Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: What’s the most unusual training method you’ve tried with a student that actually worked?
Here are their answers:
“The ‘sing your way through it’ method.” -Louise Hardman
“The most unusual method I have tried with a student is having one young lady ride barefoot! She couldn’t tell how much leg she had been using, so I had her ride in her socks, and that fixed her leg pressure right away. I made sure the parents were okay with this–we still talk about it all the time, and I wouldn’t be opposed to using this method again if I thought the rider would benefit from it.” – Alliyah Antoniadis
“I’m not one for gadgets, but I’ve been known to pull out *Claire’s Bag of Tricks* from time to time… it includes:
– Large pom poms held in each hand can be a helpful tool for riders who like to open their fingers or hold the reins too tightly!
– Stretchy soft headbands around both wrists encourage riders to use their hands together and *guide instead of steer*.
– Dribble goggles (for basketball) can be worn safely over a helmet and are the best for riders who look down to check leads or diagonals or need a visual reminder to ride to their focal point on the back side of a jump!” -Claire Gordon-Neff
“The one that stands out for me right now is the ‘scholar week’ I put together at the beginning of the summer. My students spend five days doing very different equestrian activities. As a team, they have lessons in polo, roping, vaulting, dressage, cow sorting, etc. I’ve found that introducing them to new skills in other horse-related activities they’re not skilled at helps them to feel more confident and less critical in their normal venue. They become more at ease doing their course work at home and at shows.” -Michele Goodrich
“I am a huge advocate of having soft and correct hands with my riders. Broken wrists or hands getting below the line of the horse’s mouth is a huge pet peeve of mine. I love using the Equicube for both a core workout and proper hand placement. It also helps riders take a feel of both reins at the same time as opposed to riding off the inside rein. I also incorporate driving reins as well as bridged reins and riding one-handed.
Oftentimes with a driving rein, I will have my riders practice automatic releases to allow freedom of the horses’ heads and necks as well as body control for the rider. I realize none of these are unusual, but rather they are tools to think outside the box and away from standard rein holding to achieve results of good riders and happy horses.” -Laura Reist
“I would say the most unusual training method was hanging a bit low in the horse’s mouth once with a rider that I was working with on establishing a better connection. It worked by getting the rider to take up their reins more with focusing on keeping the bit up in the corner of the horse’s mouth.” -Heath Gunnison
“Singing to help yourself find a rhythm isn’t new news, but as of late, I’ve made my girls start singing ‘Hot to Go’ by Chappell Roan if they’re struggling to find distances. It’s the craziest thing, they don’t miss!” -Jessie Klein
“When I make them close their eyes or take their reins from them during lessons, that’s probably the weirdest thing! The funniest thing is taking all electronic devices from them while horse showing–9 pm lights out, no devices and none while showing–that works the best!” –Dana Hart-Callanan
“I don’t know how unusual it is, but it is common vernacular with my students to “row your boat.” I was taught to sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” by a trainer I worked for in my 20s as a method to keep rhythm at the canter to the jump. I found it helped me immensely, and it is something I use to this day, 20 years later.
It helps riders settle into a good pace, and the distances tend to find themselves. It takes the focus off of picking at distances and allows them to focus on rhythm and pace.” –Emily Miller
“A strategy I use to deter a rider from overthinking the first jump on the course. Each time through the ingate, I give a new topic to talk to the horse about in detail…Disney World, a favorite stuffed animal, the rainforest, tennis, etc. Muscle memory takes over, the horse appreciates a gentle connection, and the first jump jitters disappear!” -Jamie Grant
“Put a bungee cord around their back and one shoulder and arm, run it under the horse’s neck and into the rider’s hand with the rein. Adjust it with knots on the bungee cord to the position you want the rider in. It closes their hip angle, and if they start to open beyond where you want them, it pulls them back down and reminds them where to be. If anything happens, they just drop the cord, and they are loose.” –Susie Hutchison
