For years there has been ongoing debate on the pros and cons of being taught by qualified and unqualified Instructors vs coaches who teach based on the knowledge of their own riding skills and experience. How does one navigate a largely unregulated system?
A qualified Instructor is by virtue a professional who has invested time, money and energy into a system that is committed to responsible practice based on good horsemanship. A professional that has been taught how to identify and correct rider errors, give instructions and make the relevant corrections.
Learning to ride at a very fundamental level is about learning how to work with and move your body in sync with the horse’s movement, how to maintain control of the horse and how to get the horse to move in the direction and at the pace you want to go. A qualified Instructor will have the required subject matter, knowledge and ability to impart this information in a manner that is easily understandable. Although sounding seemingly easy, basic riding is one of the most specialized areas of teaching as the responsibility and safety of the rider lies with the Instructor until the rider can manage the horse safely by themselves. An Instructor’s job is to work towards creating a rider who is independent. This process can be broken down into three stages:
The biggest concern in the industry is that unqualified Instructors that are not adequately equipped with the correct skill sets are teaching riders at entry level. Often there are no safety requirements in place, such as first aid and general equine safety knowledge. These are essential to mitigate the risk of accident and injury. Having lessons with an unqualified teacher is not only a safety risk but the process of learning to care, manage and respect the horse is often not addressed. Being taught basic skills by a knowledgeable instructor at this level is an invaluable part of the process and is extremely rewarding for the student.
The second concern is that riders are skipping or moving too quickly through novice level coaches and are moving on to specialised coaches without having important fundamentals in place. These riders end up moving into the school of hard knocks where their ambition outweighs their experience and they spend more time in a revision phase at this level ultimately progressing more slowly. The novice level is an essential step to gain exposure, to spend hours in the saddle, to refine the basic aids, learn different skills and develop a feel and an independent seat.
The third stage as a functional independent rider is often a space that is dominated by higher-level coaches who may or may not be qualified but who teach on the basis of their own experience. The best coaches at this level are those who are advanced in their own education as instructors and are able to impart sound knowledge based on solid principles as well as experience. Ideally a rider will move to a specialised coach when they have achieved the goals set out by their novice level coach and a decision has been made to focus on a specific discipline so that they can progress with this focus at a higher level.
As a rider advances through these stages the intensity and physical demand increases. With this in mind there is a huge legacy attached to guardianship in horsemanship and currently there is much focus on welfare in the sport at the higher levels. Learning and progressing with riding, although hard work should always be enjoyable. A coach who promises quick results with minimal effort from the rider is a red flag. The less work the rider does the more the horse has to compensate. This is the time when how one rides becomes a welfare issue. We should work with coaches that advocate a “do no harm” policy when training and should always be working towards improving ourselves so that we can make our horse’s jobs easier. Keeping the balance between performance and partnership.
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