Those who can do … teach

Passing knowledge on from one person to another is one of the most difficult challenges we face in communicating.  As an instructor, I hate it when someone quotes: “Those who can … do.  Those who can’t … teach.”  The person quoting this must be going through a tough time with their instructor, and I have the profoundest sympathy for their experience.  However, I would like to offer up an alternate axiom for great instructors: “Those who can … do.  Those who can do it so well they can explain it to someone, demonstrate it, and help the other person master it … teach.”

This is a key point to understand.  When you are teaching a subject, especially a physical skill, being able to perform the skill, and being able to teach the skill are two completely different processes.  People can be very competent at doing something, like playing the piano, painting a picture, riding a horse, shooting a basketball, and so on, but they may not be able to teach the skill to someone else.  How is that possible?  There are several reasons.

The first category of people who are great at doing something, but not good at teaching is because the skill comes naturally to them.  If you have a friend who has an amazing jump shot, and you ask them, “How do you do that?”, and their response is, “I don’t know, I just do it,” you will be facing a tough time if you ask them for help.  If you know someone who is great at math because they can just “see” the answer, they won’t be much help with your homework since they can’t explain how they got the answer.  You need someone as an instructor who is at least aware of the process and understands it thoroughly.

The second category of people who can do something but not teach it are those who have mastered the skill, but never figured out how to explain it in a way that makes sense to anyone else.  We horseback riding instructors can be very guilty of this.  Every world has its own vocabulary, and the horse world has hundreds of specialized terms.  We may have learned how to half-halt down the long side as we do a slight haunches-in and prepare our horse for a beautiful canter transition, but if you don’t know what any of that means, it’s not going to help.  Or your instructor could shout at you, “Feel the horse’s shoulder in that transition!”  If you don’t know what to feel for, in which shoulder, or why, or how being able to feel what is going on with the horse’s shoulder is going to impact the over-all performance of the horse, then the instructor just wasted their breath.

A good instructor needs to be able to do the following:

• Have a thorough understanding and mastery of the subject.  Don’t be fooled … your instructor is still learning (or should be), but at least they need to have mastered the skills they are teaching to you.
• Be able to explain the subject in multiple ways.  Repeating the same instructions over and over won’t cut it.
• Be able to figure out what makes sense to you, and use that to customize their instructions to fit what you already understand.
• Be able to explain a skill or task so that you understand how it contributes to the greater whole, and to your progression to more advanced levels.
• If the instructor is teaching a skill, they need to be able to demonstrate the skill.  Seeing what you’re trying to do for one minute can cut through ten minutes of verbal descriptions and fiddling around.  I know of a few riding instructors who are fantastic teachers, but are now so old they cannot ride due to health reasons.  However, these instructors compensate by their decades of experience in teaching, and have so many ways of explaining the concept that they can usually find a way to reach their students.
• The instructor should be able to show you the incorrect ways of performing the skill, as well as the correct ways.  It can be really helpful to see a comparison so you can see the impact on the over-all performance.
• The instructor MUST create an atmosphere where it is safe to try AND to make mistakes.  We learn as much or more from our mistakes as we do from our successes.  If we do not allow ourselves to make a mistake, we seriously handicap our ability to grow.
• The instructor MUST invite questions and feedback.  If you are a visual learner and can copy what they do exactly, you need to let them know.  If they spend the whole time talking, they are not able to adapt their teaching style to the method that best fits you.

This is what I strive to bring to my students with each lesson.  I welcome your insights on the qualities you most appreciate in your favorite teachers.  Sharing will help all of us grow as teachers and students.

Any ride you can walk away from …

Horseback Riding: Good for Your Health?.

I am re-posting this blog entry since it is so appropriate for the Back in the Saddle community.  Many people who enjoyed horses when they were younger took a break from them out of fear.  They had such a negative experience that they just couldn’t face the idea of riding again.  This post puts you into that world in a way you can experience it fully.  I also commend this author for not giving up, and still finding ways to be around horses.

Back in the Saddle of Life

What do you do when you fall off?  You get back into the saddle.

For people who ride, we’ve heard this since the first time we rode, or the first time we fell off.  For those who are new to riding, the theory behind this is that by getting back on the horse immediately, you don’t get the opportunity to develop a mental block about riding.  You can realize that even though you fell off, and may have bruised more than just your ego, you can still ride again and not fall off.  What was a one-time trauma stays a one-time episode, instead of turning into a way of thinking or even a phobia that limits the rest of your life.

What would happen if we took this approach to our entire life?  What if every time we got derailed from our original plan, or things came along that totally blind-sided us, we “got back in the saddle”?  For example, you are putting together the wedding of the century and the location for the reception burns down.  Instead of letting it stop you, you reach out to your community, find a way to find a new location, find a way to work with the people going to the reception … and so on.  As another example, your best friend dies unexpectedly.  You decide to honor that person’s memory by engaging fully in life, rather than decide your life is worthless without them.  In short, we find a way to make what could have stopped us cold become an opportunity to find a new way to make things happen.

What about when we have thought our opportunity has passed?  How many things have we put off, or decided not to try for one seemly excellent reason or another?  Call it your “bucket list”, your “someday I’ll … list” or your wish list, we wind up putting all of these wishes in a bucket, and wait until we’re knocking on Death’s door to get around to it.  We’d like to travel through Europe and finally see those amazing sights we’ve admired from pictures over the years.  We’d like to fly in a hot-air balloon, but we’re not really sure if it’s worth it.  We’re thinking about having kids, but still don’t think we’re ready for it.  We’d love to see if just once, we could hit a fly ball to the outfield fence in Center Field.  Will we realize these hopes and dreams if we let them all go until later?

Getting back in the saddle can be an attitude, a way to tackle life and decide that no matter what life throws at you, you will get back in the saddle and keep on taking on life’s challenges.  It also is an attitude of taking on that challenge NOW, and realizing the new strength and growth you achieve prepares you for your next challenge.

For some people, that will literally be taking riding lessons … either reconnecting with their passion from their youth, or for others it will be starting to take lessons and the challenge of learning a skill they thought unattainable.  For some people, it will be having that conversation with a loved one that allows you to be who you truly are with that person, and gives that loved one the space to truly be themselves with you.  For others it will be making a choice to find a way to express their tallents in a way that isn’t currently being utilized.

How does this speak to you?  How do you see yourself getting Back in the Saddle in your own life?  Please comment and let me know how this applies to you or affects you.

What is a Re-rider?

If you answered “yes” to at least three of these questions, you fit most of the characteristics of a re-rider.  If you answered “yes” to four or more, you are most definitely a re-rider.  Re-riders are adults who rode as children, but due to life circumstances got away from riding and now are either back into riding or desiring to pursue the sport again.

Adults who rode as children have the benefit that they started to learn their skills when they were young, when the body is more natrually flexible, and when we don’t think about things … such as falling might lead to side-effects, like an unexpected vacation from work.  However, as adults, we have the experience and wisdom to truly value our time with our equine friends.  We cherish in a new way how horses can be a haven, a safe harbor in our hectic lives.

If you rode as a child, and are in the position where you currently don’t ride but long to return to the sport, don’t lose hope.  Come back for more posts as we develop a support network for adult riders.

Adult Horseback Riders are People Too!

I teach horseback riding lessons.  When I tell people what I do for a living, a common response I get is, “Oh!  I used to ride as a kid and loved it!  I really miss it.”  Another response I get from adults is, “I’ve always wanted to learn how to ride a horse, but I guess I’m too old to start that.”  I realized (after the umpteenth time I got these responses) that there is a large group of adults who would like to ride horses, but aren’t aware of the resources out there to make it happen.  The common reasons for not riding are that riding is too expensive, all the barns are too far away, and there is never enough time to do it.  While there is some truth to these reasons, I can tell you that there are horseback riding opportunities for almost all budgets, time schedules, and locations.

There is plenty of support for kids and horses. There is 4-H, Pony Club, summer camps … you name it. But as soon as you turn eighteen, the support is harder to find. Many of the riders do not continue without some sort of supportive network.  I am creating a resource to reach this community of adult equestrians and provide support for them to get involved with something they loved.  People will see they can pursue their passion, even though they thought a life with horses was out of reach.

We will create an online blog and Facebook page as a resource for the community to help them find information, stables, instructors, and merchants that will further their equestrian pursuits. The online resources will also be a community outlet for commentary and a forum to share ideas, insights, and their passion about horses. Finally, we will involve the media to help publicize that you’re never too old to embrace your love of horses.

I welcome your ideas and input on how this community can grow.  Would you like to find a way to reconnect with friends you used to ride with when you were younger?  We can develop this community and resource to make those connections happen.  When we all get involved, this becomes a great way for us to connect over our common love of horses.