Insights & Tips

BECOME A LEARNING MACHINE

Top hunter/jumper trainer Kip Rosenthal on how to make the most of your lessons.

Here is Kip Rosenthal’s “multisensory” approach for riders who want to learn well and quickly.

• Listen carefully during your lessons. Don’t question each directive: just do it. Let your instructor “stretch” you a little.

• Watch and learn from others and from yourself. Audit the lessons that come before and after yours whenever you can and observe as the other riders in your own group receive instruction. Videotape your lesson and review the tape often.

• Feel the learning. Don’t just think about what your instructor says. Concentrate on how the feeling changes as you do what you’re told.

• Write it down. Keep a journal of your progress. Record what you’ve learned after each lesson and go over your jottings with your instructor every so often. If, after 3 months, you discover you’re still writing down the same problems, an adjustment may be needed.

• Read relevant books and articles. Ask your instructor for recommendations, and then read as much as you can to reinforce the content of your lessons.