I like to keep an eye on the stats of my website – how many people visit, where they’re referred from or if they stumbled across my site through a search engine, what phrase they used to find the site. A recent one was ‘do you need any qualifications to teach people to ride horses’.
Although I’ve written quite a few posts regarding becoming qualified to teach, I realise I haven’t actually answered that particular question. I don’t believe it is compulsory to be qualified to teach, just as it isn’t compulsory to be able to execute a certain movement on a horse to be able to teach it. (Though, I do believe this makes you a more capable teacher as you know how to execute a certain movement rather than just explain how to do it).
There are quite a few benefits to being qualified to teach:
– You can receive a higher rate of pay with a piece of paper without having to prove yourself as an instructor.
– If you’ve done so through a nationally recognised course, you can more easily get insurance to teach.
– You’ll be in contact with others in the industry due to doing a course and stay up to date while doing the course and beyond.
– Most riding schools when looking for instructors would prefer someone who has gone to the trouble of getting a piece of paper.
However, if you are recognised as a good rider (perhaps people know your name due to performing well in competitions), then you may find people seek you out due to your success, rather than because you carry a piece of paper. For example, an equestrian who has competed at Olympic level may be more sought after and able to charge a higher fee than someone who has just finished their Level 1 for Instructing. If you don’t ride at a competitive or recognised level though, the piece of paper should open many doors for you.
If you don’t have a qualification but want to get one, you’ll find there are schools around who are willing to employ someone who is going to invest the time it takes to get a piece of paper. I’d allow a couple of years to gain the qualification alongside working. Other pieces of paper you may need alongside this could include a Police Check to prove you’re fine to work with children and a current First Aid Certificate.
“Hoof picks migrate” – Horse Stuff Co.
tag: horseriding, course, Level 1, coaching, instructing, competition
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Lots of trainers out there…hard to find good ones:-) I feel so fortunate to find my trainer…so is outstanding. Not many like her.
Agreed!
I guess that can be another bonus with doing a course – you get to work with others and see what works and what doesn’t. There’s so many ways to reach individual students and horses, you can always learn off of someone else; always improve.
Having gone through an intense 3 year program at an equestrian college, I went from never riding a horse to becoming extremely proficient at riding, training, and consequently teaching others. Since I was directly involved in the learning process, I was learning how to teach at the same time.
My instructors were graduates themselves of this equestrian college and knew how to ride and communicate with the horse and student (as a rider).
Most of the credit should also be given to the the ultimate teacher — the horse.
Thanks for the great post.
Scott
BTW – your post has been “Nickered” at NickerIt.com 🙂
Hi Scott!
Thanks for the input – are you able to provide details on the equestrian college you attended?
Cheers for the heads up on nickerit.com – great setup.