[Lindsayanne]

Originally Posted by horseguy

You know, I have been doing this a long time. People have fears. Some fears have terrible origins. It is enough to know that they are fearful (I can see it) and work through it on a physical level, in my view.

You DO teach like a guy!

[horseguy]

Originally Posted by Lindsayanne

You DO teach like a guy!

Yes I do. And as I pointed out it is not because I do not understand the “other” approach. In fact, I spent four years running a mental health equine therapy program in a locked facility for boys. During that time I had the advantage of exploring with very high quality professionals the benefits of the relationship between a horse and a human being for personal growth. I do not, however, bring those elements of my experience into training riders for equestrian sport. Why?

One big reason is I believe that injecting concepts of nurturing, respecting fears, emotional support, coddling, and other nonequestrian concepts into the process undermines the basic principles of the equestrian experience. I did this in the equine therapy program because it was not about teaching the boys to ride. It was about getting them well. To me this is a clear distinction.

I think when instructors permit their professional practice of teaching equestrian skills to become someone's “therapy”, neither riding nor therapy is accomplished with any quality. I think the evidence of this on the overall scale of equestrian standards shows this to be true. I started a thread recently to address the lack of a common seat standard in the US.

http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.com/horse-forums/the-importance-of-specific-riding-method-seat-183477.html

In this thread I pointed out that we have in America, over the past 30 or 40 years, gone from a country with a uniform national standard set by our Cavalry School at Fort Riley, to a muddle of variations of seats and standards that has left today’s riders completely uninformed as to any common standard that they might adopt in their initial equestrian training. Today we Americans are basically left with “I ride English" or "I ride Western”, which compared to the rest of the equestrian world is quite pathetic.

How did this decent into uninformed chaos happen? I am not willing to attribute the entire cause to the feminization of equestrian sport, but the rise in female participation to the current level where it has become a predominantly women in riding does seem to coincide with the dilution of the previous clarity I experience growing up in the sport. To be fair, commercialization has also played a large role in fragmenting the equestrian community into our current “industry” multiple market shares.

Still, I believe that women as a gender need to evaluate the total impact of their tendency to include things in the riding experience that are not essentially about riding. There are consequences, perhaps unintended, of insisting that instructors respect students’ fears, and coddle them through personal issues. There is an impact of shifting the focus of instruction off riding skills. While each instructor and student may feel that those moments of "support" might seem warm and personal, I wonder if they have ever considered what this kind of teaching has done to the sport on a more global level.

So, to bring this back to the Original Poster’s question, you can go to your new instructor and have an experience of personal growth, shared feelings, fears and goals, or you can go there and use your lesson time to learn the skills of a sport that has centuries of tradition and information that cannot be fully grasped over the span of a single lifetime. The question becomes, what kind of experience do you want to have? If you want to ride, ride. If you want some Oprah kind of thing then do that, but if you do the latter consider that you are participating in shifting the course of what centuries of men have developed. This is all that I am suggesting, be aware of what you are doing for and to yourself, as well as for and to the sport.

[StockHorseGirl]

Just wanted to let everyone know the lesson went GREAT! I learned more from Cathy today then I probably learned in all the lessons with my other trainer. Thank you all for the advice.

[TBgurl]

Your best bet is to be as honest as you can be, don't fool yourself and don't fool your teacher. If you do then you both are only setting the outcome further behind. Good luck and stick with it!

[kellidahorsegirl]

I just HAVE to comment that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. I think Horseguy and I would get along FABULOUSLY and its too bad i don't live on the east coast, cuz I'd go take a lesson with him. Everything he said is soooo true and all of what he said stems from a true knowledge of the sport. I love it! Great read.

StockHorse...so glad your lesson went well!

[Lindsayanne]

Originally Posted by StockHorseGirl

Just wanted to let everyone know the lesson went GREAT! I learned more from Cathy today then I probably learned in all the lessons with my other trainer. Thank you all for the advice.

That's fantastic news! I was just going to get on here and ask how it went when I saw you'd posted! How often are you going to lesson with her?

They canceled her clinic in MO this weekend. We're supposed to have freezing rain and sleet the next 48 hours. I'm beyond bummed, I was really looking forward to it.

[StockHorseGirl]

Thanks! My mom wants me to train 3 times a month with her, and my next lesson is Wednesday at the same time. That's a shame your clinic got canceled! It's supposed to sleet here tonight too, I'm glad it was able to hold off for a few hours so I could ride.

Kismet was great today. Cathy said we're a good pair. I'm so excited to finally be able to work with someone who knows what they're doing.

[Johnny Walker]

Hi StockHorseGirl;

How is the new instructor doing now since it's been awhile since you posted? How is your proghress?

[StockHorseGirl]

It's been fabulous. I recently took Kissy to a show and we won 1st in my hunter pleasure class and sport horse under saddle. Those were my only 2 riding classes besides western walk jog, which we took 2nd in.

I have been making progress with every lesson. Kathy's teachings have really clicked with me. She explains things a lot like Sally Swift did in her book Centered Riding.

So, here's my word of advice to people who may be looking for an instructor now...find the one whose teaching style works with you. I personally learn through visual examples like that were used in Centered Riding and when the instructor will actually show you what something is supposed to feel like. For example, I was having trouble with my hand position. Kathy came over and took my hand and actually showed me how the correct contact was supposed to feel. After that I understood.

You may have a completely different way you learn though. Find out the instructors in your area with a good reputation and then find out which one works the best for you.

I saw that you posted a thread asking for trainers in the North AL/Southern TN area. If you are interested in english riding you might want to see if Kathy has any time to take in new clients.