Down & Out: 6 Ways to Prepare for Instructor Certification while Lying on Your Couch

A friend of mine has been diligently preparing for PATHIntl. Registered Level Certification for over a year. She’s worked on her riding (bought a horse!), interned full time at a well-known center and participated in trainings. She is hoping to certify in 2013 and has certainly put in the time, effort and dedication of a professional.

An accident – not horse related – has left her with broken bones and she finds herself “down & out” – not medically cleared for riding or teaching! I had a similar, though less severe, experience when I began my Instructor Internship at Manes & Motions Therapeutic Riding. I had gall bladder surgery and was unable to lift for 6 – 8 weeks. I told my doctor this was inconvenient due to my internship/ new profession. He shrugged and said, “Well, no one likes to be down and out.”

How true.

So, I want to give my friend something to do while she recovers! I hope this “something” will motivate and inspire her to pick up her instructor training once her recovery is complete!  In general, hands-on, arena time is the single most important factor in preparing to teach riders safely and effectively. However, if that arena time is not practical, there’s still a lot you can do to work on your knowledge base and improve your eye for teaching. If I had 6 – 8 weeks of “non-horse” time coming my way, but I still wanted to prepare for Instructor Certification, I would read and study. PATH Intl. provides Instructors in Training with a suggested reading list (and it’s a good one!), but I am also going to make my own list:

6 Ways to Prepare for Instructor Certification while Lying on Your Couch:

1.       READ Sally Swift’s Centered Riding and really study balanced seat riding position. Swift’s text is filled with imagery, metaphor and illustrations that benefit riders who are trying to achieve positional alignment and effective aids. It’s really a text that you need to study as well as just read. Take notes, write in the margins, try to picture riders you have worked with and how you could apply these concepts to your teaching. Then, go on the internet and watch some riding videos that anyone (I mean Joe Smoe and it can be any discipline) has posted. Analyze. How does the rider’s position compare to your understanding of Sally’s descriptions? 

2.       READ over the PATH Intl. criteria for Instructor Certification and identify your areas of weakness (we all have them!). Find legitimate websites, magazines or books that you can read to increase your knowledge in these areas. For me, this meant reading the most current edition of Giffin and Gore’s Horse Owner’s Veterinary Handbook, cover to cover. It is boring and technical, but provided me with more in-depth knowledge about the health and management of horses.

3.       STUDY task analysis. The best therapeutic riding instructors have internalized the “whats, hows and whys” of basic riding skills. My favorite classic books for task analysis are Cherry Hill’s 101 ArenaExercises for Horse & Rider and TheUnited States Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship, D Level by Susan E. Harris. A more recent favorite is Hollie H. McNeil’s 40 Fundamentals of English Riding. I love McNeil’s text because it provides a concise description of each of the “40 Fundamentals” but then also includes a DVD, broken into 40 sections, to demonstrate and further describe each of these skills.  I think the best way to use McNeil’s book is to read, study and watch one skill a day for 40 days. (It sounds slightly biblical and I guess for those of us who worship the horse, it is.)

4.       STUDY disability knowledge. I would use the PATH Intl. list of Precautions & Contraindications (on-line copy free to members) and take a condition-a-day to study, understand and research on legitimate websites. 

5.       TEACH. Again, go to the internet and search for riding videos. Find riders of all levels. Search different skills. Then, turn your computer to mute and watch the video. “Teach” the rider! And yes, I mean talk out loud, in your biggest “instructor voice” and tell this person-you-will-never-meet how to ride the movement they are working on or how to improve their position or aids. (This is obviously best done in the privacy of one’s own home while the rest of the family is at work...) You can practice finding your words, analyzing a rider and projecting your voice, all while sitting in an easy chair. (This may sound crazy, I know, but “virtual” practicing like this is becoming a more and more common way of training athletes, performers and people working on all kinds of skill development.)

6.       REFLECT. Being “down & out” gives you time to think about your goals, define your next steps and really look at what is most important to you about the Instructor Training process you’ve engaged in. If you are inclined to read horse-oriented materials that have to do with self-reflection and personal improvement, I recommend Linda Kohanov’s TheTao of Equus (and all her subsequent books) and Kathleen Lindley’s In the Company of Horses. Both include anecdotes and techniques related to the emotional side of being around horses and the way that horses enhance our lives. Increasing my own understanding of the horse’s sentience has always been part of my intention in working with horses; bringing awareness of the horse’s power as motivator, teacher and friend to my students has also become increasingly important to me.

If that doesn’t fill 6 – 8 weeks of couch-time, I don’t know what will! My friend, I hope you feel better and are riding and teaching again soon! Thank you for letting me write about this on my blog. In your case, you are recovering from injury but many Instructors in Training have other reasons for not being able to be at the barn as much as they’d like (work, children, financial considerations). While I can’t stress enough how crucial hands-on, extensive barn/arena time is to preparation, there are also practical and important ways to prepare, study and train from home.  Hope this list inspires someone!