Part of your job as a riding instructor is to prepare your students for horse ownership. Many will move on to other things—piano lessons, hockey practice, the opposite sex—but at least a few of your students are what I call “lifers.” They want to own their own horses and continue to work with these animals.
I don’t have to tell you that there’s more to horse ownership than learning to post the trot. Kids (or adults) who want to take care of their own horses need to learn horsemanship, from feeding to buying appropriate equipment to diagnosing simple ailments.
If you want to teach well-rounded riding lessons, you need to include lessons on horsemanship.
Finding the Time
Small doses are the key to teaching students horsemanship in riding lessons. If you devote entire lessons to grooming or mucking stalls, your students will find somewhere else to ride because they want to—you guessed it!—ride.
I like to devote the last five minutes of every class to some aspect of horsemanship. I might quiz my students on the parts of the horse or conduct a quick demonstration of wrapping legs. Whatever the topic, I plan it in advance and keep it to five minutes.
Then, once every month, I devote a Saturday morning to horsemanship lessons, which are free for my students. Everyone who wants to learn something new can come, and we set up stations, each devoted to a specific topic. That way, older students don’t have to keep learning the same things.
There are plenty of other methods of teaching horsemanship. You might want to have a clinic (paid or free) every once in a while, or create a testing program in which students can earn badges when they learn a new skill (think Boy Scouts). Whatever the case, you need to find a way to work horsemanship into your riding lesson curriculum.
Horsemanship Topics
Looking for something to teach? I’ve got you covered:
- Bathing
- Parts of the horse
- Parts of tack
- Clipping
- Braiding
- Wrapping
- Mucking stalls
- Mixing grain
- Grazing
- Cleaning tack
- Equine diseases
- Teeth management
- Musculature system
- Skeletal system
- Vital signs
- Medications
- Caring for foals
- Tacking up
- Untacking
- Loading
- Turning out
- Blanketing
- Leading
- Recognizing gaits
- Horse history
- Breeds of the horse
- Colors of the horse
- Confirmation
- Markings
- Equine communication
- Pre-purchase exams
- Tying
- Shoeing
- Horse treats
- Deworming
- Equestrian disciplines
- Show etiquette
- Driving
- Discipline
Use your imagination to determine other areas of horsemanship you might cover for your students. The more you teach them, the better their chances of succeeding as horse owners. And remember: Safety always comes first.
You might also like:
- Teaching Students to
Use Their Corners - Teaching Students Basic Equestrian Safety
- Teaching Students Soft Hands
- Teaching Your Students to Mount and Dismount
- Teaching Students to Post the Trot:
Part One
About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.
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