I just finished a lovely weekend. Scott Hassler came to my stable to teach my students. He worked with Courtney King with her top horses, Mica Mabragana with the horse she rode in the YR World Cup, Meagan Davis who is trying out for the North American Young Rider Champs, three certified instructors, some other upper level horses as well some lovely young horses. What a fabulous teacher he is – challenging but encouraging, positive, a wonderful command of the language, and fun. As a long time teacher I was invigorated. I learned some new exercises as well as new phrases to use in my teaching. And I got hit on the head (figuratively) for missing some things with my students or letting some things slide by. We had a small group of auditors who were enthralled. How I wish more people would spend a day at a clinic like this just sitting and watching – filling their eyes with good quality riding, filling their ears with good quality teaching.
I know that I was started on the road of knowing what to look for by sitting for hours in Michael Poulin’s indoor arena watching him ride and watching and listening to his lessons. In the freezing cold huddled with blankets and Michael’s dog to keep warm, I wasn’t even aware of what I was learning. In the beginning I had no idea what to look for. Later I was able to guess what he was going to say as my eye became educated to seeing what he was seeing. Later I spent some wonderful days in Herbert Rehbein’s indoor arena outside of Hamburg, Germany. I speak no German and Mr. Rehbein spoke almost no English. But just sitting and watching some of the world’s top riders as they trained sent me home with a raised level of awareness.
On another hand I had two less known professionals at my stable last week. Corinna Scheller and Cheryl Reeve are working on their instructor certification and come to Gleneden to get some help in their riding and teaching. These nationally unknown teachers gave some wonderful lessons to my regular students. I find that very often riders only want to ride with the big name. We have some truly wonderful teachers who can teach lower levels superbly. I believe strongly in the USDF instructor certification program if only because you know that these certified instructors are interested in their own education and improvement. If an instructor is not willing to have their work evaluated and is not getting more education every year, perhaps they are not the best for you.
