# i have thought of being a riding instructor and need help



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you have a lot of enthusiasm, which is great. for now, just consider taking a lot of lessons. of course , we can teach another only up to the level we , ourselves, know. so , the higher you raise that level, the more you can offer to any student. 

less than a year of lesson means you have no doubt learned a lot, but you probably still need to to learn more before someone would pay you for instruction.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

thanks for the encouragement, tinyliny!!!!

I do know that more lessons will be the best thing for my to keep doing while learning how to actually teach another

this past year and currently I have mastered the trot (posting), walk, free walk(as in dressage), a little cantering and low jumps, I also won 2nd place for a dressage test that I did quite well in.
my main problem right now is sitting trot and a firm seat in cantering, I am great at 2 point cantering but not the "sitting" kind


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

sometimes a beginner can help another beginner quite a bit, since they remember well how they got from rank beginner to more experienced beginner, and can explain it well. but, really, most teachers of riding have so much more experience than their teachers, it's hard to really understand that until you spend a few years working at it. 
there is an old saying that is something like . 

you don't know what you don't know until you know. 


and that takes time. but, maybe, since you are enthusiastic, your traine will let you help her?


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

I have not contacted her yet, but I plan to soon


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## loveduffy (Dec 22, 2011)

some trainers will let you work for them in exchange for you helping them tack and other thing they need, this would be good so you could see first hand what it takes to work with people


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

thanks duffy, that is one thing I plan on asking my instructor about
don't you love the horse forum, it seems like a huge horsey family all together

I love that feeling


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## Red Gate Farm (Aug 28, 2011)

You could research any colleges that offer equine studies as well. They give a lot of info of what you'll know when you graduate and how many years it will take.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

red gate farm, do you know of any good equine colleges that would be good to look at?


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

One thing about being a roding instructor os that you have to be able to do it yourself. 
It is not just a matter of being able to work on a rider, you have to be able to see if a horse is causing a rider problem or if the rider is causing it and be able to get on the horse to get it going correctly if necessary. 

In the UK there are exams you can take for teaching riding. I am not 100% certain of the hours but, I think you have to have proof that you have done something like 500 hours teaching before you can take the first of these exams.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

You also have to have the skills to teach. I've attended a few clinics were the clinician knew his stuff but was lousy at getting it across to the students.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I was told, many years ago, teachers are born, they are not made.


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## Red Gate Farm (Aug 28, 2011)

kkwb said:


> red gate farm, do you know of any good equine colleges that would be good to look at?


I have not attended any myself, so my opinion wouldn't be valid.

I don't know how far you wish to travel to attend an equine college, how much time you have to devote to it and how much money you wish to spend.

You should do the research yourself in order to find a good match for you. When you have some, come back on the forum and ask if this is a good college or if that one is good. Someone on here might have either attended or heard something about it.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

thanks red gate, yeah, I have been realizing that I tend to let others make my decision but I have been trying to be a good steward of my own self

thanks for keeping me in that direction

I have heard of Meredith Manor and I have looked it up, it sound like what I want to do, but it is in Virginia (I think) and I really do not want to travel that far, if that is the only really good instructor school, then yes, I would go there!!!!!

so one question would be:
does anyone know of a good instructor college that is like Meredith or close?
or maybe one that is around MO, IL, Kansas, etc......
I really do not want to go father than one or two states away from home, which is in MO


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

I think you should try to narrow down what you want to teach, and at what level. 

A kids and beginners riding instructor is going to be different from a competitive and very discipline specific riding instructor.

If you are going to be wanting to teach high level riding you're going to have to be successful in it yourself. When I've looked for an instructor in the past I've looked for one who has competed successfully in my field, and also one whose students are successful. The pathway to that would be improving your riding, and perhaps taking a position as a working student under a top rider. 

If you want to be more of a children's instructor then, obviously you still need great riding skills, but I think the skill of teaching becomes a lot more important. You want to learn how to explain things in a way people understand, how to structure lessons and make learning really fun. You might want to look at getting some experience with children out of the saddle, to learn these skills. Being a good instructor isn't going to be just teaching good riding skills, it's making the whole experience really enjoyable so they come back. 

I don't know what the legal requirements of an instructor where you live are, but often riding clubs, like pony club, offer pathways and experience to instructing. Also riding schools will take on new instructors sometimes, perhaps in a reduced pay trainee situation. 

I'd be reluctant to go through a college type place. The cost is substantial and the pay after isn't. I tend to think in a lot of horse professions that positions like apprenticing or acting as a working student or trainee for a formal qualification in partnership with an established business or trainer is going to be a better and more affordable pathway.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

wow saskia, that all is very good info, the farm where I ride and take lessons is a family owned barn, the owner I think never really did a lot of showing or training, her daughter owns a couple horses but is not a good rider.

the only instructors they have is the owner, her daughter, and a good horsey friend who owns her own horse, and has competed, but overall, the farm is just a little place where you can learn beginner lessons, ride, board and do pony club.
and do not know if pony club is where I want to go, so I should probably be looking at some other nearby professional horse riding farms where I can learn eventing (which is what I want to do).


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

another thing is this:
I have never looked at any horse barns, because for the farm where I go now, I started doing horse camps there and someone had suggested that place and so that is where I have been going, but now that I should be looking at other farms, I really do not know a lot of what to ask about, look for or find out about that particular barn????
does anyone have good info on looking for a new barn to ride at??


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Apparently at Meredith you bring your own horse for the school to use. Some don't like this idea but variety is needed to become a good rider.


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## equitate (Dec 14, 2012)

Loving horses and a burning desire to first learn how to ride, and to LEARN (how to apply) THEORY is the most important. But it is NOT about criticizing, it is about teaching a rider how to train/to time aids/to create correct reactions to our actions.

The second observation: have you be training and showing and are successful? This is necessary for getting horses in training and drawing in students. If not, What 'niche' do you see yourself as fulfilling? Teaching beginners? What type of riding? Starting young horses? Have you served a long term apprenticeship?

That said, will you have to be self supporting? Doing this for enjoyment and ignoring the very long hours?

I generally recommend that students attend colleges (not schools based on riding). What they tend to produce is very basic and the hire rate is minimal. A long term apprenticeship with a good trainer while attending college (perhaps focus on business) is more worthwhile.

If you enjoy riding, immerse yourself in learning. Do you have your own horse?


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

equitate said:


> Loving horses and a burning desire to first learn how to ride, and to LEARN (how to apply) THEORY is the most important. But it is NOT about criticizing, it is about teaching a rider how to train/to time aids/to create correct reactions to our actions.
> 
> The second observation: have you be training and showing and are successful? This is necessary for getting horses in training and drawing in students. If not, What 'niche' do you see yourself as fulfilling? Teaching beginners? What type of riding? Starting young horses? Have you served a long term apprenticeship?
> 
> ...




i see myself as teaching beginners in jumping and basic riding and trail riding, i do not own a horse but have taken lessons this past year (2014), i have won 2nd place in a dressage test (that was the only class i entered), and for two years have been a horse camp helper, helping with tacking up, teaching the kids how to groom and tack up, and teaching riding a little bit as there is a main instructor who teaches the mounted lessons


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## equitate (Dec 14, 2012)

imho first one has to be a really competent rider and trainer before being a teacher. And the teaching of beginners will likely not earn a living wage, mho.


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## xJumperx (Feb 19, 2012)

I hate to be another bearer of bad news, but if you dont have the patience to train animals, you don't have the patience to train humans either. A lot of beginners are little kids, and they are professionals of testing the patience of the wisest trainers. 

I don't think it's going to be as fun for you as you think it will be. 
I have taught beginner riders, and it's difficult. They don't understand yet, it is your responsibility to teach them. 

Plus, with only three months of riding, you just don't have the experience. With weekly lessons, that equates to you have sat on a horse maybe 15 times total. Even te fastest learner can't master something in 15 hours. There is a saying along the lines of the only true teachers are those who have first mastered the art, and you haven't done that. 
I'm not trying to be a dream crusher, but you can't sit a canter yet - what are you going to say to the student trying to learn how to canter? You haven't even done it yourself, how can you teach someone else?

As Tiny said, you have the enthusiasm, and that's a big step! You should make this a goal, teaching. Make it your goal, and take little steps to get there. Maybe shadow another trainer, take lessons on giving lessons, and really strive to be the best you can be before jumping into the heart of the occupation. You CAN do it, and you WILL do it. Just give it some time


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I trained horses and taught lessons very briefly when I was 16--it taught me very quickly that that side of the horse world was not for me. This may be something you find out, as well. It's highly political, very expensive, and very thankless.

That said, my suggestion would be to chat with your trainer. Depending on what kind of barn you ride at, you may be able to start as a groom or working student (show barns won't even glance at a working student with so little under their belt), and maybe shadowing lessons. Also, get to shows and lesson as much as possible. The more you learn, the more you can teach.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

zexious and jumper, 
recently I have thought of putting down being a working student or shadowing a trainer on my list of goals for this summer and year
thanks for keeping me going and getting me started on what I want to do
thanks again,
kk


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## xJumperx (Feb 19, 2012)

Good on you for being such a good sport about taking harsh critique! You'll go far!


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## STT GUY (Apr 23, 2014)

Being very, very good at something and being very, very good at something AND having the ability to transfer that knowledge in a meaningful and easy to comprehend way are two VERY different things. 

Instructors are a dime a dozen....gifted teachers are one in a hundred or less.


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## Textan49 (Feb 13, 2015)

It's wonderful that you are thinking about a goal for your future, but sometime we all need to concentrate on what we are doing now. I would advise you to learn as much as you can right now for as some of the others have stated "you can't teach what you don't know". Perhaps you can work with the instructors at your barn helping beginners get started with the basics. Watch some of the lessons and see if you can determine what the students are doing right and wrong. This will also help you with your own riding. Also, (and I hate to say this) some people make a good living by teaching and training, but a lot of us barely scrape by, so you may want to consider a different career and do some teaching part time. You are young and just starting out and have a lot of possibilities open for you and I am sure you will find the right niche.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

thanks so much textan49

ok, I am planning on looking at what is going to happen in the present, but if I were to become a instructor, I found a organization and was wondering if people have heard good things about it or not, here is what it is called: America Riding Instructors Association.
is the above association good?????
kk


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

kkwb said:


> red gate farm, do you know of any good equine colleges that would be good to look at?




William Woods in Fulton MO is good, several disciplines, and very nice college.

Stephens in Columbia MO is another.


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## wyld thang (Jul 12, 2014)

I would encourage you to ride as many horses as you can, and literally shovel as much poo as you can. let the horses teach you Horse.


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

First of all, you have to be very talented to be able to train a cat. Cats do what they like, when they like! But it is good that you express an interest in training animals. BUT, being a riding instructor mainly involves the training of people and that's only if you are a highly qualified instructor. You have to be a people person... and good with kids. As kids are probably the main demographic for riding lessons! It doesn't involve the training of horses at all, so maybe rethink if that's what you want to do.


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

kkwb said:


> thanks red gate, yeah, I have been realizing that I tend to let others make my decision but I have been trying to be a good steward of my own self
> 
> thanks for keeping me in that direction
> 
> ...


 I appreciate your enthusiasm but this is not the way to make a living. I've been instructing for over 35 year and training horses at the same time, but never, ever have depended on it for my real living expenses. It simply isn't possibly unless you are starting out with a _lot _of money or training at an extremely high level.

Also, this is one sport where an equine degree will not help you in the least and majoring in equine "science" is a complete waste of your time and money. Horse people respect time spent, experience and proven success.

My personal experience with Meredith Manor and the people who have attended that "college" has been negative in the extreme. But, any equine degree you obtain will be laughed at in the real world-by horse people and by the business world both.


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

Chasin Ponies said:


> I appreciate your enthusiasm but this is not the way to make a living. I've been instructing for over 35 year and training horses at the same time, but never, ever have depended on it for my real living expenses. It simply isn't possibly unless you are starting out with a _lot _of money or training at an extremely high level.
> 
> Also, this is one sport where an equine degree will not help you in the least and majoring in equine "science" is a complete waste of your time and money. Horse people respect time spent, experience and proven success.
> 
> My personal experience with Meredith Manor and the people who have attended that "college" has been negative in the extreme. But, any equine degree you obtain will be laughed at in the real world-by horse people and by the business world both.


 
thanks so much chasin ponies!!!!
that is exactly what I wanted to hear!!!!!
the barn where I ride has a trainer and several lesson instructors around my age, 16, 17, 18, and so I might be able to work along side of them and help with lessons. in doing so I can obtain experience and learning to teach lessons
also the trainer at my barn is around her thirties and I might be able to work with her??!!!
I don't know, I was taking a lesson break through the winter but I have not started back up.
the manager's husband just died and I don't want to rudely say that I am ready to start up lessons again and possibly help with the instructors!
soooooo, I am still pondering as what to do


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

kkwb said:


> thanks so much chasin ponies!!!!
> that is exactly what I wanted to hear!!!!!
> the barn where I ride has a trainer and several lesson instructors around my age, 16, 17, 18, and so I might be able to work along side of them and help with lessons. in doing so I can obtain experience and learning to teach lessons
> also the trainer at my barn is around her thirties and I might be able to work with her??!!!
> ...


Offer to clean stalls and tack, bath/groom horses, anything to help in exchange for being allowed to help and ask questions during their student's lessons. Make sure you continue to take your own lessons. Take as much work off the instructor as you can to make it worth their while to guide you.

I don't know many people who actually want a teen as an instructor unless they are looking for the cheapest source available and aren't serious about it. And remember that all instructor are not create equal! Watch carefully to learn what works and what doesn't. 

As an instructor you have to be good at analyzing both horses _and_ people!

One of the main reasons it's almost impossible make a full living giving lessons is that a great many of your students will not yet own a horse so you are supported a string of ýour own lesson horses and that's a lot of money. Then you will find that after you have helped them find a horse of their own, they can no longer afford to take lessons with you when the true cost of own a horse becomes a reality to them. I've watched the costs of horse ownership increase drastically each decade while the money you can make giving lessons has stayed stagnant!


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## mslady254 (May 21, 2013)

First off, you appear to be a focused, wise-for-your-age young lady. I think it's great that your are thinking about and setting goals,,then seeking information and being willing to take all input without getting upset if it's not what you hoped to hear. There's plenty of adults unable to do that !

I don't know much about becoming or being an instructor, but of the ones that I know personally,,,they all have another source of income, either a spouse who works, or they themselves have another way to make money. That leads me to agree with others who've suggested it might not be a great choice of a career unless you have another means to support yourself as well. I hope I'm wrong!

If,,,,IF you did have a main source of income, and instructing could be a source of partial income, then here's what I'd look into, if I were in your shoes. Ahhhhhh, to be 15 again.....no, wait,,no thanks! LOL

I'd look into one of the big time clinicians and follow their pathway to becoming an instructor under their umbrella, as it were. I know that Parelli has a course of study and progression to become a licensed Parelli Instructor. I think Anderson has a similar set up as well. I do know that it's not cheap!! Probably about as expensive as Meredith Manor, but I think you'd come out way ahead on several counts. For one, I think you'd get a much more practical and respected knowleddge and experience base. Secondly, you'd have a ready-made ,huge, base of prospective students. Thirdly, you wouldnt need your own string of lesson horses, the students lesson with their own horses. Fourth, you'd have a huge base of support from other instructors. The one downside, imho, is that it probably would require a lot of travel, with your horse. Although, now that I think about it, the Parelli Instructor that we use mostly travels within 1.5 to 2 hours for most of her teaching,a nd only travels more once a year or so, that I know of. She LOVES being a Parelli instructor and is AWESOME. 

I don't think that being impatient in trying to teach your cat is an indicator that you don't have the patience to teach people. But, at some point, I think that you would either realize that you love to share knowlege and skills, and it almost gives you a thrill when the student 'get's it', or that the negative aspects of teaching gets on your nerves and outweighs the joy of it. If your current plans work out, then maybe you will have the opportunity to get enough of a taste of it to begin to see how you really feel about it. 

Good luck!!
Feel free to P.M. me if you have further questions about the Parelli Program, and I'll try to help you find the information.

Fay


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## kkwb (Aug 3, 2012)

thanks so much fay
what exactly is parelli?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

How I got into it. I rode anything with four legs as a kid and well into my teen. Had my share of coming off which determined me to become a better rider and how to anticipate what the horse might be planning. At 19 I was asked to work with a horse that had become unrideable. I worked with him for three weeks and became quite fond of him as he started to see things my way. I didn't charge as I didn't consider myself a trainer but just helping someone out. Word got around and more requests came in. I wound up moving and a few years later I took a coaching course. Not horse coaching per se, all sports. ie we learned how to teach what we knew. This is so important because regardless of skills, if you can't teach them they don't do a thing for your clients. Because of time commitments, I opted to work with difficult/spoiled horses and quickly found out that I had to work with the rider primarily in order to fix the horse. Without doing that, the horse quickly reverts. Was it my main job, certainly not. Most of what I did was on days off or evenings.


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## hollysjubilee (Nov 2, 2012)

To help you in your goal, I would suggest working at a horsemanship camp for a summer. You may be able to attend a certification clinic and get an assistant instructor certification, and often, the summer camps will pay for some or all of the clinic cost.
I would recommend the Certified Horsemanship Association (Certified Horsemanship Association - Certified Horseback Riding Instructors) because their certification clinics are hands-on, and you get to meet other instructors from around the country/world and you actually get to RIDE and be critiqued as well as get to role-play as a student, and you will have to do lesson planning for your own ground and riding lessons in which other attendees will role play/ride. Each lesson involves peer review in which you are either one of the evaluators or having the privilege of being evaluated. You can apply for different instructor levels in English, Western, and Trail or all three.

At the CHA site, you should be able to find a list of CHA certified instructors in your area. Any one of them should be happy to help you in your journey.
FYI: Besides riding, peer review, encouraging critiques of your lessons and those of others, ground lessons, and riding lessons the certification clinic includes a written test of horse gaits, illnesses, treatments, tack, etc, and a liability workshop which is very valuable in today's litigious society.
If nothing else, purchase the CHA manuals and study them as they are very helpful in building your teaching technique. 

ARIA is very reputable, but in my experience, there is no actual riding in their certification clinics, but you have to send in a video of your riding, and I was told that the clinics are usually held in expensive hotel convention centers. That may have changed from years ago, but that's what I was told.

Also, there was HSA, Horsemanship Safety Association, that used to offer instructor and assistant instructor certification. You can Google them and see if they still do.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I loved teaching kids but I had a rule that parents could not attend the first three lessons. I'd learned that a parent's presence often distracted the child, even if the parent was silently observing. Children want to please their parents and this resulted in a change of focus. Also, the child initially had to come three days in a row to begin. What the child learns in those three days isn't forgotten. I loved working with kids. They actually have an innate sense of how to ride, at least at the walk. The most difficult to work with are the adults who rode as children then take it up again in their 40's. Their memory of how they rode as children becomes distorted over time and that is a challenge to change. I don't know about other countries but school teachers in Canada are well paid with liberal time off, enough time to persue riding careers if that is their choosing.


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