highest standards of care and welfare for the horse and teach their students to do the same.
Firmness
A great horseback riding instructor should be firm to keep you safe and to drive you on. While it might be tempting to look for an instructor who makes lessons fun and easy all the time, doing so won’t benefit your riding. Instead, look for a trainer who is firm but who is also reasonable.
Positive Nature
While it’s important for an instructor to be firm, you’ll also want to work with a trainer who can be positive and encouraging. Sometimes a bit of encouragement can make a big difference in your riding and your success.
Goals
A great riding instructor helps their students work on small, achievable goals. A good trainer not only recognizes and acknowledges students’ progress, but also helps their students recognize and appreciate the progress they’ve made. Of course, instructors need to offer constructive criticism as well to guide your improvement.
Confidence
A great instructor is there to offer support and a practiced eye, like an arena mirror, only more talkative. Students should be able to perform their very best and learn with ease, and to do that they need to be comfortable, confident, and not stressed. Ideally students should feel like they can admit feeling worried or afraid, and they should not be embarrassed to make mistakes in front of their instructor.
Ride to Train
Once a rider develops a safe and balanced seat, they start to learn to influence their horse’s way of going. They transition from being an unobtrusive passenger to a more effective ‘pilot’. Great instructors teach you not just how to ‘pilot’ but how to educate the horse. To really learn to be a partner to your horse you must go beyond thinking of your horse as a vehicle. This process is called training and a great instructor aims to train their students to train their horse.
Clear Communication
A great instructor is a clear communicator. They know how to teach, and they know how to adapt their teaching methods to each student’s individual learning styles.
Willingness to Answer Questions
Any great instructor should be willing to answer your questions. An instructor who constantly cuts you off or, worse, makes fun of your questions, is not helping you to learn. A great instructor will listen to and answer your questions.
Do you recognize these traits in your current instructor? What other traits would you add to this list?
