Happy Trails: Hack Your Horseback Riding Lessons!
Equestrian hacking has benefits for both the horse and the rider – because there are all kinds of sneaky lessons happening whenever our students ride outside the arena.
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5 Creative Homework Ideas for Riding Lessons
Help motivated learners make the most of their riding lesson time by giving them creative horsey homework.
Math Phobia: Teaching the “M word” in Horseback Riding Lessons
We’ve seen math phobia in horsemanship students of all ages…. so look for opportunities to incorporate math practice into your regular riding lessons.
Our Favorite Tool for Teaching Memorable Unmounted Lessons
A decorative wooden stick pony is never going to replace a real horse… but a versatile hobbyhorse creates all kinds of fun in unmounted lessons!
Unhelpful Riding Habits: Students Do the Weirdest Things!
Every riding habit we practice should have a solid reason behind it, based on safety awareness and rational thinking.
Stuff Happens in the Saddle: Are Your Riding Lesson Students Prepared for an Emergency?
No matter how careful and safety-conscious you are, stuff happens. You’ll want these 6 riding survival skills to become part of your students’ muscle memory.
Self Care for Riding Instructors
Prioritizing your own health and happiness will not hurt your equine business. On the contrary, your clients and horses will also be better for it!
6 Creative Ways to Reward and Motivate Students in Horse Camps and Lessons
No matter how motivated students are to learn and improve their horsemanship, we think occasional rewards – ribbons, certificates, and other simple prizes – are beneficial in a lesson program to inspire extra effort and create positive new habits.
Better Horsemanship at Home: 6 Show-Ring Alternatives to Inspire Your Students
Without show competition or outside events as motivation, riding instructors must provide challenges that keep students stretching, learning and growing.
Are Your Students Ready for a Horse Show?
We believe that showing a horse is a privilege, not a right – and as riding instructors, it often falls on us to determine when a student has earned that privilege. That means we need guidelines that tell us if a student is ready to show.
5 Secret Goals for Teaching Orange Level Horsemanship
Orange Level Horsemanship acts as a bridge between advanced beginner and intermediate riding.
Help Your Riding Students Put Fitness First
We riding instructors need to help our students understand that they are athletes — and help them form the habits of an athlete, one small step at a time.
Make Your Riding Lessons Barrels of Fun
Barrel racing is one of our favorite versatile activities. We can set the arena at the beginning of the week and use it to teach horses and riders at every level, whether they ride English, Western or bareback.
Tack for Tiny Tots
Like everything else about teaching Rainbow Level horsemanship, adjusting your tack so that it safely fits tiny riders requires some creative — and colorful — tricks.
Tips for Teaching Tiny Riders
Teaching younger riders in Rainbow Level is not like teaching older students. It requires a different tone, mindset, and lesson structure, along with some special safety considerations.
$1 Teaching Tool: 6 Ways to Use a Party Store Prop in Riding Lessons
Our favorite kinesthetic prop for riding lessons can be used to improve arm and hand position, teach arena geometry, and test a student’s lower leg or release over fences.
Marking Milestones: Tips For Tracking Your Students’ Progress
Careful tracking can improve your teaching and training, creating happier students. It also makes it easier to recognize your students’ accomplishments — which keeps them motivated and coming back for more!
5 Secret Goals for Teaching Blue Level Horsemanship
There’s a light at the end of the beginner tunnel, and Blue Level horsemanship students are having epiphanies left and right… they know the dance steps – it’s time to tune into their equine partners.
Our Secret Strategy for a Booming Lesson Business: Level Up Camps and Clinics
Level Up horsemanship camps and clinics are popular, moneymaking, memorable events. They give our students a boost of measurable progress – and help them form some close-knit friendships.
Take Your Lesson Plans to the Next Level
Thoughtful lesson planning can take some serious time and creative effort. But it saves time in the long run, and helps you walk into the arena confident that you’ve done everything you can to help your students succeed.
Let the Unmounted Games Begin!
Unmounted horsey learning games are our group or private lesson go-to for filling camp schedules and unexpected rainy days.
Rainy Day Unmounted Lessons
There’s a lot more to horses than looking good on their backs… even the Horsemanship Levels have unmounted objectives covering essential ground skills and riding theory, and rainy day lessons can help students progress to the next Level.
5 Secret Goals for Teaching Green Level Horsemanship
We think that Green Level Horsemanship is a pretty important stage in a new rider’s journey… and there are a few key concepts we hope they realize along the way.
Giving Thanks: 18 Ways the Horse Business has Enriched our Lives
Horse people may all have their own way of doing things, but our lifestyle and love of horses keeps us connected – and that’s something we are always thankful for.
