NWTRC

Last friday I had my first day of volunteering at NorthWest Therapeutic Riding Center just off of Mt. Baker Hwy in Bellingham. I have been trying to volunteer at the center for a while now, but could not make it work because I didn't have a car and the buses don't go far enough down the highway. But, thankfully I have awesome parents who are letting me borrow a car so I can volunteer at NWTRC. Volunteering at NWTRC is a really big step forward for me to getting my teaching certification. Anyway, my first day was a blast! I had so much fun and I learned so much! When you have been around horses for as long as I have you sometimes think that you 'know-it-all'. Well, really I don't. And that is one reason that I am pursuing therapeutic riding, because it is something totally outside my realm of training and experience. I almost felt like I was starting all over from the beginning again. On top of learning how to work with the horses while they have riders on their back, I also got to see a little of the specialized equipment used in therapeutic riding. One thing I really really love about therapeutic recreation is that it is always a challenge. We have to figure out new forms of equipment and new ways to teach. It is always exciting!
For the next four weeks I will be out at NWTRC on friday afternoons after I am done with class, helping out with lessons and learning the basics. I'll try to keep this as updated as possible so everyone can see what I'm up too and all of the awesome things I am learning!

Summer in Review

At the beginning of the summer I was pretty intimidated by the process to get certified to become a therapeutic riding instructor. There are many components to becoming certified, and I wasn't sure if I could pull it off on my own or if my teaching skills would be good enough. However, after spending my whole summer teaching people of all ages and ability levels how to ride at Lang's Horse and Pony Farm I feel more than ready to take on the certification process, especially the teaching component. I spent hundreds of hours teaching individuals and groups sometimes larger than 10 people. I learned so much about how to work with large group lessons and how teach multiple levels of skill in one group so that everyone is learning and being challenged. It wasn't always easy, but I only learned more from those experiences. The summer is over now, but teaching lessons is not. I will continue to teach lessons once a week at Lang's through the winter. I am really excited to get some really consistent students that I can work with regularly and really build their riding skill level!
Keep checking back for more updates on what I'm up too!