# Going for my PATH Instructor Certification!



## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Just chiming in to cheer you on-Good Luck w/your program!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Cacowgirl said:


> Just chiming in to cheer you on-Good Luck w/your program!


Thank you! I'm so excited to have made the decision- though it's making it hard to concentrate at work


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

Congrats big time Egrogan! 
This is a huge process, it took me about 6 months, but I was fully dedicated to it. The online courses really don't take much time, just read all the material thoroughly - I found it helped to print everything out and highlight or jot down notes/comments/translations (as it's all in legal speak gibberish) in the margins of the pages. 
Know the precautions and contraindications well - they matter. 
When you volunteer, see if the instructor will let you teach small portions of the lesson (or even the whole lesson under their guidance). 
The workshop tests are very stressful - mostly the intensity of the program makes it feel stressful, but really everyone is very kind and they don't ask you much that you shouldn't already know. The first few days of the workshop is spent teaching you everything and reviewing everything you should have already learned. So by the time the 3 tests come up you'll really be prepared.
I hadn't taken riding lessons myself for quite a while before I decided to go for this certification. But because there was a riding test I took about 10 lessons with one of the instructors I interned with - we printed out the test and I practiced it a million times on different horses. 
The lesson plan portion of the test isn't terribly hard, if you can ask your mentor to see if you can write some lesson plans for the students you're working with regularly - or even go through the lesson you just taught and write what would have been the lesson plan for practice. PATH is very particular about how they like them written. But they go over that in the workshop too. 
Remember when deciding your plan to focus on one specific skill that suits your rider's skills well.
While the students are riding and your teaching the testers will be watching the whole time - which can be stressful, but they want you to do well! Just remember alll the safety precautions - check the girth at least twice during the lesson, make _sure_ the safety side of the stirrup is facing out! You will fail for missing a safety thing like that. 

The toughest part for me was that in all the places I've worked and interned at we teach the lessons having the instructor walk along with the student in private lessons - but the PATH certification requires it be a group of 2 or more to count as hours (unless they've changed that by now). And the lesson in your test is with 2 students, which means you need to stand in the middle of the ring watching and instructing everyone, students and volunteers. Learn your volunteers names when they come in because you'll need to be able to specify things with them.
That was really tough for me because I was used to working one on one and showing each student what to do and how to do it. So to have to stay in the middle of the ring was tough!!

There's so much more, if you have any more specific questions feel free to let me know  This is such a wonderful decision! Also, MA requires a typical riding instructors license too, I'm not sure which state you're in but you'll want to check and find out if you need a state license too.
Congrats!!!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Punk- thank you so much for such a detailed response- so helpful. A few thoughts from me below...



PunksTank said:


> When you volunteer, see if the instructor will let you teach small portions of the lesson (or even the whole lesson under their guidance).


Yep, we are definitely doing this-which is what made me think that if I'm doing this anyway, I might as well be doing it for the process of certification.



PunksTank said:


> ...we printed out the test and I practiced it a million times on different horses.


This is helpful- it's been over a year since I've ridden a horse besides my own, and I know I'll be jittery riding a "strange" horse- I've got to find some opportunities to ride some others. I think I'd do well enough if I took the riding test now on my horse, but on another, I don't know. 



PunksTank said:


> The lesson plan portion of the test isn't terribly hard, if you can ask your mentor to see if you can write some lesson plans for the students you're working with regularly - or even go through the lesson you just taught and write what would have been the lesson plan for practice. PATH is very particular about how they like them written.


My mentor is going to show me the format, but this is the part I'm least worried about- in my former life, I was a public school teacher and had a lot of students on IEPs, so I'm completely confident I can write a good lesson plan and deliver it in person in any bureaucratic format required :wink:



PunksTank said:


> The toughest part for me was that in all the places I've worked and interned at we teach the lessons having the instructor walk along with the student in private lessons - but the PATH certification requires it be a group of 2 or more to count as hours (unless they've changed that by now). And the lesson in your test is with 2 students


I'm so glad you brought this up, because this is going to be the hardest part for me. Our center also does almost exclusively private lessons, which is why I think it's going to take me almost the full year to get enough supervised hours with groups of 2+. I have some ideas- for example, one of the places I formerly volunteered actually allowed the therapeutic riders to bring a peer rider to their lessons for free, as it was good to have another child (these were all young kids) there to model behaviors and physical movements. I think I can talk to the program director to see if she'd be open to this. In my prior experience, these were all able-bodied riders, so while it would require another horse handler, I don't think it would stretch the capacity of side-walker volunteers. But otherwise, I'm worried about meeting this requirement at my current farm.



PunksTank said:


> I'm not sure which state you're in but you'll want to check and find out if you need a state license too.


Hehe- I'm in New Hampshire, and given that we have almost no laws about anything here, I doubt that's required- but a good flag to check into it!

Again, thanks so much for your advice. I really appreciate it.


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

Sounds like you've got it all figured out - I had trouble getting hours with 2+ students too - I think they really ought to change that rule as therapy lessons would be safer private anyway. But that's just my opinion. 
What I managed to do was at one barn I worked at they taught 2 lessons at the same time in the same ring and I got to instruct the instructors - which counted as a group. Even though there was a certified instructor with each student - I was teaching two. Does you program ever have 2 lessons that run at the same time in the same ring? If not they should look into doing that, _many_ students benefit from riding with a buddy. 
If not there's a barn in MA (IDK how close to the border you are) Ironstone, that does group lessons all the time - when it came to crunch time I used them for the rest of my hours.

As for riding, taking lessons will help big time. It's amazing what we let ourselves get away with riding on our own xD Can you ask the instructors your interning with if you could take a few lessons with them? 

Sounds like you're right on track!! You're going to love it  The hardest part is all the walking and trotting!! You'll be very fit if you aren't already


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## rexing93 (Dec 6, 2012)

Just wanted to say congratulations and good luck! It'll be a very rewarding journey!


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## HeidiJ (Jun 26, 2013)

Awesome answer! I went through this process as well, and it sounds like we were on parallel journey's! Great job! I would agree with every aspect of what you wrote.


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## Amlalriiee (Feb 22, 2010)

I'm going through this process right now--going for my workshop and certification this week!! I found a great blog earlier that gives lesson ideas, tips, etc....and wish I had found it earlier! Lessons in Therapeutic Riding | Lesson Plans, Patterns, Activities, Games & More for the Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instructor
Good luck! I'm extremely nervous at this point, but finding a mentor was THE hardest part, so you're doing well to have one lined up ahead of time!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Amlalriiee said:


> I'm going through this process right now--going for my workshop and certification this week!! I found a great blog earlier that gives lesson ideas, tips, etc....and wish I had found it earlier! Lessons in Therapeutic Riding | Lesson Plans, Patterns, Activities, Games & More for the Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instructor
> Good luck! I'm extremely nervous at this point, but finding a mentor was THE hardest part, so you're doing well to have one lined up ahead of time!


Good luck with the workshop- you'll have to check back here and give us the update on how it went.

I'm still plugging along with my supervised hours. The hardest part for me is getting enough group lessons- I'm getting lots of great experience teaching individual students, which is how the majority of lessons at our barn are structured. But, we hardly have any groups. It's really frustrating PATH won't count the hours with individual students.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Just thought I'd update and share that I passed the 2nd of the written exams today and am well on my way to logging my certified hours. Feels good making progress 

Good luck to the others on here who are at various stages of the certification process as well! There sure are a lot of hoops to jump through (*trying to find the motivation to renew my CPR certification...)


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## Amlalriiee (Feb 22, 2010)

Hey....forgot to check back in here...but FYI I did pass my certification in August!!! YAY! The process wasn't easy but it was lots of fun! I was super stressed during the riding test--I would advise riding a couple lazy lesson horses through the pattern before going. I practiced with my own horse and it freaked me out a little being on a much less willing horse during the test. Anyway, I have been teaching 3-4 lessons each Sunday at a barn near my home and can't believe how smoothly it all came together  best of luck to you that yours goes smoothly as well!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

*Final Update: I PASSED!*

It's funny returning to this thread and getting the "old thread warning"- and sort of inspiring to realize that I first posted this thread over a year ago when I made the decision to pursue certification- this weekend, I passed the instructor certification test and I am officially done!

For anyone else going through the process, I would be more than happy to answer any questions about the on-site workshop and certification. I have a ton of thoughts floating around my head right now about how to prepare to be successful, and I'm going to try to take the time to write them down so I can share with others in the future.

In terms of the actual testing weekend, I was so fortunate to be testing with an AMAZING group of other candidates- the collaborative, supportive vibe all weekend was something I've truly never experienced in the horse world. I was by far the worst rider there (I was in awe of the beautiful, natural seats so many of the other candidates demonstrated in their riding test)- but even the accomplished former show riders were positive and helped me see the small things that went ok in my ride. Everyone was there all day to support each other's teaching lessons, helped get the arena ready for each person's sample teaching lesson, helped calm nerves for those who needed it and celebrated when people nailed their teaching. 

It was a ton of work, but so totally worth it!


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## DIYHorsemanship (Feb 22, 2014)

I would love to get my certification, but I'm not sure if I can find someone in the area that has done this and could help me along.

Thats so cool you passed! So excited for you!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

:clap:Egrogan, congratulations!

I have a question for you! You mentioned you sat theory examinations. Did you guys get a reading list? If so, what was on it?

I'm asking because I originally learnt to ride in Germany over 30 years ago and there, we were expected to read up on the subject as well, like a pilot going for a license. After I initially got competent at riding (basic dressage, drummed into you, I started at age nine), most of my follow-up progress was actually from reading very good books written by highly experienced people, and obviously continued work with horses, who IMO are the best teachers.

On this forum I have noticed a considerable crowd who tend to be very dismissive of the potential role of reading in a person's further development as a horseperson. It has really astounded me! Is this a cultural thing? A product of the information age? Or just a hillbilly attitude? I would appreciate your opinions on the matter.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks, Sue. It's an interesting reflection. I won't pretend to speak for people who dismiss the value of reading about riding, but I am sympathetic to those who are more "kinesthetic" learners and really need to learn by doing. With something as physical as riding, it certainly helps to be on the horse and develop a "feel" for when things go right- and personally, I think getting that feel probably happens fastest when you have an instructor with you (but I know that's a whole separate topic that gets people in an argument quickly!).

Personally, as a kid, I had very little real life horse time, so my only choice was to read everything I could get my hands on. And I very literally did- by the time I was 10 or 11, I had checked out every book on horses that my small-town library had in their collection. And had a bookcase full of my own. On the rare occasion my grandparents paid for a session of lessons, or I got to ride a friend's horse, I would be sitting on the horse, seeing the words from the book, and willing my body to cooperate with what I knew I should be doing- but with mixed success. Even now, I still know a lot more about riding from "book learning" than I could ever do myself on a horse. I can tell you what I _should_ be doing while riding, but whether I can actually do it is a different story.

As far as the specifics of preparing for the PATH exams, there was a reading list. At the "Registered Instructor" level (which is what I have), the expectations for riding are basic whoa, back, walk, trot, canter with horse and rider in correct position. Master Instructors require more advanced skills like demonstrating lead changes, but there are not all that many Master Instructors out there. The preparation manuals covered basic riding, but also horse care basics, instruction and human disabilities. I think you have to be a member or purchase the manuals, so I don't think I can post them here. 

We were also encouraged to read the Pony Club or BHS Instructor Manuals- in a lot of ways, the PATH manuals are fairly similar to those, but with more emphasis on disabilities. I also read through (and practiced with my horse) Cherry Hill's 101 Arena Exercises, Themed Lesson Plans for Riding Instructors, and Teaching Children to Ride. 

All those are fairly basic though. I've noticed on this site that one of our members, bsms, seems to read a lot of classical writing on riding, which I find fascinating. When I finally get more time in my life, I think that will be high on my list of things to do!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

This is so interesting, egrogan, thank you for your reply! 

Funny that - in Europe, basic dressage training for beginners included all the arena figures at all the basic paces, plus rein-back the exact number of steps indicated, plus turn on the forehand, plus simple change of leg at the canter (usually in a figure-8, which is the easiest way to ride it), plus cavaletti work, plus jumping simple obstacles competently.

Flying changes I taught myself and my Arabian mare out of books, and was a big party trick for us, she did them really well. Ditto different tempi, influencing of stride length versus frequency, working properly on the bit with impulsion, transitions without intermediate gaits, etc etc. We were pretty isolated living in the middle of nowhere in Australia and I worked with an occasional stills camera. I appreciate that people have different learning styles, but I think we all learn by doing with horses, and whether the technical information and riding programme comes verbally from a trainer or from a written medium and other form of feedback (such as photography or competition) hasn't mattered to me, having experienced both. 

And when we came to Australia, on one occasion we actually went to all the trouble to get me to pony club with my mare for a rally when I was 15, and everyone oohed and aahed, instructor included, because we did turns on the forehand and exact steps requested rein-back and a few other things I'd learnt in my basic course in Germany as a 9-year-old. They were still working, after years of having horses, at such a basic level - sitting properly, basic transitions, cantering, nothing more complicated on offer - it was pointless to attend, and I competed instead with the quota of float trips I was allowed, and almost always very successfully. I couldn't have done that without the excellent resource library I had at my disposal. My basic manuals were Australian Tom Roberts' quartet of horse and rider training manuals and they were so superb, you could imagine the feel you were after in your head before you got on the horse. I read them voraciously and applied them, and cross-read other people's ideas as well to get potentially different approaches. TR was great because he always had multiple ways of dealing with particular problems, not a one-size-fits-all approach.

I am so glad people like that have taken the trouble to write all this stuff down to pass it on to others (which TR did in his 70s when he was wheelchair bound by arthritis and no longer able to instruct in person). Like Newton said, "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." It's a pity that some very tall giants appear to be dismissed because they speak from the grave...through the printed word.

I like bsms' posts too. He digs up good giants on a regular basis and writes most entertainingly!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

PS: I also rode bareback a lot from the time I came out of that basic dressage course, on trails at all paces as well, and this has continued to feature regularly in the repertoire - enjoyed by both parties. I do think, looking back on it, that this helped my riding tremendously, in part because you fall off if you incorrectly anticipate or communicate or are in any way unbalanced at the paces upwards from a walk - and this is such a hyperfocusing situation! :rofl:

When I've occasionally taught visitors on horseback through the years, I found that putting their reins in the halter Ds instead of the bit and lungeing them (on the line or free in a roundyard with a trained horse) was very good for avoiding carnage to a horse's mouth and therefore also tension in the horse (which in turn creates a vicious cycle for a rider then even less able to sit soft and get the rhythm). With very athletic people, starting them totally bareback on a lunge, with a rope off a halter as an emergency line they could grab without hurting the horse, also did wonders for getting them to pick up harmony very quickly - and then no incorrect sitting in the saddle afterwards, because the seat is already independent.

Of course, I do that privately, and I suppose with the litigiousness of modern society, you may not be encouraged to work with students bareback where you are? I mean, they were pulling out swings in Melbourne a few years ago too, because they were worried that children would break their arms and parents would sue. I think they prefer the children to be couch potatoes and die of a cardiac arrest a few decades later, when no single party can be held accountable for that incident. ;-)

It's great you work with people with disabilities - I work with one quite regularly and she actually does carriage driving with RDA because in a wheelchair. Loves horses and donkeys and we have her come over and hobnob with our long-ears and the gentle 30-year-old gelding when we get a chance. 

Nice chatting with you! Are you going to perhaps journal/blog on your instruction experiences? If so, please let me know where!


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