Although when most people talk about therapeutic riding they refer to “the children” many adults benefit from learning to ride in a supportive atmosphere like a therapeutic riding center.
Teaching adults horseback riding is different then teaching children. Adults can often give you greater feedback about their current skills, goals and challenges. I am going to discuss adults with physical disabilities and mild cognitive disabilities primarily. Adults with significant developmental delays have different needs and will be discussed in another post.
Adults want to be treated like adults. They want their independence respected and their opinion sought. They may not always have the best self awareness or safety awareness, but they expect the instructor to explain why safety precautions are needed (such as sidewalkers) or why you are not permitting them to do a skill (such as canter). On the other hand, adult riders may be more risk adverse and may be more conservative then children when beginning to ride. Begin with adults by asking them their goals and then discussing what skills they need to attain their goals- example- I will want to see you trot a figure eight with good steering control and balance before we will begin to work on cantering.
Teaching tips for adults:
- Use “whys”- don’t drill an exercise (steering through the cones) without telling the rider how it relates to their goals.
- Allow the rider to take control for his/her progress by assigning a task to practice while you watch another rider in the group execute the skill or ask the rider to be responsible for his/her horses’ warm-up once mounted. Teach them to understand and evaluate their horse each time they mount and what exercises might help their horse for that lesson
- Relate practice back to the riders goal- ex. if you want to ride independently you need to keep a safe distance between your horse and the other horses in the ring
- Show them a video- have a volunteer video tape the lesson and review it with the class after dismounting- this can help adult riders understand their body position when “normal” to them is not aligned on the horse
Teaching adults can be a great experience as they will challenge you as an instructor with their own questions and challenges. Teaching adults allows me to incorporate exercises from my own riding lessons modified for my riders with the ability to share that I have done these activities in my own lessons.
Do you teach adult riders at your program?