by:

 

 

Fiona Dearing is a fully insured riding coach working in Melbourne and surrounds. She is about to commence her NCAS Level 1 Coaching Certificate. Fiona is available for local lessons and interstate clinics by arrangement.

 

E fionadearing@bigpond.com

P 0400 377 351
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first in a series of articles in which I’ll expand on some of the topics I’ve touched on here. We’ll look at everything from choosing the right horse for you, confidence issues and how the right coach can make or break, goal setting and staying on track over your riding journey, as well as the way we learn and how to get the most out of every lesson.  
 
 
 
We all hear the stories of the coach who tore you to shreds, told you your horse looked like a donkey and would never be any good, or was simply rude and/or uncommunicative. The coach who spent most of the lesson telling you all about themselves, constantly reminding you that you’re nowhere near their lofty levels, or continuing with an exercise that’s clearly upsetting your horse without breaking it down, trying another way or helping you to understand it better. It goes on and on. It’s fortunate we also hear the great stories. The coach who was able to help you break through a long-standing barrier, the coach who finally made the exercise you’d struggled with for weeks make perfect sense.  The coach who took you from prelim to advanced or from being too nervous to get on to being able to enjoy your chosen discipline at whatever level you’re riding.
 
We all learn differently and for this reason alone there are some people who simply aren’t going to work successfully together. Broadly, there are three types of learners: listening learners, seeing learners and touch or experience learners. Trying to explain something to someone who’s an experiencing learner is a frustrating process for both parties and it’s certainly worth thinking about the way you learn, as well as observing the way a coach will teach to help with your learning.
 
This isn’t to say both you and your prospective coach need to both complete a Myers Briggs test and receive a percentage of compatibility a la Perfect Match before lessons commence but it’s helpful to recognise how you learn best and take it into consideration when ‘auditioning’ coaches. Often a coach is working easily as hard as you are on the horse, working out how best to communicate their teaching to you!
 
A good coach should be interested in your goals and aims and be able to assist in your planning to achieve them. Likewise they should assist you in a tactful manner if those goals appear unrealistic or more importantly, unsafe on your current mount. Remember also goals need to be reassessed as abilities increase and targets are reached. Not everyone’s goals are based around competition aims. Some of us have aims to be able to go out for a nice calm trail ride or even to be able to trot and canter in an arena and conquer confidence issues. Others are realistically able to aim for Grand Prix, others would be delighted to ride an elementary test. All of this is okay, your goals are just that, yours. Noone else has the right to make you feel they’re not ‘right’ or ‘good enough’. A good coach will help you with setting markers on your way to your goal so you can measure your progress. A good coach should be able to communicate on a number of levels, to children and adults, to those from all walks of life. A good coach should be able to push you out of your comfort zone with total support so you feel like you’re able to achieve what you previously thought impossible. A good coach should also absolutely admit when they feel you may be ready to move onto another coach for whatever reason. I think it’s a good thing for people to ride with more than one person. We can all learn from different people. As a coach I’m lucky enough to have a group of other coaches and professional riders around me who I often call to bounce an idea off. I seriously learn just as much teaching as I would being taught.