What a Feeling! Teaching Kinesthetic Learners

Have you, as a rider, ever felt stuck when trying to learn something?  Then, one day you miraculously understand how that something is supposed to feel, and all of a sudden you’re better able to replicate it?  Or, if you’re a trainer – have you ever had a student who struggles with, say, keeping his lower leg on the horse? And then, you play the “dollar bill game” one day, and all of a sudden he understands where his leg needs to be?  Of course – a breakthrough like this doesn’t instantly mean that the #positiongoals are achieved.  But what is important to note is that in both of these instances, replicating whatever is being taught in a tactile way gave the riders a physical understanding how to practice and therefore create muscle memory.

 (Side note: My last two blog posts have accidentally incorporated song titles or lyrics.  Should this be a thing from now on?!)

I’m all about teaching according to clients’ different learning styles.  This is something that is not often discussed amongst professionals – the fact that different individuals learn in different ways.  And when it is discussed, we talk a lot about visual learners (those who learn by watching) and auditory learners (those who learn by listening), and occasionally verbal learners (those who learn by writing and by verbally processing), but we don’t talk a lot about kinesthetic learners (those who learn by feeling and doing).

 When it comes to something like riding, most of us learn through repetition, so to some degree, we’re all kinesthetic learners.  That said, those whose primary style of learning is more tactile sometimes struggle with translating what they see they’re supposed to be doing or what they hear their trainer telling them to do into the actual execution of said task.  But often in these cases, the creative use of a training aid to help them put their body into the correct position can be a game changer.  

 One of the most well-known examples of this is EquiFit’s Shoulder’s Back device, which helps riders get used to the feeling of keeping the shoulders – well, for lack of a better word – down and back.  Where an auditory learner might respond to the verbal cue to, “sit up straight” or a visual learner might see a video of himself with rounded shoulders and make an adjustment to his position based off of that, kinesthetic learners might have trouble connecting the dots until they’re made aware of what the correct position feels like.  Tools like this are helpful in the sense that they are quick to remind riders (in the form of pressure from the elastic bands) the second their shoulders start to come forward.  This prompts the rider to make an adjustment to sit up straight, and bring the shoulders down and back on his or her own, thus relieving the pressure from the device, and over time building up muscle memory for the correct position.

 Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities to use a kinesthetic approach to teaching is when teaching riders to follow the horse’s mouth.  There are so many ways to help a rider physically understand this sensation.  One of the oldest tricks – having riders grip their reins like a driving rein – makes it harder to have tension through the arm and essentially forces the rider to follow the mouth.  The idea being, that once riders understand that sensation, they can work on replicating it once they return to holding their reins in a normal fashion.  Other examples of kinesthetic tools and tricks that can help with a following arm are:

1)    Holding the hands wide to make it harder to brace against the horse’s mouth (this is helpful for teaching an automatic release, as well.)

2)    Using twine for reins (with the real leather reins still attached to the bit and tied in a knot for safety) to help encourage light, consistent contact.

3)    Using elastic reins to help encourage elastic contact.

4)    Holding a stick or whip in both hands perpendicular to the neck to encourage the rider to carry his hands while following the horse’s mouth.

I’m sure there are many other tools that I am not thinking of at the moment, too.  But you get the idea.  Tactics like these can be super helpful when a student is “stuck” and having trouble making a breakthrough.  There can be many reasons for this, but sometimes that’s simply because we as trainers aren’t teaching the way in which the student best understands.  This can be tough for us, too, because we so desperately want for our students to succeed!  However, I believe this presents trainers with an opportunity to get creative.  If a rider is struggling with your verbal and visual instruction, see if there’s a way to help her physically create your desired result so she can understand what it’s supposed to feel like. 

It also presents riders with an opportunity in the sense that each individual can take ownership of his riding education by determining the way in which he learns best.  If you determine that you might be a tactile learner, this opens up the door for a productive conversation with your trainer on the ways in which we can help you to learn the best.  Ask your trainer if he or she has any ideas on ways to create a bodily understanding of whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.  Awareness is the first part of creating change.  Once we’re cognizant of what we need to change, and have an understanding of what it feels like when it’s right, we can begin to work on creating that muscle memory to sustain that change.

 Any other ideas for tactile learners or kinesthetic teaching aids?  Leave a comment!