Off Topic!

I must really feel like writing lately.  I've been writing in my personal journal again as well as updating this blog.  Hmm.

This is pretty much off-topic.  I'll loosely tie it to my teaching and riding by saying that I've had teenage students ask me this question: What classes am I taking in high school that will actually apply to my adult life?  Or, stated another way, will I ever use any of this stuff again?

Here is my totally non-scientific, biased list of which classes are (or are not) useful in everyday life as an adult.  I'm not including classes that would be useful in a specific career -- these are all classes that will help an adult understand the news and current events, the world around them, and how to effectively function in society no matter what career path they choose.

First, the sciences.  Basic biology and chemistry are a must in order to grasp the building blocks of life.  You'll forget how to do the equations for the reactions but at least you'll take away an understanding of organisms on both the molecular and the whole-being level.  These classes were required at my high school and both were pretty well-taught.  I'd also like to see a required basic physics class.  I think this would round out the sciences nicely.  A good understanding in these three subjects would hopefully prevent flawed thinking such as "I'll turn the heat up to 90 degrees to warm the house up faster" or "the rainbows I can see in the sprinkler must be some sort of government conspiracy".

Math.  Why do people hate math?  My career does not involve any of the really fascinating things I learned in calculus but I use basic algebra and geometry all the time and I'm sure most adults do, even if they don't realize it.

Health.  Oh my gosh this class was boring and maybe it could be combined with biology but you really do need to know what is happening when you take a mood-altering drug and how to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.  I actually remember the things we learned in this mind-numbing required class.

Accounting.  We were required to take a personal finance class which I think was useful but didn't go quite far enough.  Some basic accounting concepts could have been added because no matter what you choose to do, even if you hire an accountant, you will be somewhat responsible for managing and keeping track of your money.  Personal finance was another painfully boring class but yeah, important.

History.  What don't I remember?  Ancient history.  We all had to study the Mayans or whatever but I don't see the relevance to adult life.  I did take a really nifty humanities class where we learned about mythology and art history... maybe ancient history could go here, as an elective.  What is useful is recent history.  For US high school students I would say that at the very least this should cover events that occurred on North America (and on other continents when it's relevant) from about the 1500s to the present.  I would say the majority of the subject matter should be very recent history, however, which is precisely the part we pretty much skipped.  Everyone should graduate with an understanding of all the wars and other major events within memory of our oldest citizens and we barely touched on this.

Ha.  I saved Engligh for last and that's because I think this is the class with the most misguided emphasis.  We were required to take English every year and still, the majority of my class graduated with not even a rudimentary understanding of English grammar.  Reading literature and poetry and guessing at symbolism and talking about how it makes you feel could be saved for an elective.  What you really need to know no matter what career you choose is how to write correctly and in a way that people will understand.  We had no grammar at all past seventh grade or so which is probably why most people who graduated when I did write on about a seventh grade level.  Seriously.

So there's how it would go, if suddenly I were to be named dictator of public schools or something.  I know there are plenty of other interesting or useful subjects but I stand by my list of what I would say are the bare minimum required necessities.  Students with interests in other areas may take other classes as electives.

Some smart-ass is going to notice grammatical errors in my post, I'm sure.  There you go.

Tips For Selecting A Riding Instructor

I'm a riding instructor, coach, and trainer.  Put bluntly, my job is to put small children on the backs of prey animals who are  five to ten times larger than the child is and who can easily run at least 30 miles per hour.  Then I teach them to jump.  Safety has to be my absolute top concern.

In this country there is no certification or licensing requirement for riding instructors and horse trainers so pretty much anyone can advertise and start taking clients.  Of course although part of me balks at the thought of having to take courses or tests to become licensed, it would certainly be a huge step toward making this sport safer for new families.  The way things are now, a mom or dad with zero horse experience is faced with selecting an instructor for their child and without an understanding of the important things to look for, they end up having to make a decision based mainly on distance from their home and their feel for the instructor over the phone or email.  There are plenty of instructors out there who are much better sales people than teachers!

As someone with nearly thirty years of riding experience and over a decade of teaching, these are the things I would look for in an instructor or program for my own child.  Of course some of this is based on my own opinion of what the emphasis of a good riding program should be, but this should at least be a good start for someone with no experience.

• A good program should have lesson horses in various sizes and riding levels.  The horses should be trained in the discipline the program is teaching.  Often the best lesson horses are ex-show horses (or even current show horses) because they are well schooled and have been exposed to lots of excitement.  You'd be surprised how many programs are using horses with very little training beyond basic under saddle work.  A horse who is not trained in the correct cues will not teach a beginner how to correctly apply these cues.
• A good program should have an instructor or instructors who are very experienced in the discipline they teach.  This seems obvious but remember, in this country, anyone can teach.  Not every program needs to be based on showing but often the only way for a new parent to find out whether the instructor can ride is by finding out whether the instructor has shown successfully.  If the instructor is currently taking students to shows, their students' own performance at shows can also be a clue to the competence of the instructor.
• The instructor should be able to get on the horse, if necessary, whether it is a lesson horse or the client's own horse.  Even well-trained lesson horses can occasionally be naughty and will need the trainer to get on.  If the instructor or trainer is unable to ride due to age or injury, there should be an assistant or working student available with the ability to get on and ride through whatever the horse is doing.
• A good program will insist on safety equipment for all their students.  If you go to observe a lesson, are all children in long pants, boots, and helmets?
• The lesson horses should appear to be in good health and weight.  A horse with a depressed attitude, very dull coat, or easily visible ribs (ribs may show slightly in a very fit horse) is unhealthy and it is inhumane to ride that horse.  Remember that there may be rehab or rescue cases in the barn who fit the above description but these horses should not be in the lesson program.  If you're curious about the condition of a horse, ask.

Some of these things will be difficult for an inexperienced parent to spot.  I would suggest observing at least one lesson from start to finish -- from the time the student gets the horse out to the time the horse is put away. 

 Try to chat with other parents while you are there.  You'll likely get a pretty good feel for the program by talking with them and you may find that the parents will volunteer the answers to some of the questions above.

It may be that you will select a program for your child and find out after they have already started that it is not a safe program or just not the right program for you.  Don't be afraid to tell an instructor that it isn't working out.  Sometimes it's just a bad personality match, which is something that's happened to all of us.  A good instructor will understand and respect your decision.