Giving my mom riding lessons??

Question

i am starting to give my mom weekly riding lessons. the horse she is learning on is very young but for his age is very calm (around 8 or 9)

my mom doesn't have any experience riding except on a dead broke horse that didn't do anything. i was wondering how i should go about giving her lessons. (what i should start with etc.)

on the first lesson i showed her how to tack up the horse (she is learning on a western saddle). i put her on a lunge line to begin with but she started to get very nervous because the line was a bit short (about 12 ft and i couldn't find my actual lunge line)

we started out with lots of walking so that she could get a feel for him and it was in a small circle. after about 1/2 hour with me just having her go in a circle i let her off the line and had her walk around the arena a few time by herself (i was next her her the whole time but i wasn't holding on to the horse)

after a few times around the arena i put her back on the lunge line and i had her try trotting a little bit. i was teaching her also how to post because i think its a lot easier than trying to sit the trot (i know what your going to say "you cant post in a western saddle" but i have always been trained to post western so i am also training my mom the way i was trained)

anyway so that was the first lesson (after we went on a short trail ride to a water trough so my horse could get water)

so that was how the first lesson turned out

what are your suggestions on how to do the second lesson?

i don't feel comfortable letting her loose trotting for now because my horse likes to run and she is definately not ready to try cantering

there is no other horse i can use to give her lessons on

please give me some advice on how to do these lessons

my mom has no confidence on the horse so how do i build her confidence up without scaring her even more

she wants to learn to ride so she can ride with me and my sister

i have been riding since i was about 7 (first riding lessons were bareback)

then i just rode occasionally till i was in about 6th grade and then i started taking actual riding lessons for about a year and a half....

after that i leased a horse for about 3 years and since then i have owned a horse.

so i have experience riding and can train my mom to the best of my abilities but i just need to know where to go from there.

i am 17 and about to be a senior in highschool so for the last 6 years i have been riding nonstop

please answer as i know this is long but i need to know how to start the second lesson

thanks in advance

Answer 1

ok.... i think you should have waited on the trotting...

i think you should start how you started.. bareback.

this will help you mom acquire the balance that she needs, which should then help her acquire the confidence she needs. have her go bareback for a few lessons, and while the horse is walking (or standing whatever she is comfortable with) have her do some stretches and some bending. have her touch her toes the horses ears try to touch the tail etc..also around the world is a good one too..

then when you and her feel comfortable with the balance issue, get her off the lounge line and teach her to steer. have her steer patterns and get used to the balance and steering at the same time.  After that then you can either go back to the lounge line or have her steer depends on the confidence and comfort level of the horse rider and teacher....but anyway then you can teach her the trot.  repeat the exercises until she can canter and eventually trail ride comfortably

Answer 2

I would find a professional riding stable and let a professional give your mom her first lessons on  a school horse that is dead  broke.  You will not be objective enough about your mom to access her abilities and she  might not be as comfortable asking you about things that she would ask a professional.  If things go good at the stable then when she is more advanced you could give her riding tips and lessons

Answer 3

Well, your doing everything right, and i think she will be fine. just take it slow and tell her how tame and good the horse is, maybe then she will feel more better about riding. just tell her to stay calm or the horse will get scared, since they can sense if your nervous. thats all i can say, about the next lesson, just let her ride and a trot a walk for a while, until she gets really good, when you ride a lot for a while your cofidence will start to build up, i hope hers will. thats all i can say. hope i helped, good luck!

Answer 4

IF I where you, I would do some ground work first. Teaching her how to groom, tack get her comfortable around horses before putting her in a saddle. I would do lung lessons, there are books with lunging exercising in them. Then I would try trotting after about 2 weeks.  

Good luck with the lessons

Answer 5

IMO, your going too fast. Let her walk for a few lessons. Then let her trot on the actual lunge line until she gets confident. --Wait--what horse does your sister ride? Why not use him? Is he OK for beginners? If yes, I would let her have lessons on him. Let her trot serpintines and poles. Then let her canter after a few months. Then after shes good all around, swith her back to your horse and let her trot and canter him. By then she should know how to stop a horse. Good luck and slow down!

Answer 6

I'm going to start teaching my mother how to ride and to be able to show in western pleasure.

Your in my boat, don't take anything personally, you ideas mentioned are good, I'd work on having your mother have a good seat, and being able to control the horse. Since my mother is going to be riding my pleasure horse, I have to train her when to "bump" the horses mouth and what cue to give. She also needs to learn how to ride in spurs, my pleasure horse has to be ridden in spurs or else there's no riding him. But she's going to be riding with balled spurs. That way in case anything happened less damage could happen with balled spurs.

Try no to be so hard on your mother. Keep It Simple Sweetheart (KISS method) is the greatest teaching aid.

Ask you mom if she has any questions then you can see where her problems are.

For the second lesson have her try steering, just at a simple walk. First big circles then small circles. (I've given lessons before) I have them make the alphabet This really sharpens up your steering and its fun, and it requires backing up. good luck

Answer 7

You might want to show her how to stop the horse if he runs with her by pulling his head all the way to one side so he has to either go in a circle or stop!  :)

Answer 8

First of all, go buy a real longe line if you can't find yours.

To help your mom build confidence just being on the horse, have her do stretching and suppling exercises at the walk on the longe line.  Things like reaching up high, touching her toes, arm twists, etc.  

It sounds like your first lesson went pretty well, but you must get a real longe line (or at least a long enough piece of rope) because I can see why she'd be nervous about trotting on a 12' circle where the horse was probably fast and unbalanced.  For her next (and several next) lessons, I would start her on the longe walking, do the stretches, have her practice walk-halt-walk transitions, then a short trot on the longe line only - having her hold onto the saddle if necessary to keep her steady.  Then, I would take her off the longe for some walking around the arena.  Give her steering work to do - tell her to turn at a certain point, change direction, halt, etc.