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The Solid Foundation
is long (2 full pages) but well worth reading as it's so important
to what you should care about when selecting a riding
stables.
The Solid Foundation
Safety
is First and Last….at Trinity Stables!
Love Horses and Horseback riding? So do we! Whether you want to learn to
ride for fun/confidence or learn to ride to compete/excel in a great
sport, the SKILLS you learn while riding can make it a good and safe
experience or a terrifying and very un-safe experience.
Let’s start from the beginning regarding what is the
most important thing:
The
horse, The horse, The horse
End of story the thing you should care about most is
the horse you or your child is about to ride. The horses quality of
habits, it’s formal training/quality of training, it’s temperament
and it’s “track record” – how has it consistently performed in the
past in lessons or in the show arena? The horse itself is the single most
important thing to a starting a good horse experience. Speaking as a parent it should
be your #1 issue for concern and investigation. When in doubt, check around,
ask around, view a couple lessons for yourself. Picking a bad horse to ride
(one that bucks, ditches/jigs, runs away, is stubborn or ‘mean’
acting by striking out or biting) can not only physically hurt your
you/your child but undermine your confidence deeply.
Secondly, the thing to care about the most is
Instruction. That
includes the instructor’s depth of knowledge, their
temperament/personality, their ability to explain information and a
really important factor is their patience. When riding skills are
taught correctly it can progress to one of the most amazing sports
where the horse and rider will be a perfect team that accomplishes
great things. Or
when riding skills are taught correctly, you feel perfectly safe and
confident on top of this beautiful strong animal. You learn that with a tiny
bit, gentle hands, minimal kicking and the proper cues your lesson
horse will do whatever you ask!
You should feel comfortable asking questions of your
instructor and making sure the answers are understood, you should
feel a bond and at minimum a basic ‘like’ of your instructor. If not, try another! You
should be encouraged, never insulted or ‘put down’ and you should
feel challenged to stretch your goals but never pushed. You should be able to say
“No, I don’t want to do that” and you should always feel safe, never
wondering am I going to fall off? Falling off should NEVER be
acceptable as ‘the norm’ whether it’s your own backyard or at ANY
lesson/show stables.
So you’ve
found safe horses and some good instructors… how do you get going?
You get going by building a strong foundation. At Trinity we believe
that if you do not learn your basics and get a strong foundation for
riding you might get hurt.
Yes even with safe horses and safe instruction you could get
hurt if your foundation is not strong.
Riding is not a sport that
you can pick up quickly and be a pro at within weeks. It takes time and dedication
to become an experienced rider. So, in order to keep riders as
safe as possible here a Trinity we ‘enforce’, for lack of a better
word, the ‘Solid Foundation.’
The Solid
Foundation is as follows:
1)
The rider will need to be balanced and able to steer
at the walk before they will be able to trot in a lesson. This
applies whether the rider is 3 or 70 and has never ridden before or
ridden for decades. Of
course this may occur in the 1st 10 minutes of the
1st lesson or it may occur down the road a
bit.
2)
When the
trot is mastered and once the rider can demonstrate that they are
balanced and able to steer while they are posting, sitting, or doing
two-point during the trot then they will be allowed to canter.
3)
When cantering is mastered and once the rider
demonstrates that they can steer while either sitting to the canter
or doing two point, all the time being in balance with the horse
then they will earn the privilege to jump or go on the trail.
4) Jumping- is considered
an advanced skill and never starts out with the gloriously
high jumps you see on the Saddle Club! They always begin with cross
rails or even ground poles and build up; from literally the ground
up. Also your
communication skills with the horse and your form need to be
rock-solid before progressing to any higher jumps. (The instructors sweatshirts
don’t say “heel perfecter, heel perfecter, heel perfecter” at the
end for nothing!)
Please know that if you are not able to master something in
the basics of jumping we will explain it to you and ask that you do
not move higher until they are mastered. Something seemingly as minor
as a loose or open hand can result in broken fingers over a jump in
the matter of 2 seconds.
So at Trinity we’ll always go back to the basics when
necessary to maintain safety and confidence of both the rider and
the horse. And yes,
even a minor accident can shake or destroy your confidence as well
as the horse’s confidence.
5)
In order to go on the trails the rider would (in
conjunction with the walk/trot/canter skills) also demonstrate solid
handling capabilities such as tacking up, leading a horse outside of
the arena, the one-rein or emergency stop at a minimum. FYI- the instructor would
also mount up and accompany the lesson student on the trails. We do NOT do ‘traditional’
trail rentals/leasing horses for trail riding.
We’re happy you’re riding here and welcome to Trinity
Stables! We look
forward to a long and happy relationship between you, us and our
horses. As the owner I
welcome all questions or concerns, so feel free to call me, Laura
Anderson (585) 335-2821 or email info@trinitystables.com
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