Heather Moffett

Anyone who takes on the career of the riding instructor will find it rewarding frustrating, hilarious, and any degrees you can think of between the three. I do sometimes think that youngsters go in for teaching as the easy option, or possibly even see it as glamorous. For any red-blooded young male, it may also be seen as a good way to attract the female of the species.
With regard to any ideas of teaching being the easy option, thirty years of experience has taught me to knock any such notions right out of their dizzy young heads. Nowadays, we mostly have the relative comfort of teaching in indoor schools, but when I first started, an outdoor school was considered the height of luxury, and an indoor school only within the realms of the largest and most illustrious establishments. A muddy field, in the Siberian winds of winter-bound East Anglia was the only place that I had to teach, but happily such things are well in the past. Dont for one minute think though, that teaching in indoor schools is a great deal warmer, -dryer and not muddy, yes, but warmer, no!
Which brings me to the subject of glamour. Nobody could claim that being wrapped up in six layers of clothing is glamorous, from your thermals through to the latest in breathable and ruinously expensive outerwear, so that even a wraith-like model would resemble a Michelin man. Winter is not the only season to mar the sartorial image.
One can start off the brightest summer day, in a clean, crisp pair of breeches, short sleeve shirt, brown arms and face glowing with the good health redolent of the outdoor life. Given a couple of hours teaching on an outdoor school with dusty surface in searing heat, and the tan has deepened to a coating of burnt umber dust, where only the whites of the eyes, and teeth are visible. So much for glamour.
Now the one thing that is true, absolutely, is the idea that male instructors can and do, attract an adoring female following. I used to employ a freelance instructor who I could guarantee, would have the new intake of female working pupils each year fighting over the bathrooms every Thursday night, when he came to give them a lesson. Each would roll out, newly coifed, makeup perfect, eyelashes batting, eager to be his star pupil. He was such a delightfully innocent fellow, that it seemed to entirely escape his notice (particularly as he already had a very attractive girlfriend of longstanding). That is, until one particular girl, not actually a working pupil, started to take days off on Thursdays, just so that she could have a lesson with our freelance friend. She began to follow him home- miles away, hang around his house, all the more disconcerting as he lived with his parents up a long drive in an isolated spot. So young men beware, you may get more than you bargain for!
Teaching riding will also instruct you in the art of self-control. Keeping a straight face under difficult circumstances is another skill that you will need to acquire. Be very careful how you word your instructions, because you will be astonished at how literally some people take things. I remember years ago, saying to one very novice chap, Take your feet out of the stirrups and cross them over in front of you. Without so much as a questioning glance, he obliged, no, readers, not the stirrups - his feet. Recognising what was happening, I managed to stop him before he did a back to front version of the scissors exercise! One or two riders, will test your self-control to the limits. Due to nerves, or perhaps an undisclosed stomach complaint, they seem to suffer from flatulence that would not disgrace the horse. I have learnt, that whatever the timpanic accompaniments emanating from the saddle region, you soldier on without so much as the ghost of a grin, even though your own stomach may be in knots from suppressed mirth!
Never ever take for granted, the word of any new pupil who assures you that he or she is a very experienced rider, particularly if they want to go out for a hack. We always had a policy that anyone who wanted to ride out, first had to have an assessment lesson in the indoor school. A charming Italian man came to my yard many years ago, wanting to hack. My policy stood me in good stead in this case, because despite his insistence that he had ridden extensively in Sicily, I had more than slight misgivings when he placed his right foot in the stirrup, and mounted, landing facing the tail. I refrained from enquiring as to whether this style of riding was normal in Sicily..
Since pioneering the teaching of riding with my Equisimulators, I have had to stifle many a giggle, when the telephone rings, or worse still, someone turns up here and asks, very seriously, for lessons on the Equistimulator. A Freudian slip, perhaps? Conjures up all sorts of pictures that are probably best suited to a racy Jilly Cooper novel, rather than a respectable equestrian journal!!.
Happy teaching!

Equisimulator workshops at Heathers farm in South Devon are held monthly. For information please visit www.enlightenedequitation.com, or ring Debbie on 07877 202950.


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