Ah, the joys of teaching.

Some of you might find the title of this post a bit funny, as some days it should read the "woes of teaching." However, today, or this week had been a great week for me as a riding instructor.

To begin with, my youngest student went to a horse show and finally got the best Dressage score that she's ever gotten. I know several of you don't know what Dressage is so here's a link: http://www.classicaldressage.com/photos/shanaritter.html There's lots of pictures there to see. Anyway, this is what I specialize in and it is the hardest thing to do with a horse, lots of hours of practice and not very scintillating most of the time. So, this student, who's 12 yrs old, has been struggling with getting this right. She went off to a show this weekend and got first place in her Dressage test! Awesome! She was so excited that they called me as soon as they saw the score.

Next, my newest student got the most improved award for the month. When I first showed up to teach her, she was riding so incorrectly I wasn't sure where to start. I also got on the horse and was a bit concerned as to how well he would ever do. After 4 lessons, yes FOUR lessons, the two of them are a whole new couple! She looks great and has gotten better and better. Today I got on the horse to see how he was doing and he was unrecognizable as the same horse from 4 lessons ago. He was so willing and easy. YEAH, double yeah!

Lastly, about two weeks ago, my most experienced student, who is an instructor herself, took her "problem" horse, which I love, to a horse show and also got the LOWEST dressage score she had ever gotten and blew away the competition. Her problem horse has also become a totally different horse in a very short time.

Having my students do so well is the most affirming experience I've ever had with teaching. In Colorado, most of my students didn't show too much so this is a new experience for me. I Like it! Yes, I can see the progress of each of them in lessons, but when they go out and compete and a judge tells them they are riding better than other folks, well that just feels amazing.

I will have to take some pictures of these super stars and put them up here on the blog so you all can see them.