09/04/2026
One of the hardest parts of teaching riding lessons is knowing when to let a student move on to the next skill. Sometimes the rider is eager to canter, jump higher, drop the stirrups, ride a more challenging horse, or move into a more advanced group but being able to perform a skill once doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready to progress from it.
Here are a few red flags I look for...
- They can only perform the skill with constant reminders. If you stop coaching every few seconds and the skill immediately disappears, it probably isn’t established yet.
- Their position falls apart as soon as you add difficulty. A rider may look secure on the rail, but lose their leg, balance, or upper body control when you add transitions, poles, figures, or a less automatic horse.
- They rely heavily on the horse to make the exercise work. A very experienced school horse can make a rider appear more independent than they actually are.
- They can do it on one horse but not on another appropriate horse. Riders don’t need to ride every horse the same way but some transfer of the skill should be happening.
- They’re completing the exercise without understanding what they’re doing. Following instructions is different from understanding the purpose of the aids and recognizing when something needs to change.
- They can’t identify or correct their own mistakes yet. As riders progress, we should gradually see more self correction instead of every adjustment coming from the instructor.
- Increasing the difficulty causes all of the foundational skills to disappear. If adding speed, height, complexity, or independence causes everything underneath it to unravel, the foundation probably needs more time.
That doesn’t mean the rider has to be perfect before learning anything new. Progression is part of learning and sometimes introducing the next skill actually helps the previous one make more sense but there’s a difference between challenging a rider appropriately and moving them ahead before they have enough foundation to succeed.
Sometimes the best thing we can do for a student is make the level they’re already riding at more interesting, more challenging, and more productive instead of automatically moving on to the next thing.
What’s one sign that tells you a rider isn’t quite ready to move up yet?
