Fourm for Riding Instructors: share tips, tricks, tools, and stories

Hey everyone! My name is Mary and I have been a riding instructor for about 2 years now. There are lots of parts that go into being an instructor and I'd like to get to know my fellow instructors and hear any stories or general helpful things!

To start off I'll tell ya'll a little about myself and my experiences.

I'm an 18 year old highschool student and I have been riding for about 7 years. I started teaching last summer and was hooked! I have been through a lot of frustrations and successes with my students but have loved every minute of it. I wanted to start a forum where riding instructors could come for advice and encouragement and share the love of the trade. Excited to get to know ya'll!

~Mary

Also I guess I have really started to understand the use of games with my little ones. I have created a few "games" for my students to play while on horse back that I haven't been able to find in books. My personal favorite helps the kids to start working on stopping, and backing up straight.

"The Parking Game"
Set Up: 3 boards
Take 3 boards and set them up like a parking spot (2 boards parallel to each other and 1 at the top connecting them)
Then tell the kids that they're going to do some shopping. They have to get there first though! So I have them ride around the area *at any gate* and then once I call on them (or say ok if not in a group lesson) they are to come into the parking space and stop. After stopping they can tell me where they went and what they bought. After all the shopping is done they have to carry all their new items home so they must pull out of the parking spot by backing up (and turning) and then continuing around the arena.

I have found my littler kids LOVE this and could play it for about a whole hour lesson if they had the choice! It's always important to keep and upbeat attitude and make it fun and enjoyable while still correcting any mistakes! Hope ya'l enjoyed (: