Teaching Children to Ride

Everyone has heard of the saying 'Don't work with children or animals', but here I am talking about doing just that!


Teaching children to ride can be a very rewarding experiance. From the childs first ride you start see their progression and confidence grow, then knowing that you helped them get there and seeing them enjoying their time, gives you a great feeling of achivement for both you and the student .

Why teach? and why children?

Children are notorious for having bundles of energy and I have found that teaching children to ride not only gives them something to focus on, but something productive to channel all their energy into!
It is also a stimulating environment from the teaching point of view too. I am not going to deny the fact that teaching childern can at times be hard work, but when I started teaching I went up a very large learning curve which helped me see where I had gone wrong, what worked and what didn't, and the great thing is that when teaching you always learn something new.
Children often need to be constantly doing something, and so one ability which I found grew very fast when teaching children was spontinuity - If the child can't do or dosn't like one thing, how can you change it so that it still finishes up as a positve excersise? If the child completes the excersise faster or better than expected, what excersise could you do to challenge them even more? With spontinuity also came creativity and the ideas for lesson plans then rarley become a problem! Working with the child Its amazing how many excersises and games that you can come up with, just using one piece of equipment.
Communication skills also improve when teaching children. The progective voice was natrual to me, but for those who are quieter - once you realise they really cant actually hear you, your voice automatically starts to sound clearer. Another difficulty that I found to start with that getting the message across so that they actually understand what they need to do, could be a different matter. Being simple and like minded about issues became an automatic way of thinking - why wouldnt they want to try trotting again? Oh, because they didnt like going round the corner, and the feeling of unbalance and leaning inwards. Well lets make it fun, In walk lets think about balancing a beanbag on your head.....
Another skill that I found teaching children gave me was confidence. If I had started by teaching adults or teenagers, I think that I could quite easily have become intimidated. However children on the other hand are often more than happy to please. They will rarely question what is asked of them, meaning that long-time-consuming-explanations-as-to-why-you-do-a-certain-excersise-to-improve-a-certain-skill, are an uncommon occourance. This then means that the lesson moves on smoothly and simply - The best way for them to learn.
Another great reason for teaching children is that they are forgiving. If you make a mistake, they are not likley to hold a grudge! If you trip over when leading and the pony wobbles off around you in a circle, the child may be a little worried and loose a bit of confidence, but they arn't going to be thinking' what a clumsy oaf', and will unevitable have forgotton the mishap once the excitement of another activity takes place.

What could I do in a childrens lesson?

• Mounted Games
• In the Saddle

Before you even move off you need to ensure that your student is comfortable in the saddle, what does it feel like? Can you sit sideways? How do you get on and off? Great games and excersises for this are the real basics. I found that The song 'Head Shoulders Knees and Toes' Was a massive hit, we even ended up doing it in trot! Also Touching the points of the horse, and then encorperating it anto another popular game 'Simon Says.' This can then be used later when moving around - Simon says trot on. Getting comfortable in the saddle and doing 'Round the World' (360 degrees in the saddle both ways) and 'Half Scissors' (Half dismounting, banging your boots together and getting back on) also helped improve balance and confidence - try seeing whos fastest! Alot of these excersises can then be used on the move too.

• On the Move

Everyone knows that when you first move on a horse - its going to be wobbly! The excersises above are great to begin with, and to follow up gymkhana games are allways a hit! With the help of flags, balls buckets and battons, dozens of games can be created. Relay races, picking up items, passing items, catching, throwing, and carring items, not to mention the Grooming Box Game.
Grooming Box Game involves a carefully assorted grooming box including items such as various brushes like the plastic curry comb and body brush, a horse boot or two, lead rope, bit, and anything else that you want to include. The Items are then placed at various points around the arens - eg, ontop of a barrel. The student then rides to the item, names it, shos or descibes how it is used (eg for a horse boot - student dismounts and puts it on, then takes it off - if it is safe to do so). They then pick it up and race back to the grooming box with it. Once the box is ful they have to carefully carry it while mounted, and place it on the finishing like/barel etc.
When on the move I often use forefits if they go wrong - eg in simon says, if they make a mistake they have to stop, get off their pony, run around it, and get back on (providing they are lead) This could also be used if they miss the ball to bucket, or name a point of the horse/tack wrong.

Such games can be easily adapted to paractice things such as turning or change of gait. Eg, trot to to the dandy bruch, pick it up, walk to A and trot back. Slalams can also be set up using flag poles or barrels or zig zags across the arena (intro to a serpentine)

Other things that should be incorperated into the games for the children to progress include standing in stirrups, standing up and down, no reins,leading the pony, change in stirrup length (Jockey helps heels) and competition/timing of a game.
Competition is important as it give the children a goal. In my private lessons I have a stop watch and we allways try and beat the time before or reach a target time.

• Rhymes and Riddles

We all have our own lymerics for remebering things or learning them such as 'All King Edwards Horses Can Manage Big Fences' ( Arena points -AKEHCMBF) and these really come in hand with kids as the love to sing and make up stories. The Song 'Head Shoulders Knees and Toes' can be used for the horse or rider, and many other simple rhymes are easkily encorperated, eg yankee doodle - at the end of the song you trot, sing it again and walk.

• Stable Management

It is also important that children learn about the upkeep of the horses. The Grooming Box game helps with this, especially if the student dosnt prepaire the horse first. If the student spends time with the horse on the ground, things such as putting on rugs and tack should be observed. 'Poo Picking' Can also be made fun by getting pints for who collects the most poo, or sweeps their area of the yard fastest and neatest.

What equipment can I use, and where can I get it?

I have found that the best equipment is hand made, with the exception of some Items which are overally time consuming to make, Battons, balls, flags and Goals are easy enough to make.
Flags: To make 1 flag you will need: 50cm-1m cane (garden center etc), Cardboard, Superglue, Strong Fabric, Acrylic Paint.
To make mine I simply painted the canes white with a black tip at the base, cut a triangel of card and a matching diamond of fabric, placed the fabric around the cane at the top, put the card between the two bits of fabric, glued it together and painted the flag.
Battons can be made from pipe insulator, painted, or kitchen rolls. and I painted old tennis balls bright colours to make them stand out.
Other useful equipment to own are spare buckets, poles and barrels.

What Do I need to be able to teach?

There are many Qualifications availiable for teaching. Horse specific qualifications are most recognised if they are taken under the BHS. The Most basic teaching qualification is the Preliminary Teaching test, But as you can see from the diagram at the bottom of the page, you can all the way up to the top. I hold a CSLA qualification (Community Sports leadership Level 2) which also insures me when I am teaching, until next year. There are also some Horse Management NVQ's availiable which encoprerate teaching into them.

If you are teaching at a riding school, allways insure that their insurance covers you, and that any accidents can be recorded. If you are a private or freelance instructor, the student is usually insured ontheir own horse, however you may need to take out your own Insurance, This can be supplied by the BHS.

Conclusion
Teaching children is both exciting and rewarding for both parties envolved, Its a great way to develop skills socialise and even earn some cash!
If you have any questions, please dont hesitate to e-mail me at amigo-me@hotmail.co.uk


BHS QUALIFICATIONS

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