Seven Oaks Farm Dressage, lessons for beginners

Seven Oaks : beginners and returning riders

At the bottom of this page are links to several videos that may help you get a head-start on the skills that you need to join group lessons.

FROM BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE RIDER AT SEVEN OAKS FARM (and for anyone who has been away from horses long enough to need reminders about horsemanship tasks):

Beginner/returning rider lessons generally include both grooming/tacking and riding and last 45 minutes.

Groom/Tack lessons teach students to get their own horse ready to ride:
halter, lead and cross-tie
groom
pick out feet
recognize a sprung shoe
recognize/notice wounds, swellings or other abnormalities on the horse, if any
saddle
apply fly spray
bridle

and to put their horse and tack away after the ride:
unbridle and put the halter back on
unsaddle
wipe the horse down
return the horse to the stall
clean tack

Riding lessons teach students to (on the lungeline):
mount, dismount, do an emergency dismount,
practice an emergency stop from the walk
balance correctly in the saddle at the walk
do an emergency stop from the walk
do hands-free exercises at the walk
learn the mechanics of posting at the walk
learn to post at the trot on the lunge with a neck strap
do an emergency stop from the trot
learn to post at the trot hands-free
post at the trot with no stirrups and hands-free
learn the mechanics of holding the reins
learn to steer usings legs and hands
learn to bend using legs and hands
learn to coordinate legs, "seat" and hands

and off the lungeline:
steer through a cone pattern at the walk
bend and straighten the horse at the walk
do walk-trot transitions
trot through a cone pattern
bend and straighten the horse at the trot

gradually learn all of the skills to join group lessons:

what to wear? click here for attire

Videos that may help you get started:

If you would like to see the videos on this page, please contact Pam for permission (text 415-860-2886 or email pam@sevenoaksfarm.com

Seven Oaks Farm videos are intended to be learning tools for current Seven Oaks students. They are unscripted and unedited: brief glimpses of the effort that goes into the finished product that most dressage videos display. The instructions that can be heard, the choice of words, and even the tone of voice are all specific to a particular rider, horse and situation. Feel free to watch and enjoy them, but please remember that these videos show our horses, our students and our trainers at doing the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.

Mount (trainer)
Mount (student)
Standard dismount (trainer)
Standard dismount (student)
Flying dismount (trainer)
Flying dismount (student)
Emergency dismount (trainer)
Around the world (trainer)
Around the world (student)