Revisiting Enrichment

By Christine Olsen

Christine Olsen and friend. Photo courtesy of the author.

I’m confident we can all agree this has been one heck of a year.

Burnout is real, and this is not unique for riding instructors. We are all subject to it, including our students. When lessons resumed and riders returned to the barn, it was easy to see their initial excitement, but over time this excitement may have seemed to fade. This left me scratching my head. What I came to discover was even though they were happy to be back in the saddle, there was still so much they were missing.

I took a look back at what I wrote last year for the Fall issue of Riding Instructor magazine, Avoiding Burnout with Equine Enrichment. I thought it would be fun to revisit the topic of enrichment, but this time with the emphasis on students.

What Types of Enrichment Can You Provide for Your Students? As covered before, enrichment is the improvement of something. We enrich our lives by social interactions, such as decorating our house, going out to dinner for a nice meal, going to concerts, and taking vacations. The Covid pandemic has put many of us on lock down (or maybe we like the term ‘stall rest’) which prevents us from many enrichment opportunities. Our social interactions have been limited, traveling is restricted, and our budgets have been hit hard for life’s ‘extras’. The removal of these enrichments will eventually affect our mental and physical health. Luckily we have found ways to connect virtually, and people everywhere are discovering ways to continue to connect and enrich our lives in a safe way.

Guidelines and restrictions vary state to state. Some stables may have little to no restrictions while others may still be on total shutdown to students as I write this. Keep in mind the core needs of your students haven’t changed, just because the times have. While it may have been unavoidable to take

some activities away such as grooming, student helpers, camps, group lessons and social barn events, creative enrichment can help fill the gaps.

Forms of enrichment can be broken down in many ways. I will break it down to three main categories for simplicity: social, physical, and cognitive.

Social Enrichment Just like our horses, we are social and have social needs. For many, time at the barn is not only horse time but it is time with ‘our people’. Individual appointments and limited number of people at the barn means a disruption in the social structure that does not fill the social need.

This may be especially important for riders in group lessons or members of a riding team. Without diving into detail about group communication and social structure (a textbook of information and theory), as we form groups we also assume roles. Think about your own role in your social groups (your family, friends in high school, at work, other activities). That role gives you enrichment, giving you a task to do that is unique. This can also be viewed as identity, and the loss of barn identity can be crushing.

Not all hope is lost! Social enrichment can be provided. Old school message boards and letters in the tack room can be a fun way for friends to communicate. A message left at the farm keeps it a farm, just like their social interaction would be. The world is on Zoom, and so can you! Have your groups or teams meet up on Zoom or another virtual platform to catch up together.

Try this: Assign a pattern for your riders to work on in their individual lessons, with a test date set for each of them to have the pattern completed. On the test date, video each rider's pattern. Schedule a virtual group lesson and play each rider's pattern. Allow each student to comment on the rides, assisting in the feedback. Physical Enrichment Another one of our many needs is the need to move. Addressing physical enrichment is especially important while we are spending more time at home and being less active. Movement is not only good for our body (“Motion is lotion”, say many physical therapists), but it is also good for our brain.

Horseback riding is physically enriching. The initial shutdown removed this activity for many and it may still be limited to some riders. A student who was once used to riding a few days a week, and is now limited to riding once a week or less, may feel weaker, out of balance, and discouraged. Not to mention, many of us have gained ‘covid weight’ due to lack of movement and stress eating. This new body can take some time to get used to. These reasons may shake a rider’s confidence. While more saddle time still might not be an option, outside physical activity can be supplemented.

Luckily there are several cross-training activities that not only provide great overall exercise, but can help improve time in the saddle. Many rider-specific exercises have been shared online during the lockdown, as well as a number of excellent books that go into great detail about rider specific programs.

Try this: Assign your riders to track their activities. Write them in a journal to share with you, to show that you will help to keep them accountable. Next to each activity they should write how it helps their riding. Allow them to be creative. For example, a rider could say a walk around her neighborhood helps with her endurance, while another might say that when she went grocery shopping she carried her bags to the car evenly in either hand to work on balance and symmetry.

Cognitive Enrichment The last form of enrichment for riders I will cover is cognitive, which essentially means learning new things. If our riders always rode the same lesson, over and over again, they would get bored very quickly. I was relieved to see many organizations stepped up to the plate offering online learning opportunities during the shutdown. I can’t think of a better way to make lemonade out of lemons.

The safety and sanitation of tools and areas, as well as compliance with local guidelines, can be more of a challenge in some areas. Several barn activities and grooming experiences have changed to keep our riders and staff safe. For some this may look like limited time in the barn or complete removal from barn time. The question becomes: How can we teach when our tools are off limits?

Don’t lose track that learning is learning. Keep your lessons thought provoking and engaging. Add math and problem solving to your patterns. While time in the saddle is often focusing on the physical rider, we must also develop the mental rider - a rider who can concentrate, stay focused, and multitask.

Try this: The internet is full of coloring pages and worksheets. Use these worksheets to help your riders learn colors, breeds, and markings. You can test them by asking them to describe the color and markings on your lesson horses.

Don’t Forget While working on your students and their needs, don’t forget your own. How can you find enrichment in your daily life? Connect with your people outside of work, increase your activity, and learn something new. Find the time, find the ways, and share them with your friends. We are in challenging times, but together we will prevail.

About the author: Christine Olsen has 15 years of experience in the industry as a rider, trainer, clinician and instructor. She provides mobile coaching services through Northern Illinois and enjoys sharing her passion for horses with her students.