Schoolmasters are the riding instructors’ best tool available; however, I believe they are often used too early in a student’s career.
     Before I explain this theory I would like to show how I see a student progress from a new beginner to an advanced level. This will also demonstrate why many books have been written about the subject of teaching riding and it has still not been completely exhausted. The reason is simply that every student is different and therefore requires a different approach to teaching her. For the purpose of this writing we will look at the progress of a typical ten-year-old girl learning to ride. She will start on a school horse that has helped many young ladies before to get their “feet wet” in the saddle. Since so many different factors determine the amount of progress made by the student, I will not use time spent in the saddle, but her ability to decide when she is ready to move to the next phase of her trip to the advanced level. In this, the first step, the most important goals are to develop in the student confidence, a secure seat, and the most basic aids to control a horse.
     Phase two means much more work on the seat, refinement of the aids, and an improvement of confidence in the student so that she can now leave the arena and feel competent to deal with problems that might arise. Once this has been achieved, most school horses are no longer the best suited to continue the job. This is why I, at this point, recommend that the student purchase her “first horse.” Many times there is also the possibility of a lease horse to help the student fill the gap between the school horse and the schoolmaster . This horse must be well trained, sensitive to the aids and able to do the tasks expected of him. At the same time he must be tolerant enough to accept the mistakes this student will make without protest. Many students instead look for the schoolmaster. I believe for most of them, particularly the future pros, this is too early. The schoolmaster, usually a retired FEI horse, propels the student into a level of accomplishment that is undeserved and leaves holes in the student’s education that are difficult to fill later on. This “first horse” must help the instructor deepen the basics of riding in the student and also develop in her the skills and knowledge to improve impulsion, straightness and collection. Outside of her skills in riding this student has also matured physically and is now ready for “more horse.”
     To me this is the right time to find that special horse that will teach the student to feel correctness at the higher levels. Feel is the operative word here. Up to this point the student is riding mechanically and with a great deal of thought about every step of her ride. This part of her riding now must become automatic; the job of the subconscious mind. This means taking a giant step forward and requires a horse that can develop in its rider the knowledge of the correct feeling, especially for the movements of the upper levels. Let me repeat that this is a very special horse. It can not be too old and tired, nor too strong and inexperienced. It must be very well trained and willing to work even with minimal help from the rider. When a horse is this special, it is also very expensive. Furthermore, like any horse, it will want to return to its natural way of going; onto the forehand. Since it is the purpose of such a schoolmaster to bring the student up to its level of training and not to step down to the student’s level of experience, the student must at least be able to maintain in the horse a level of collection that allows the horse to do its work correctly. It also clearly shows the need for an experienced trainer to make sure the horse does not lose its skills. I like to compare such a rider to a cook who can only prepare a meal by following a recipe. The advanced rider controls her horse by feel, like a chef who creates his meals by taste.
     The point I have been trying to make here is that the ideal horse for a student to learn to ride on is not the best horse the student can afford but the best horse the student can ride. The reason why I am so adamant about it is that I am often looking for horses suited for my students and