General good rules to follow ...

When you are looking for an instructor try to watch the instructor teaching someone else. Preferably several lessons. If you like what you see and hear you should schedule a test lesson. You can learn a lot from watching others in a lesson, and that doesn't cost you anything!

 

Trust your teacher. If you don't believe in what the teacher does, you'd better find someone that you can believe in. You are paying for that persons advise, and it's a good idea to take it… some students have the habit of saying "but.." all the time, or making excuses as for why they can't do things. If you really have a problem, tell the instructor about it, but just do your best and stretch yourself a little. If you are afraid to do something or are getting very tired, tell your instructor, they can't read your mind, and every student is different, besides very many instructors get eager when they teach and will keep on pushing for as much as they can. Remember they really want you to make it, too! Avoid taking lessons from many different instructors at once, this will only be confusing!

 

Know what you want to learn, and let the instructor know. Most instructors have a setup they use, but it might not be what you had in mind. Let them know what you are expecting and your teacher will be able to make a setup to fit your needs, if she can't then you're both better of if you find out about this before you start.

 

Be ready to learn! An instructor can only teach, you are the one that have to learn. If you spend a lot of time chatting with your instructor you'll take away valuable time, and also loose your focus, not to mention causing your instructor to loose focus…   Take notes as soon as possible after the lesson on things you did and what you need to practice on.   Ask for recommended books to read, videos and study as much of that as you can.

 

Be ready for the lesson. If you take your horse to the instructor don't just show up a few minutes before the lesson is supposed to start. Have the horse ready, warm up before the lesson begins. The same goes for those whose instructor comes to their place. Don't wait to get the horse in from the pasture till the instructor arrives. It's silly to use the lesson time to have the instructor watch you groom the horse! Get the horse ready and do a little warming up, this will help you get further within the lesson, and you'll show the instructor that you are serious.

 

Tune out the rest of the world. Focus on what you are doing, and leave work and other things behind.

 

Bring your lessons home! It's really amazing how many takes lessons and then go home and do their own things. Work on what you learned in the lesson, otherwise you'll have to do the same lesson over and over again! Structure your practice around what you did in your last lesson, and if things aren't going as well as they did in the lesson try to think back and recall what you did then. if you really get stuck you should bring the problem up in your next lesson. Practice with your horse as often as possible, some people don't have time to work with their horses between lessons (maybe they should have a different hobby?) and they will just end up paying for an instructor to watch them practice. Your instructor will tell you what to work on, then move on, but you are going to have to work a lot more with the same thing on your own. It's not just you who needs to repeat the lesson, the horse will need it, too.

 

Take advantage of technology! If you have someone who can video your lesson you'll get a lot more out of it! Watch the video several times, and focus on different things, one time you concentrate on what your feet are doing, one time on what your hands are doing, one time on what the horse is saying to you etc. doing this will make one lesson be worth 5!! Try not to just focus on what is not so good, that is very demoralizing, find your good pointers, too! If you keep the videos you might want to look at an old one from time to time, just to see your progress. If you see you are still doing the same things wrong, focus on correcting those things and let your instructor know about it.

 

Hang in there! The first few lessons will be mostly for you and the instructor to get to know each other, and for the instructor to find out where you are at, and what you know and what you want. You can make this process a little easier by telling the instructor as much about this as you can.

Things that applies to my students

(besides what is written over)

If you really want to learn cheap and you have the time, you are more than welcome to come with me when I train other horses and students. I will not charge you for it, in fact it would make me very happy and I would be happy to explain what I am doing while I am working with another horse. This is really your best way of learning cheap!

 

If you don't have a video camera, I do and will be more than happy to let you use it, however I can't teach and film at the same time, so you'll need someone to film for you!

 

I have many books and videos I will let you borrow, but please return them as soon as possible, there is always someone else waiting to see them.

 

I often go longer than an hour, and will not charge you for more than the hour anyway, in return I would appreciate it if you would be ready for the lesson, not just show up at the scheduled time, but have the horse ready to begin, or better yet, have the horse warmed up! If you have to reschedule, or cancel a lesson, please let me know as early as possible.

I really appreciate feedback! If you have comments or suggestions to make the lesson better suit you, don't hesitate to talk to me!