Module 4 of 10 · 40 min
Assessing the Horse and Rider Combination
Coaching two athletes at once: reading the horse, reading the horse and rider combination, and identifying the underlying cause of any issues.
By the end of this module you will understand how to
- — Assess the horse's experience, confidence, fitness, training, behaviour, rhythm, balance and responsiveness
- — Judge whether a horse and rider are a suitable combination for the session you planned
- — Decide whether an issue is rider-created, horse-created or created by the combination
You are coaching two athletes
Every other coaching discipline works with one performer. You have two, and only one of them can tell you how it feels.
Whatever you ask the rider to do, the horse must be able to do as well. A technically perfect instruction given to a horse that is unfit, green or sore will fail, and the rider will believe the failure is theirs.
Coach tip
Before the session, watch the pair walk one lap on each rein without instruction. You will learn more in that two minutes than in the next twenty of talking.
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