DWR Dressage

Thank you to Maple Dell Ranch, all the volunteers, Martha, Mark and Greystone Dressage for putting together another fantastic show. It was a super fun day full of firsts on many levels, goals short and long term accomplished, many awards and ribbons and most importantly, a group of women supporting and cheering each other on in a way you are reminded of what a team and community are all about. Congratulations to Holly Moyers, Anne Dottore, Jacqueline Hollandsworth, Kelsey Richey, and Mary Termer. I am so privileged to be part of your riding journey!! Well done!

As riding instructors we spend a lot of time managing the gap between what new students expect riding to be and what it actually is. Most of that gap could be narrowed significantly with one honest conversation before the first lesson ever happens. So here is everything I wish every new student and every new riding family walked in already knowing...

1. Riding is harder than it looks
This is the one that surprises people most. Watching a good rider looks effortless but it is not effortless. It is years of muscle memory, feel, balance, and body awareness built through consistent work over a long time. Your first lessons will feel awkward and uncoordinated and that is completely normal. Every rider you have ever admired felt exactly the way you feel right now when they were starting out.

2. The horse is not a bicycle
It is a living animal with its own personality, its own opinions, and its own good days and bad days. It does not always do what you ask the first time and that is not always your fault but it is always your responsibility to figure out the communication. Learning to work with a horse rather than on top of one is one of the most valuable things riding teaches and it starts from the very first lesson.

3. Progress is not linear
Some weeks you will feel like you have jumped forward three levels. Other weeks you will feel like you have forgotten everything you learned last month. Both are completely normal parts of learning to ride. The students who improve consistently are not the ones who never have bad lessons but they are the ones who show up anyway and keep working through the frustrating ones.

4. One lesson a week is a start but not a program
A single lesson per week gives you exposure to riding. Two lessons per week builds skill significantly faster. The riders who progress quickest are the ones who ride consistently and frequently enough that their muscles and nervous system have time to develop real memory around what correct feels like. If budget allows for more than one lesson per week it is worth it.

5. Your position will feel wrong before it feels right
Correct position in the saddle feels deeply unnatural to most people at first. Heels down feels like you are pushing your foot through the floor. Sitting tall feels like you are leaning back. An independent hand feels like you are doing nothing. Trust the process and trust your instructor. The things that feel strange now become automatic eventually but only if you commit to doing them correctly rather than defaulting back to what feels comfortable.

6. The time around the lesson matters as much as the lesson itself
Grooming your horse before you ride. Learning to tack up correctly. Understanding how to read your horse's body language in the cross ties. This is not the boring part before the real lesson begins. This is horsemanship and it makes you a better rider than an hour in the saddle alone ever will.

7. Bad rides happen to every rider at every level
Including the ones you look up to most. A bad lesson does not mean you are not cut out for this, it just means you are learning something hard and doing it on the back of a living animal that is also having a day. Come back next week and it will be different.
Your instructor is on your side.

8. Every correction we give is in service of your progress and your safety
We are not pointing out what is wrong to make you feel bad but we are pointing out what needs to change so you can get where you want to go faster and more safely. The students who improve fastest are the ones who hear a correction as information rather than criticism and apply it without taking it personally.

9. Riding changes you in ways you will not expect
The patience it builds, the confidence that comes from communicating with an animal ten times your size and being understood. The resilience that develops from falling short of a goal and coming back for it anyway. The community you find at the barn. None of that shows up in the first lesson or even the tenth but it will show up at one point. For most riders it becomes one of the most significant things in their life and not just what they do on Tuesday afternoons but part of who they are.

If you are a riding instructor share this with every new family who walks through your gate. If you are a new student or a parent of one - welcome. You picked something genuinely worth doing!

What do you wish someone had told you before your very first riding lesson?

Be 𝓗𝓮𝓻 🖤🐴

Super fun weekend with Mary Termer and her partner Finn. Congratulations on such a great show to open your 2026 season. All qualified for Regional Championships and you again broke the 70% line and expanded your snacking palate!!

Remember your coach or instructor is your biggest fan but these points below are things I believe everyone should know:

1. This sport is tough.
There’s no shortcut around the hard parts, every skilled rider has gone through them. Progress comes in waves: you improve, plateau, and then improve again. Your instructor can guide you, but they can’t make it easy, it wouldn’t be fun if it was easy!

2. You won’t always have a great ride.
Every situation has something to teach you, if you’re open to it. The more willing you are to learn, the more each ride will benefit you. If you let it.

3. Being teachable is essential.
Success in riding (and anything, really) depends on the willingness to learn. That often means revisiting the basics over and over. If basics feel boring, try seeing them as opportunities to refine and grow.

4. This sport requires commitment.
Really, read that again. Riding isn’t occasional; it’s consistent effort. Your partner is a big animal that communicates differently than you do. Progress comes from making riding a priority and showing up to practice, through bad weather, early morni by an and late nights.

5. Every ride matters.
Even the easy ones. Even the frustrating ones. Every single ride is a chance to learn. Remember when you were just excited to sit on a horse? Hold onto that feeling. If you focus only on what you’re not doing, you lose the joy, for yourself, your horse, and your instructor.

6. It should still be enjoyable.
Riding is work, and work isn’t always fun but it shouldn’t feel like a constant chore. If you dread lessons or would rather be elsewhere, it might be time for a break. Horses can sense your mindset, and showing up disengaged sets everyone up for a tough ride.

7. Learning happens on the ground, too.
In fact, some of the most important lessons do. Grooming, handling, and understanding horses from the ground are essential skills. Skipping these means missing a huge part of your horse’s trust.

8. Ask questions and communicate.
If you don’t understand why you’re doing something, ask. A good instructor will explain and a good student will listen and apply what they hear.

9. Remember we’re human, too.
Instructors juggle many responsibilities, from managing horses to making important daily decisions. A little patience and respect go a long way. Most importantly too remember we have our own struggles too, life affects everyone.

Riding instructors and coaches dedicate so much of their time, energy, and money to improving their craft and investigating themselves in your progression.

They love what they do but they also know: becoming a good rider is a journey, and it’s not an easy one.

Forget the Elf on the Shelf! Have you heard of the Bay in the Hay? Can you keep it going? Add yours to comments…