Lessons?HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

[hoovesfirst]

lessons? well you see i will be giveing lessons to some little kids and i want to do it right i have 5 i know are comeing a 4yr old girl, 2 6yr old boys, a 6yr old girl,and an 8yr old boy. i am charging $10.00 which i think is cheap sinse i'm no big expert but i wanted advise on how to teach little kids because some of them are too small todo much . I'm going to split them up into 2 classes because i only have one lesson horse and then i can let the older kids ride diferently and they will be able to learn more but i wondered if you guys would know some things that would help because all i can do with the little kids is lead them around because they would have a hard time understanding me and their so small!so please advise would be good! :confused:

[Haley]

Have them do "around the world" in the saddle while you hold the horse, sitting backwards, etc.; just to get them comfortable in the saddle. I would start them on the longe line to keep them comfortable and introduce them to the moving horse, especially when they start to trot or canter. I'm most concerned about the four year old; two years is a big difference in age when they're that young, and she probably won't be as capable as the boys.

[PrissyBritches]

I agree with Haley. I use to do the "Around the World" when I was a toddler. Shoot, I STILL do around the world!!! Ha Ha :D

Anyways, make sure the children are comfortable with the horses on the ground first. You dont want to put a timid child on a horse.

Teach them the 5 aids of riding, etc... But make sure you dont make it boring, little kids can get thrown off track quick, well, the some that I've worked with have, lol.

I'm sick at the moment and can't really think, so I will post more later.

Good Luck :)

[Manda]

i've given lessons at camps and stuff, and personally, i don't like teaching anyone under the age of 6. they don't have their balance and they don't listen. my philosophy was that if you couldn't keep your horse moving and have atleast decent control, i wasn't going to teach you, because honestly, it could turn into a dangerous situation, and i wasn't comfortable being in it. so one of the other people giving lessons would take the younger kids.

around the world is a good idea, and making sure they aren't afraid is a biggy. do a lot of grooming and groundwork with them, like learning to lead and tie up their horse. teach them all the parts of the horse and how to put on polo wraps and treat wounds. it's all very important information and a good starter before you get these kids into the saddle.

good luck and keep us updated.

[mandyicequeen14]

I think 2 years old is really young to start riding by themselves, i wouldnt teach them, like manda said

"around the world" is a great idea. Ive personally never done it, i sarted out learning how to ride bareback and then moved on to useing the saddle i would teach that to kids like 5 and up but only at a walk so the get the feel of it.

[hoovesfirst]

well thanks guys so i am doing something right i have a very very safe horse i was going todo around the worls and i have this speasial bareback pad with a handle stirups and the back and front dradle the rider so they won't fall i am splitting them up i think i will have just the 4yr old and the other little girl by themselves so they don't get distracted waiteing for their turn they are kind of young to learn medical stuff though i think they aren't that pacient we'll see and i promise i'll keep you updated! :D

[hoovesfirst]

any other advise i have to keep these kids interested :confused:

[zansgoodnews]

I used to teach really little children for a local riding academy and I know what's it's like to have to teach really young children. I had quite a few of them. One little girl I was not very fond of because she didn't listen to a thing I said, unless I had her mind completely focused. One thing I used to do with her was make her spell out different words while riding her horse. She would come up with some random name and then I would make her have her horse follow me around the arena. A few of the other instructors started doing this with their young ones.

I also used to stay the really little kids on LOTS of trail rides. It was a way for them to get out and explore while still getting used to riding. I found it was much easier for the kids to pay attention to me while on a trail because it would just be the child and me.

Also, like everyone else said around the world is always fun for the kids. Something else I used to do was make them stretch as if they were going over a jump. Also, posting at the walk or at the halt is good. We used to also make the kids stretch until they could touch their horse's ear with one hand. That way they dont have both hands going after the ears because I'm sure the other hand will be busy keeping their balance. Also I would have them reach back with one hand to touch their horse's tail. Another stretching excersize was I would have them take their left hand and touch their right stirrup and vice versa (right hand to left stirrup).

All of these stretches were very good for the kids and it made them in tune to what I was saying as long as I was doing something fun for them. Another thing we used to do was walk over poles or weaving in and out of cones. So, I hope this can all help you out :) It's my years of experience with younger children, so I'm glad to pass it on.

[PrissyBritches]

When I was like 6, my old OLD OLDDDD instructer would bribe me with money. She said that if I did something right I would get a dollar.

ha ha.

Looked like I was making the money instead of her.


This would be a "What not to do" ha ha.

:)

[zansgoodnews]

Oh, yes, another idea I just remembered was I used to buy paint and write out a list of body parts on the horses. Then I would have my students try to figure out where the certain body part was and paint that part a specific color. It was fun as long as I told the kids beforehand so they showed up in raggedy clothes.

[mandyicequeen14]

ohh i know something thats way fun.
Set up an obstical corse with cones and flags. and justplace like bridals, girths, saddle pads, andy hrse stuff.
And have the kids ride around and collect the flags, and all the hose stuff, be like go get the girth and bring it back, so this way they learn, and keep their balance

[hoovesfirst]

awsome ideas i don't want to become like this one instrucktor who never once let me actualy ride and she talked ablut how much she knew and all we did was spend like half an hour grooming them and once we did a barn sleep over and all we did was muck stall she had so many horses and i din't know why she did because she never did anything with them! :eek:

[mandyicequeen14]

lol thats why u never do barn sleep overs. I did the horse for a day thing and all we did was clean stalls, and as a reward we got to take one lap around on a horse haha

[Haley]

Man, that really sucks. I can't believe anybody could do that. :(