Get the most out of your lessons

Talk to your Teacher

It seems obvious, but talking to your instructor is the best way to help you make the most of your lesson time. Tell them what you’d like to achieve from your sessions, and if you’re not sure what they’re telling you to do, ask – they won’t bite!

It’s super-important to make sure you’re listening carefully, too – after all, you’re there to learn!

Top tip

Having regular lessons will improve your riding skills more quickly and it’ll help your instructor get to know you better.

Set some riding goals

Setting goals to aim for can help you stay motivated. This could be anything from jumping clear at a competition to moving up a level in dressage, or even to have a canter while out hacking. Tell your instructor about your goals so they can help you work towards them in your lessons!

Top tip

If you don’t have your own pony to practise on between lessons, make sure you keep reading PONY to brush up on your riding skills.

Review your riding

Sharing your not-so-fantastic moments with your instructor as well as your successes is really important, as they’ll be able to help you make a plan to improve your performance next time. So if there’s a competition that didn’t go so well, or you had a miscommunication with your pony while out hacking, tell your instructor. You could even show them your dressage sheet or a video of the event, so they can see how you did. Even if it went brilliantly, it’s still a good idea to review your performance, as there’s always areas to improve on or things you can do better!

For more great advice, grab a copy of September PONY, on sale 31 July.