The health of any system relies on the health of all its parts. I recently joined a FaceBook group for riding instructors. As I looked through the posts I was touched by the very real struggles that they are faced with on a daily basis. The reality in the current equestrian world is that riding instructors almost always wear multiple hats. They are often required to be competitors, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing specialists, vet techs, mechanics, landscapers, paralegals, counselors, and diplomats in addition to their role as riding instructor.
With this challenging job description, it would be easy to be seduced into thinking that teaching is the easy part, I was remembering back to my first time teaching. Right after college I taught at Catholic Memorial High School in Boston. One class in particular, Conceptual Physics (Physics without numbers), was particularly intimidating for me. I remember walking into class the first day only to be confronted with a good chunk of the football team. I am smiling at this memory. They actually sat in formation with the offensive line in the front row, the receivers on the wings, and the quarterback and running backs in the second and third rows. Keep in mind that I was 21 years old, 5’8”, 155 lbs, and looks about 12.
It was everything I could do that year to muster enough confidence to connect, lead, support, and teach those students. I remember the advice of the veteran teachers saying that it will take 3 to 5 years before it would be “easy.” I am forever grateful for all the support that I got from my peers. Some mentored me in the art of teaching. Others provided the powerfully important sense of community and personal emotional support.
There has always been a lot of talk in the equine industry about the lack of standards and training for riding instructors. Appropriately, the focus is often on fundamental knowledge of horses and riding. Many certification programs are discipline specific and capture the skills and progression unique to that discipline. What I have also noticed, and I feel drawn to address, is the lack of resources for instructors to understand how their students learn, how to effectively deal with the broad array of personalities and the strong emotions that frequently arise in this challenging sport. In addition, there are few supports for riding instructors themselves.
If the health the health of a system (equine industry) relies on the health of all its parts. It only makes sense to support the personal growth and development along with the emotional health of the industry’s most valuable resource, the riding instructor. Our team at Riding Far are actively working to develop resources that support the riding instructors and would welcome your thoughts and ideas about the best ways we can do that.
To all the riding instructors out there who are doing their best to bring up the next generation of horsemen and horsewomen, we value you… let us know how we can support you.
~ Paul
PC -Erin Gilmore/ Erin Gilmore Photography
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