[crazi4horses]

ok, ive been doing dressage for nine years and now my cousin, who has only ridden 3 times in her life would like me to start giving her some lessons. I'm all for it! Lol, I kno what to look for in the horse and stuff(i ride this horse at least once a week) and i know how she should look.

Can you give me some tips/ideas to do with her. How to start off etc...thanks a bunch!

<small>[ April 27, 2004, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: crazi4horses ]</small>

[Jumpers]

The first thing I work with people on is developing the classical seat. The seat is the main source of communication between horse and rider so perfecting its use is essential. The first few lessons the newbie should be on a longe line with no reins. This will help the person focus on the seat and legs and not worry about hands and reins.

[crazi4horses]

thank you! cute_kis

[slc]

It is very, very tough to teach, and beginners are often the hardest ones to teach and get going right.

Often the hardest part is finding a suitable horse. The horse has to be extremely quiet, have small strides but not be choppy or bumpy, and be very easy to steer without being too sensitive. It basically can't do anything wrong, as the rider will be in no position to do anything about it.

If I were starting out a student, that would be my biggest worry, is an appropriate horse they can be safe on. It has to canter very slowly, even if the reins are hanging down and the rider is flopping all over. And it can't ever take off or buck or act up. That's the first hurdle.

I wouldn't start anyone out with the classical dressage seat, partly because they might not ever get any interest in dressage, but also because it is too early on to specialize, and mostly because it is just too hard and it discourages people. Instead, I'd teach a simple balanced seat, that would allow them to go on afterwards and do any kind of riding they want.

Longeing a rider has its pros and cons. At the ''three rides in a life'' stage, the rider is very likely to have no strength, and to slip off to the outside and have a fall.

It's usually easier for them if they simply walk and jog very slowly around the track of the ring, and if need be, a person should run along next to the horse steering it. They should have stirrups at that stage, and not adjusted too long or too short, just about to the ankle bone. Going without stirrups is too hard at this point, and makes them tighten up too much and panic.

If the person is young there are games you can play, but pretty much, it is a lot of very slow work, and a lot of repetition over and over of how to steer, how to go and how to stop. It's a pretty basic thing for a very, very long time.

The most important thing is to keep it very, very easy, and aim the teaching at the level of the student, at their 1. fitness 2. age 3. level of riding. So you wouldn't try to teach that student anything that took a lot of strength, balance or fearlessness for a long time. Riders develop slowly, and everything takes a lot of time to learn.

Personally, I'd recommend that if you haven't taught beginners before, you go to a therapeutic riding school and volunteer, or to a regular riding school and offer to help out for a couple months before you try to teach. It is really, really hard to do a good job teaching beginners.

<small>[ April 25, 2004, 06:26 PM: Message edited by: slc ]</small>

[crazi4horses]

thanks, this horse is really good at the walk/trot/ and pretty good at the canter. Right now im actually working with the horse on whats expected. She knows her stuff but shes likes to do a fast canter. Thats the biggest thing im working on at the moment. At the walk and trot she is the best thing you can ask for! She listens to voice commands and everything. My cousin doesnt want to go out and take lessons she just asked me if i would mind teaching her the basics of walk trot and eventually canter and i said sure!

[zorse]

Good luck with it crazi! I get to start teaching two different girls. One of them has never ridden before..so I'll keep her on the lunge for a while. The other is a pretty good little rider..and her horse is such a darling. She's just learning how to jump..so it should be fun Hope you have fun too..don't worry about it and just do what comes natural...and if your cousin is young..don't clutter things and make it boring. I'm going to play lots of games with my students...makes it a lot more interesting for them then plodding around in a circle.

[crazi4horses]

Thanks zorse! We'll have to work through it together! Lol. Have fun!

[Jumpers]

slc:


I wouldn't start anyone out with the classical dressage seat, partly because they might not ever get any interest in dressage, but also because it is too early on to specialize, and mostly because it is just too hard and it discourages people.

Excuse me? If a rider is too freeking lazy to sit on the horse properly then they don't need to be riding dressage, do they? wink I was started with the classical seat because it is the absolute fundamental to good dressage basics. If you are flopping all over the horse, seat jutted out behind you, hunched over, legs shot forward, etc. etc. etc. then you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT deliver the aids effectively. You cannot work on any other dressage fundamentals if the horse and rider are unbalanced, the center of gravity is thrown askew, hindquarters trailing, head popped up in the air, etc.

Sorry slc but I completely disagree with you here. This is like saying that a kindergartner doesn't need to learn the alphabet because it will discourage them from the "more important" things such as math, science, and social studies.

Please......

[slc]

well, jumper, you are entitled to your opinion, it's a good idea to listen to new and different ideas, and keep an open mind, even if it seems unfamiliar. i hear a lot of unfamiliar ideas from different kinds of riders, what i try to do is think of why they might do something different from what i'm used to, rather than attacking.

actually, the above is pretty standard advice, and most instructors won't teach dressage seat to beginners, but a more general balanced seat.

it may, perhaps be, a problem with terminology. the correct balanced basic seat all the trainers, coaches and instructors i've ever worked with teach, doesn't involve any of the faults you list, but it isn't a dressage seat, and they don't teach that to start, and all the people i've ever worked with do not advise starting with a specialized seat, but teaching a basic seat first. first of all, without some riding experience, it is pretty impossible to get the seat, upper body and leg into a dressage type position. but they also have told me they simply feel better, more balanced riders are a result, and from the riders i have seen i have to agree.

<small>[ April 26, 2004, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: slc ]</small>

[EventingDayDream]

I have been taking dressage lessons for about 5 yrs now I think... maybe almost 6. Anyway, I was about 10 or 11 when I started dressage and didn't really start working on the actually classical dressage seat till i was 13 or 14. I just don't think I would have been able to understand it till I was older and had a better grasp on dresage. Not saying I had a bad seat, it was balanced and relaxed, just not the same seat I ride with today (and am constantly trying to improve!) it will be a long time before I master the classical dressage seat lol. It is very vital to good dressage riding though