Myself or my child has never ridden before, what does starting out look like?
There is a huge emphasis on safety at Flags A'Flying. We have well trained lesson horses and ponies that have taught dozens of people how to ride from their first time in the saddle. We have safe, well maintained equipment including safety stirrups on all lesson saddles.
Beginning Riders are taught privately on a longe line until they have a secure position. What is a longe line lesson?
It is where the instructor controls the horse on a long 30 foot line so the student only has to focus on their position and does not have to do anything to control the horse. This takes a well trained lesson horse that will follow cues from the instructor immediately while circling around the instructor connected to the line. Many programs skip over longe lessons because they require a private lesson, but they are the safest way for beginners to start and they are the best way for riders to learn a strong position.
Riders who spend that initial time on the longe line, later progress much faster. Flags A'Flying beginner students are generally confident riders at the canter by their second semester of riding, other programs often take years to achieve this.
Typically riders will spend one semester on the longe line in private lessons. This time period may be longer for riders in early elementary school years. On the longe line they will learn different positions in the walk, trot and canter. During this semester they will also be learning how to tack up their school horse and care for it after the ride. For riders in 5th grade or below, parents will need to learn alongside their child about tacking/after care so parents can supervise their child once he or she graduates to doing this themselves.
After the rider is secure on the longe line and able to tack/care for their horse independently they can join group lessons. For group lessons the rider will spend the entire lesson riding and so will need to arrive 30 min early to tack their horse themselves and will need to do roughly 30 minutes of aftercare independently following the lesson. Generally for riders that are 8 years old or older, they will be able to start jumping late in their second semester of the program if they consistently attended their lessons. By their fifth semester most riders are jumping courses and ready to attend local competitions.
Riders will also have Horse Management lessons to attend. These are lessons about how to care for horses properly. Unlike other sports, you can't just put your equipment in the closet with riding. There is a lot to know about how to take care of your equine partner. Without this knowledge riders will never be able to care for a horse at a competition, properly take care of their horse after hard rides, or responsibly ever have a horse of their own. A few times a semester we will use our lesson time to learn horse management. For riders 10 years old and up, we ask they being a 3 ring binder to these Horse Management lessons and we give them printed notes to fill in. We test them over the knowledge and skills learned in HM lessons and certain skills have to be mastered before they can begin doing more advanced work in their riding.
Also, for riders in our two more advanced programs, we offer opportunities to learn further horse management skills outside of lesson time.
There is a huge emphasis on safety at Flags A'Flying. We have well trained lesson horses and ponies that have taught dozens of people how to ride from their first time in the saddle. We have safe, well maintained equipment including safety stirrups on all lesson saddles.
Beginning Riders are taught privately on a longe line until they have a secure position. What is a longe line lesson?
It is where the instructor controls the horse on a long 30 foot line so the student only has to focus on their position and does not have to do anything to control the horse. This takes a well trained lesson horse that will follow cues from the instructor immediately while circling around the instructor connected to the line. Many programs skip over longe lessons because they require a private lesson, but they are the safest way for beginners to start and they are the best way for riders to learn a strong position.
Riders who spend that initial time on the longe line, later progress much faster. Flags A'Flying beginner students are generally confident riders at the canter by their second semester of riding, other programs often take years to achieve this.
Typically riders will spend one semester on the longe line in private lessons. This time period may be longer for riders in early elementary school years. On the longe line they will learn different positions in the walk, trot and canter. During this semester they will also be learning how to tack up their school horse and care for it after the ride. For riders in 5th grade or below, parents will need to learn alongside their child about tacking/after care so parents can supervise their child once he or she graduates to doing this themselves.
After the rider is secure on the longe line and able to tack/care for their horse independently they can join group lessons. For group lessons the rider will spend the entire lesson riding and so will need to arrive 30 min early to tack their horse themselves and will need to do roughly 30 minutes of aftercare independently following the lesson. Generally for riders that are 8 years old or older, they will be able to start jumping late in their second semester of the program if they consistently attended their lessons. By their fifth semester most riders are jumping courses and ready to attend local competitions.
Riders will also have Horse Management lessons to attend. These are lessons about how to care for horses properly. Unlike other sports, you can't just put your equipment in the closet with riding. There is a lot to know about how to take care of your equine partner. Without this knowledge riders will never be able to care for a horse at a competition, properly take care of their horse after hard rides, or responsibly ever have a horse of their own. A few times a semester we will use our lesson time to learn horse management. For riders 10 years old and up, we ask they being a 3 ring binder to these Horse Management lessons and we give them printed notes to fill in. We test them over the knowledge and skills learned in HM lessons and certain skills have to be mastered before they can begin doing more advanced work in their riding.
Also, for riders in our two more advanced programs, we offer opportunities to learn further horse management skills outside of lesson time.