A child’s first riding lessons can be repetitive, boring, and completely exhausting for the teacher. Once you get into the arena it’s easy to run out of ideas of what to do. Here are some of my go-to lesson plans for complete beginners:

To build confidence: Follow the leader

Most lesson ponies want to follow you anyways, so you can take advantage of this. I do this without stirrups to make this a balance exercise as well. I ask the rider to halt and walk on so she has to use her voice aids or gentle leg aids to get the pony moving again. I usually let the rider have really long reins and she “steers” without pulling on the pony’s mouth too much. I then make the rider keep the pony between me and the wall of the arena, and we walk around the arena with frequent halts.

To increase balance: Longe lessons

You can do this with or without stirrups, but know you will make more progress without stirrups. Make sure to pick a horse or pony that you have longed several times before, and you know well. The student may hold onto the horn or pommel with her outside hand to start, and her inside hand either loosely holding the reins or at her thigh. Once the student is comfortable on the longe line, ask her to hold her arms above her head, out to her sides (airplane arms), reach forward and tough the mane without moving her legs, lean back without moving her legs, twist her upper body from right to left, and anything else you can think of. The longe line is also a great place for students to learn the posting trot.

To develop skills: Obstacle course

Have the student steer their horse or pony between cones, over poles, between barrels, grab an item off one barrel and drop it on another barrel, etc. Obstacle courses are a great option for group lessons, too, and as an activity during a summer camp.