Hi there

I am in dire need of help :D and I am sure that the lovely horsey people on this board will be able to provide it. I qualified as an A.I almost 13 years ago, then I got married and never really did anything with horses after that as my ex-hubby was a horsey hater :(  I have now decided that for my sins I would love to get back into teaching. I phoned a Riding School this morning to be told that yes they are looking for a teacher. This is where I need your help. They have asked me to go on Sunday and do an afternoon's worth of teaching which would be fine except for the fact I cannot for the life of me remember all the appropriate terminology. I need the  just the usual basic stuff as I'm sure I'll pick the rest up as I go along :D hopefully, so any help would be very very much appreciated.

Alli

Edited to fix smilies which I'm not good at either lol

Good luck :)

What sort of terminology are you after? Change the rein? correct diagonal? Centre line? Left rein, right rein, walk, trot, canter, circle, left leg right leg etc etc? :)

& if you are doing a group lesson, leadfile or rearfile

figures of 8
3 & 4 loop serpintines
20metre circle

remeber to tell em whats coming up? ie "prepare to trot"  .......& then "trot on"

& if they are kids they might like to do "round the worlds" & "half sisscors" &full scissors if you are sadistic!!!!

when I learned to ride it was mostly Whoa, stop & for f*cks sake.......

Geoff :)

lmao Geoff

nothings changed with my mare :D :D

Hiya G30ff

I have to admit to teaching some men in my younger day that said very similar things. I always took pleasure in putting b/f's on really quite unsuitable horses who ripped the proverbial outta me when I told them what I did :D maybe I just have a really sick sense of humour though :)

Alli

oh dear........me too!!!
nothing better than a man who cant QUITE do rising trot.....lololololol

Is there a man who CAN do rising trot then michelle? :D :D

only after much torture!!!!
men lack rythem

I can ........ ;) :)

Really? When can we see a demo - for Research purposes only of course :D :D

You can have a demo any time you like Chloe... for research purposes only of course..... ;)

Geoff :)

oi! i have research to do aswell you know!!!

ok no probs.... don't forget yer hats, oh & your joddies, if you don't have yer joddies on I'm not playin.... ;)

Geoff :)

I'll wear mine if you wear yours Geoff :D

Ah... problem there Chloe, cos I haven't got any :( ...... When I was learning to ride I used to always wear jeans, much to the disgust of my instructoress who used to hate it when the said jeans rode up my legs... she used to have to stop every few minutes to smooth out the wrinkles, which of course I didn't like, not one bit.... oh no ......

Geoff :)

p.s. ooh I can feel a lesson coming on  ;)

How about a couple of tube grip bandages? They'd do the trick? :D With a long jacket of course :D

Very useful too if I fell off..... bit bleedin cold tho'....... :)

i could wear my "chaps" if you like!!!!!

Won't they be a bit big for you??  Or is your chap not larger than you....

Geoff :)

That beggars the question....

If your chaps chaps are too big, do they leave chaps on your skin?

:D :D :D

stop teasing,my "riding" chaps!!!! im sure youd know what they are!!!!!

Have you not still got your BHS books etc?

I am sure the BHS site will have the terminology you are looking for.......................

I suggest to go and book a lesson or sit and watch a lesson at another riding school and secretly write notes !

Good luck, I'm sure it will come back to you

Aimi

Thankyou for all your replies. I was just looking for the basics to see if what I remembered was correct. I stupidly gave my sister my books and as she now lives in Wales so I can't get hold of them as quickly as I would like. I'm absolutely terrifed. I have however told the people at the riding school that I haven't taught for ages and they seemed quite happy to let me have a go. I am going to go and sit in in a couple of lessons on Saturday which will hopefully refresh my memory. I asked what standard I would be teaching and they suggested I might like to start with the beginners lesson, which I think I'll be able to mange lol. I'm hoping this goes ok as if it does they have said that there is a permanant part-time position on offer. This would suit me as I don't want to have to leave the dogs through the day for any length of time plus I'll only have to work 2-3 sundays a month.
Alli

if they are only learners just tell em to hold on to the front of the saddle!!!!

lol I'm sure it'll be fine. I am probably worrying over nothing. I'm sitting here trying to plan a lesson. When I taught years ago I just winged it and never planned anything, so maybe I'd be best just to do that and see what happens. I have 8 in my first lesson so it shouldn't be too difficult. I am slightly worried about the lesson after that though, it has two adults that can ride a bit. I'll have to rack my brains for that one lol. I'm off to the loft to get out all my old notes which I'll have to read through which should also help with my memory loss :D

Alli

youll need to ask them what they usually do etc anyway,cos theres beginners & then theres beginners,
play it by ear ,cos youll need to asess the horses & ponies too

I'm hoping when I go on Saturday I'll get an idea of what the ponies are like, then I can be prepared for right little sods that wouldn't do what they were told for an experienced rider never mind a novice lol. I'm really excited but very aprehensive at the same time. I think what worries me most is the fact that everyone in the yard will be wanting to see the "new teacher" teach. Oh the scrutiny! I suppose if it comes to it and I've not got it anymore I can put it down to a case of nothing ventured nothing gained.

Alli

oh it will be fine,just take them a pack of choclate digestives!!!!-that should impresssthem!
let us know how you get on!

Will do, I'll need to tell someone how badly it went lol and how many poor unsuspecting children have fallen off. Oh dear what have I done :D

I went to have a look at a couple of Lessons on Sat to hopefully refresh my memory. I was so pleased as it all returned as I stood watching. In fact my OH had sore ears on the way home as I moaned about the girl teaching so much. I couldn't believe how much knowledge she lacked and how lacsidasical she was. I felt much better after that lol. I think what got on my nerves the most was that she was stopping the poinies at K telling them to trot on (not even sitting trot) and then canter coming OUT of the corner :(  and if the ponies didn't canter she was chasing them up with a lunge whip. I'm really hoping that this isn't a new way of teaching as I have always been taught sitting trot then inside leg on the girth and outside leg behind the girth going into the corner as this helps the horse lead with the correct leg. I was also furious as she told one girl she was stupid for not listening to her, fair enough the wee girl wasn't listening but you don't tell a child that she is stupid Imo. She was also popping the kids over a small jump, but not correcting them as the ponies were all cutting the corner then not being lined up straight for the jump. My OH said it came across that she was on a bit of a power trip lol.I went on Sunday and taught how I was taught to teach and all went well :D  no major injuries lol. I must have done something right as I was offered the job of teaching both Sat and Sun which I can't do. I can push it to one day at the weekend but not both. So the owner has told me to have a think about and get back to him, I'm in a quandry as I do love teaching and would love to take this job, but it would mean I'd have to give up showing my lovely doggies :(

Sorry to bore you all, well I'm not really :D I needed to have a moan
Alli

Good grief!  That other 'teacher' sounds like she was using the same technique my teacher used when I learnt in the 60's and 70's.....  :(

I was always taught to ask for canter coming out of a corner.

Now I ask for it in voice alone, usually in a big field, and I don't care what leg he leads on cos normally its a gallop anyway LOL

<i hated lessons> :D

its easier to get on the correct leg coming out of the corner isnt it?

Yep. Thats what i was always taught.

Also - surely its a lot harder to ask kids to get a pony into canter on the way in

Hmm, well I don't know I was always taught to ask for canter going into the corner. The reason behind this was that the ponies tend to run on into a fast trot going around the corner as most school ponies don't have any bend which in turn would make the pony unbalanced thus making the rider unbalanced.

Alli

I think the idea is to apply the aids going into the corner, so that hopefully as the balance changes actually *in* the corner, the pony has no choice but to strike off with the right leg.

i suppose id ask at the corner & get it coming out,but prepare going into the corner

Oh god i am so bad at getting myself across in writing lol, thats the way I was taught, to give the aids approaching the corner and hopefully be cantering before reaching either C or A. It is easier for a child to give aids and have a better level of control on the straight than it is on the corner. Hopefully I'm not a really crap teacher and do remember my stuff correctly :D  What bugged me about this teacher was that she didn't reinforce anything not even the aids, she just kept shouting legs on or chasing the ponies up which Imo was making them run on and become unbalanced.

Alli

Edited for spelling purposes lol

Is she qualified then?

I thought the modern BHSAI meant that you had to do a minimum number of hours before you were permitted to have these letters after your name.

If she IS qualified you can always complain about her standards, if she is not, well more fool the establishment for employing her.

I don't think she is qualified. I am sure she was employed as a temporary measure until a qualified teacher came along, hence me being asked to teach both days at the weekend. I think the owner knows she isn't up to scratch as he isn't doing as many lessons as he could be.

Aids are probably useless on dead-to-the-leg riding school ponies, to be fair :( My OH went for as lesson and was chased around too - at that point I decided to teach him myself.

I totally agree Chloe but I have to say it didn't do me one bit of harm to learn to work hard to get the riding school ponies I learned on to go forward when asked. The person who taught me to ride always reminded us at the start of every lesson that ponies were not machines and if we "pushed the right buttons" the ponies would work better for us. I do have to say that the ponies at the yard I was at aren't all that bad, I really didn't see the need for the lunge whip as the girl who was riding the pony that really needed it was carrying a whip, a wee tap just to remind the pony that she was there and it would have been enough. I was also taught that gentle but consistent contact with the ponies mouth was very important as this also made the pony think a bit more.
Still undecided about this job as I don't want to give up showing the doggies, I've told him I'll need a few days to think about things.

Alli

Most people and horses for that matter and initially taught to ask for canter on the corner and in basic dressage tests (which every rider should be capable of a prelim test) the instruction for canter is normally between F & A as an example.  Only when the rider's aids become more established and the horse's schooling is developed can you ask for canter on a straight line.  The problem with riding school horses is they have so many different riders all giving aids they become totally confused.  With my boy being an ex-racer and Huntmasters horse his flatwork left a lot to be desired which is understandable as Chloe previously mentioned going accross a field in a straight line and asking for canter is totally different to riding in an arena.  Hence we have literally taken him back to the basics and the only way we could teach himto strike off on the correct leg on the left rein was on a corner.  Right rein he was perfect (Until this weekend when we were practising for a forthcoming test and the sod struck off at A on the wrong leg!) Glad you enjoyed it though and try and get hold of some walk/trot tests and prelim tests as I am sure they will enjoy trying them.