08/14/2026
I have taught a lot of riders over a lot of years. Talented ones who plateaued because they stopped being open to correction. Struggling ones who improved faster than anyone expected because they showed up every single week ready to try something different. Riding ability matters but YOUR attitude matters more.
Here is what being a teachable rider actually looks like in practice...
1. Show up ready to learn, not ready to perform.
There is a difference between a student who comes to a lesson wanting to look good and one who comes wanting to get better. The first one hears a correction and gets defensive. The second one hears a correction and tries it. One of those riders improves every week. The other one comes back for years without moving forward and never quite understands why.
2. Empty your cup before you arrive.
If you are coming to your lesson with your previous trainer's voice in your head, a bad day at work sitting on your shoulders, or a conviction that you already know how to do the thing I am about to teach you then there is no room for anything new to get in. Leave it in the car. Leave it at the gate. Whatever happened before you got on the horse is not useful to you in the saddle right now. What is useful is being present, open, and genuinely curious about what this lesson has to offer.
3. Be slow to react and quick to listen.
When I give a correction, the instinct for a lot of riders is to immediately explain why they did what they did "I know my hands are stiff because I am nervous". Probably true but also not the point. Listen first, try it first, and then ask questions after. The explanation of why something went wrong is almost always less useful than the experience of what happens when you change it.
4. Be willing to go backwards to go forward.
Some of the most important lessons I have ever taught happened when we put something down and went back to a simpler version of it. A rider who is willing to go back to trot poles when their jumping falls apart gets their jumping back faster than one who insists on keeping the fence up. Progress is not always a straight line and the riders who understand that are the ones who make it furthest in the long run.
5. Bring your effort even on the days you do not feel it.
You will have lessons where nothing clicks. Where your body is stiff or you and your horse are just not cohesive as usual and the exercise that worked last week feels completely foreign today. Those lessons are not wasted, they are just part of the process. Show up anyway and give it a try. The riders who push through the bad days without giving up on themselves are the ones still riding ten years from now.
6. Your instructor is on your side.
Every correction I give comes from one place... I want you to ride better. Not because it reflects on me but because I genuinely care about your progress and I can see what is possible for you even when you cannot see it yourself. Let that land and trust the process. The lessons that feel the most frustrating are almost always the ones right before something clicks.
The most talented rider in the arena is not always the one who improves the most, it is the most teachable one! So be that rider. Your horse will thank you and so will your instructor.
What is the most important thing you have ever learned about being a good student of riding?
