Balanced Seat Discussion Forum
Curriculum for Riding
Instruction
Curriculum for riding instruction is a big topic to discuss but I will begin. I
divide curriculum into two parts, (A) the required equestrian skills and (B) the
essential athletic balances and motions.
The required equestrian skills part is the easiest part to determine because so
much work in this area has been done over centuries, and many methods are
readily available. For example, the three US Pony Club Manuals by Susan Harris,
beginning with the “D” book, followed by the “C” book, and the final
advanced “B” and “A” book, offer perhaps the best outline and sequence
of specific skills that a rider must develop in order to progress. This skills
curriculum came out of the British Horse Society manuals, which came from the
British Cavalry manuals.
Other curriculums include the German National Equestrian Federation series, the
Fort Riley Horsemanship & Horsemastership manuals, and there are many others
from individuals, national cavalries, and associations or federations. It is not
difficult to find a good skills curriculum. It is therefore somewhat astounding
that some instructors employ no skills curriculum whatsoever.
Teaching the (B) part, the essential athletic balances and motions that are
necessary in order to accomplish the equestrian skills (A) part is not as easy
to find. The best one that is available in written form is, I believe, is Sally
Swift’s Centered Riding. http://www.centeredriding.org Swift’s method owes
something to the Alexander Technique http://www.alexandertechnique.com , as well
as her childhood equestrian training by a Fort Riley Seat instructor, and I am
sure many other things.
Most skilled instructors have their own balances and motions teaching
methodology. I have my own, which is part my early training in the Balanced Seat
and the Army teaching techniques of my instructor. I owe a great deal to decades
in polo and my teachers in that sport, both American and Argentine. Portions of
my method come from my experiences in other sports such as skiing, football and
tennis. My ranch work influenced me too, as well as reading Sally Swift, Harry
Chamberlin, Gordon Wright and many others.
The (A) part, the required skills component is easy for an instructor to
establish through research. This part has taken centuries to develop the many
coherent systems or methods that are available. I do not feel that I can improve
much upon these systems like the Pony Club, British Horse Society, or German
National Equestrian Federation methods. It is the (B) part, the essential
athletic balances and motions, that I have found is more personal and thus more
challenging to determine. This (B) part is largely the result of personal
athletic experience. The instructor must convey, often to less athletic riders,
physical concepts using demonstration, words, images, exercises, and feedback
from observation. This aspect must precede the equestrian skills part and it
requires a clear connection with the rider. Teaching the (A) skills without
establishing a clear communication and or before the rider has the essential
athletic balances and motions to execute the skills results in frustrated
students.
In my teaching, I first explain the (A) parts as goals without the
expectation of execution of the skills. Then I work directly on the (B) part
that relates to the equestrian skills at the rider’s level. Most of my (B)
part work involves teaching muscle group separation. I often explain what muscle
group separation means by asking students to pat their head repeatedly with one
hand while at the same time rubbing their tummy in a circular motion, as
children do.
by Bob Wood
There are eight that I
identify in teaching. They are:
Dark Green – neck and
head
Yellow – chest
Brown – arms
Light Blue – hands
Red – hips
Lavender – legs
Light Green – knees
Bright Blue – feet
Of course there are
smaller groups that are relevant in more advanced levels. I am confident that
other instructors might break these down differently.
However, in the context of how I teach the (B) essential athletic
balances and motions, this breakdown works.
The first muscle group
separation is of the upper and lower body. The upper body is made up of the of
the Dark Green - neck and head, the Yellow - chest, the Brown - arms, the Light
Blue - hands, and part of the Red - hips. The lower body is made up of part of
the Red - hips, the Lavender - legs, the Light Green - knees, and the Bright
Blue – feet.
I draw a horizontal
line in the Red area of the diagram to separate the upper and lower body muscle
groups, but this division is symbolic. We cannot divide the hips in a physical
way. The functions of the hips are sometimes divided or assigned between the
upper and lower body muscle group’s movements. This is the separation that I
describe. The Red hip muscle group is the connection between upper and lower
body muscles groups, and its function is complex.
In the beginning of a student’s learning it is only important that they
understand upper and lower separation, and for convenience I make this symbolic
separation as I do.
Once the concept of
upper and lower muscle group separation is conveyed, we work using primarily
exercises to focus first on the lower body muscle group. It is here that basic
balance must be established. The only attention the upper body receives at his
stage is instruction and advice in “quieting” the upper body. If a student
uses their upper body as their primary means of balance, as a tight rope wake
would, it becomes clear at this time, and this must be changed before we can
proceed. If the student uses their lower body to balance as a snowboarder would,
then it is clear that we will progress out of this stage quickly. Occasionally
there is no separation seen in the student. This kind of rider looks like a
frozen mummy in the saddle and cannot move any part of the upper without moving
the lower (and visa versa) in a rigidly connected way. This is a challenging
student.
I shall end this
discussion of the curriculum, with its parts (A) the required skills and (B) the
essential athletic balances and motions, at the point of muscle group separation
for the time being. In the future I will go on to explore the three dimensional
aspects of these motions and balances in the longitudinal (front to back of the
horse), latitudinal (side to side) and vertical (up and down) planes. Eventually
we will get to the point of controlled separation and then begin to integrate
the functions of the muscle groups in a unified way with the horse’s movement.
At that time issues such as the complex connection at and of the hips becomes
relevant.
Simply
stated, an instructor, in order to properly teach the equestrian skills or (A)
part of the curriculum, must first begin the learning journey with the (B)
essential athletic balances and motions instruction. This is accomplished by
breaking down the balance functions by muscle groups, starting with the upper
and lower, and then putting them back together in manner that is relevant to the
required skills.
Curriculum