Creating riding experiences that are fun to teach, memorable to experience, and worth coming back for.
TRYON, N.C. Riding instructors evaluate riders every day. They watch balance, position, communication, confidence, judgment, and the rider’s ability to influence the horse. They know what is improving and what still needs work. Yet formal rider evaluations have never become routine in many lesson programs. Maybe the problem isn’t that instructors don’t see their value. Maybe traditional evaluations simply haven’t given everyone enough reason to want to do them.
That is a question being explored this week through the ESSG Private Lessons Series™: Beyond the Riding Lesson™, currently underway in the FREE Equine Safety and Success Network™ (ESSN) Pilot Program. Instead of treating an evaluation as something done to a rider, participants are looking at what happens when it becomes something the instructor does with the rider. Imagine saying, “Today we’re going to take about five minutes to check your progress. You’ll ride a few movements for your level, and then we’ll look at what’s improved and what we want to work toward next.” Suddenly, the evaluation doesn’t have to feel like a test. It can become something the rider looks forward to.
The instructor observes several skills appropriate to the rider’s level and then shares what they see. “Remember when you needed help keeping your horse on the circle? Look at what you’re doing now.” “This was difficult three months ago. Today you did it independently.” “Here’s what I think you’re ready to work toward next.” The rider gets to see progress that may have happened so gradually they hadn’t noticed it. The instructor gets to stop and recognize the results of their own teaching. The progress was already happening. We just made it visible.
For programs with owners or managers, the idea solves another very real problem. Rider evaluations that once felt like paperwork instructors needed to be reminded to complete can become part of the teaching experience itself. Management gets the current information and documentation it needs. Instructors get a useful tool for planning lessons, setting goals, and reconsidering horse-and-rider suitability as abilities change. Riders get to celebrate what they have accomplished and see where they are going next. And the business benefits when clients can recognize the progress they are making and the value of continuing their lessons.
Perhaps the goal isn’t simply to convince instructors to complete more rider evaluations. Maybe it is to make the experience valuable enough that everyone wants them to happen. Imagine the rider who eventually asks, “When do we get to do my progress evaluation again?” Something the program should have been doing anyway has become another reason for the rider to feel successful, motivated, and excited about what comes next.
That idea reflects the larger philosophy behind Beyond the Riding Lesson™. Riding instructors don’t simply teach lessons. They create experiences. When instructors begin thinking about the experience they are creating for the rider, the horse, and themselves, familiar parts of teaching can look different. Questions such as “What did you notice?” “What changed?” and “What did you feel?” can teach riders to observe, think, and respond rather than simply wait for the next instruction. The goal is not only to teach riding skills, but to create thinking riders and develop habits that can last a lifetime.
Creating the experience doesn’t mean turning riding instruction into entertainment. Riders can work hard, make mistakes, and be challenged. But an instructor who asks, “What kind of experience can we create today?” may begin looking for moments of discovery, genuine accomplishments to recognize, and new ways to make an idea click. That can make the learning process more rewarding for the rider and bring creativity and enjoyment back into teaching for the instructor. People may come to a riding program because they want to learn to ride. They may keep coming because they enjoy who they are becoming while they’re there.
Throughout the Series, ESSN participants are exploring those ideas through Roundtables, practical resources, teaching demonstrations, and Moments That Matter™, including Is Your Horse Listening?, Is Your Horse Waiting for You, or Taking You?, Yes, No, Maybe… or “I Can’t Hear You”, the Rider Self-Test™, and The Magic Barrel Experience™. This week, Pilot participants are receiving the Rider Evaluation resources being developed for the Equine Safety and Success Guide™ and exploring how evaluations can become a better system, a better teaching experience, and something riders themselves can value.
And there is more coming. Beyond the Riding Lesson™ will move next into thoughtful horse-and-rider matching, proven teaching techniques for beginning through advanced riders and professionals, engaging lessons, communication with riders and families, and ways to keep learning and connection going beyond the time spent in the arena. Attracting a new client and keeping one aren’t separate conversations. They are part of the experience we create from the beginning.
The Equine Safety and Success Network™ is currently inviting horse professionals to join the FREE ESSN Pilot Program. Participants work through the Equine Safety and Success Guide™ together, receive new tools and resources, discuss ideas, share experiences, and help develop, test, and improve the Guide for use in real horse operations.
Today’s Groundwork. Tomorrow’s Success.
About the Equine Safety and Success Network™
The Equine Safety and Success Network™ (ESSN) is a FREE pilot program where horse professionals work together to develop, test, and improve the Equine Safety and Success Guide™ in real operations. Participants explore practical approaches to safety, instruction, communication, documentation, business systems, and the everyday decisions that help create safer, more successful experiences for horses and people.
About Randi Thompson
Randi Thompson is an Equine Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant with more than 40 years of experience in the horse industry. A longtime instructor, clinician, and educator of riding instructors, she is the founder of the Equine Safety and Success Network™ and creator of the Equine Safety and Success Guide™. Her work combines decades of practical horse-industry experience with her work in equine litigation to help horse professionals strengthen teaching practices, professional decision-making, safety, documentation, and the experiences they create for horses and people.
Media Contact
Randi Thompson
Equine Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant
Founder, Equine Safety and Success Network™
Tryon, North Carolina
Website: RandiThompsonLive.com
Email: randi@randithompsonlive.com
Phone: 828-243-1401