THE GAITACADEMY INSTRUCTOR PROGRAMME

Teaching the part of riding that can't simply be told.
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Good teaching has a structure: how to organise a lesson, keep riders safe and explain an exercise clearly. Whether you already hold a qualification or are on your way to one, that structure matters, and this programme builds on it.

But the things a rider most needs to learn, such as feel, timing and the connection with the horse underneath, can't be handed over as instructions. They have to become noticeable to the rider, under the right conditions and in the right order. That is a didactical skill of its own, and it is rarely taught.

The GaitAcademy Instructor Programme works on that deeper layer: how the horse learns, how the rider learns, and how the two interact. It covers how to build the conditions where the right thing becomes something the rider can feel for themselves.

It complements an instructor qualification, whether you already hold one or are working towards one. It doesn't replace it.

The Instructor Programme runs as an addition alongside the Experience Course. You go through the rider education yourself, and the instructor layer is built on top of it, because you can't teach from the inside out what you haven't gone through from the inside out.

It is for qualified instructors, and for experienced riders with a sound foundation who want to teach.

A small pilot group is being considered for this winter. Join the waitlist and you'll be the first to hear whether it goes ahead, and by joining, you help decide whether it does.

Developed by Bent Rune Skulevold, who designed and ran the Norwegian Icelandic Horse Association's instructor education from around 1996 to 2004. Ten of its graduates went on to reach FEIF level III.