Mariways we roll along!

My Teaching Philosophy

I have found that kids can learn many very valuable life lessons from riding and showing horses.

Someone once said, "there is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." I like to say that I am using horses as a tool to teach children perseverance, self-confidence, and responsibility.

I believe in accentuating the positive. I find it is often more useful to know what is right, than what is wrong. I have found that regardless of the level of natural talent and ability, if riders will just keep at it they will succeed! I have had many riders over the years who have overcome a lower level of natural talent to become very big successes in the show ring simply by never giving up, by continuing to strive and to learn and to improve their skills. I like to develop RESILIENT kids who just keep going at it regardless of setbacks or defeats. I believe that those skills will see them through life happily. We all experience many difficulties and setbacks in school, sports, college, and jobs, and I think the skills learned at the stable are a huge help seeing our children through those setbacks.

I like to supervise my students and instruct them, but at the same time to allow them to learn by practice and by experience. I like to develop well-rounded students who know their way around a horse, who can groom and tack their own horse, who know how to care for a horse, and especially how to work around the horses SAFELY. I am positively adamant about safety. I like to progress my riders at a slow and steady rate so that the learning and the basic skills are rock-solid. As a result, many of my students are now professional trainers and instructors at many of the most prestigious stables across the country.

Annalisa specializes in timid riders and riders recovering from a bad experience.

Read some unsolicited testimonials from Annalisa's students.

Email Annalisa at mariways @ gmail.com

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