There are a lot of factors that go into having a valuable horseback riding lesson. Every one of us goes to our lessons in order to get better at the sport we love. Even though we know riding is fun, we also know the lessons are serious. Below is a list of ways you can ensure you are a good horseback riding student, one who’ll learn, grow, and achieve your goals.
Wear Proper Attire
Proper attire is not just about fashion or trends, it is about safety and making sure your instructor can see your posture to teach you effectively. Most new riders ride in short ankle height boots called paddock boots. Riding tights or long pants are ideal to wear. Shorts are not appropriate for riding since the stirrups may pinch your bare legs. Any top is fine as long as it is well-fitting enough to show your upper body posture. Most importantly, you need to wear a properly fitted helmet. Consignment tack shops often have used riding attire that is still in good shape for a very reasonable price.
Come Prepared
If you’re going to a lesson for the first time, make sure you know what you need to do in order to be prepared. Ask your instructor beforehand or read You Booked Your First Lesson, Now What? That way when you arrive on the day of your lesson, you’ll be ready to go straight into it without delays.
Be On Time
We’ve all been in the situation where you arrive at your lesson on time only to have to wait to start yours because the whole days’ schedule has been thrown off by the previous lessons. Your instructor is running around frantically apologizing to everyone and no one is paying attention to the things they should be. Everyone suffers as a result. That’s not good for anyone and is so easily avoided by students arriving on time and ready to go when the clock strikes their lesson time. In fact, make sure to arrive 15-20 minutes ahead of your lesson time to properly groom and tack up your horse before the lesson starts.
Be Happy with the Assigned Horse
If you are riding at a lesson barn, it is likely that you will not always ride the same horse. Over time, your abilities will change, and you will be working on different things at which time your instructor might think a different horse would best teach you these skills. Trust your instructor knows that you are capable of riding a said horse and that it is the best choice for you to improve your skills and confidence at this time. Know that you will never go far on your horsemanship journey if you only ride one horse. So be open to riding new horses; see it as an opportunity to learn new things and a sign that you are making progress.
Let Yourself Be Challenged
Your instructor will challenge you during your lessons. If they don’t challenge you, you won’t get better. A good student will be open to these challenges and embrace them, rather than make excuses as to why they can’t do something. It can be hard to remember this when you’re being asked to try something new, know that your instructor will never ask you to do something that isn’t safe or that they don’t believe you are capable of doing.
Don’t Blame the Horse
Most of the time it is a combination of things that cause a bad lesson. Instructors want students to take ownership of what part they play. It is not always the horse’s fault. Sometimes it’s not even a little bit their fault. Sometimes it is the rider’s fault entirely which is no big deal! That is why you are taking lessons because you need to learn, and part of learning is being told when you are doing something wrong.
Have a Positive Attitude
Try your hardest but understand that sometimes you will have bad days and you just have to learn from them and let them go. We learn just as much or sometimes even more from a rough lesson as we do from an “easy” lesson. Take every hard lesson as an opportunity to improve your skills, and when you have a “great” lesson, soak it up like a sponge so hopefully, you can recreate it next time. You are never “finished” learning how to ride. There is always something more to improve on and always another horse to teach you something new.
Communicate with Your Instructor
It is important for you to have a comfortable relationship with your instructor to be able to learn all they have to teach you. You will get much more out of your lessons if you communicate with your instructor as to how you feel about your riding progress and if there is something you don’t understand. There is nothing wrong with admitting when you don’t understand something or feel like you need more guidance in order to be able to learn something new. In fact, doing so shows initiative and your coach will appreciate your willingness and eagerness to learn and become a more skilled rider. If you are not comfortable communicating with your instructor, ask yourself why that is? If you really don’t feel that you can openly talk to your instructor, maybe they aren’t a good match for you.
Prioritize Your Lessons
If you always cancel your lessons when something comes up and don’t prioritize your riding, you aren’t going to be as successful. If your instructor offers clinics, day camps or other sorts of learning activities get involved. You will impress your instructor if you express a desire to learn all that goes into horsemanship and show them you have a true appreciation for the horses themselves.
The Elements for Success
Yes, your instructor wants you to arrive on time, pay your bill, and be properly attired. What they want most though is for each student to have a positive attitude towards learning new things, riding new horses, and students that are willing to communicate with the coach. Most importantly, they want to teach students that are dedicated, enthusiastic and want to learn all around horsemanship. These things are the true ingredients to being a superstar riding student.
