Please browse through our Amazon shops at Kids Horsin' Around for riding helmets, pants, boots and gloves.
There is also a wide selection of books and DVDs about horses, everything hand picked for riders and their parents of Kids Horsin' Around!
Keep checking back for new merchandise!
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Mind Gym
"Ninety percent of the game is half mental." - Yogi Berra
Besides benefiting the different learning styles, watching movies depicting good riders or reading books to help clarify understanding improves your "saddle time" when you use them to help you visualize, in your mind's eye, how you want to be riding!!
There are several good books that address this issue of training your brain being as important as training your body.
Two by equestrian Olympiad Jane Savoie,
"That Winning Feeling: Program Your Mind for Peak Performance" and
"It's Not Just About the Ribbons: It's About Enriching Riding (and Life) with a Winning Attitude".
And, by Gary Mack, a leading sports psychology consultant and counselor, "Mind Gym".
All three are great books that apply to all aspect of living life to the fullest and improving your riding!
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"To be an equestrian in the classical sense is not just to be a rider. It is a position in life." - Charles de Kunffy
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Why Shop Kids Horsin' Around?
Recently, I gave a young student rider a DVD to take home and watch.
It was a non-fiction movie that followed a two time national pony grand champion rider and pony as they prepared for a horse show. It showed, in a kid friendly format, the commitment involved in training for competitions, the time and effort required for lessons, the experiences of barn life and the responsibilities of caring for a pony.
In her lesson that followed, this young student rider's ability had changed remarkably. Her position had moved into one of more balance and alignment. She had improved so much from just watching the good form of the rider in the DVD!! Even her mother, who watched the lesson, remarked on the difference she noticed in her daughter's form.
This incident reminded me that, in order to teach as effectively as possible, a riding instructor needs to understand that every student has learning preferences, or ways in which they learn best. When each lesson is planned to appeal to a student's learning style, that student will be more likely to learn and progress.
This student was a "visual learner" and is able to process information best by what she saw. She then came to class with a much better understanding of what she was being asked to do! Violà!!! It worked like a charm!
There are also "audio learners" who retain information best by what they hear, and "kinesthetic learners" benefit the most from doing the activity. Many students are a combination of the three types of learners. In group lessons, the riding instructor will appeal to each student by teaching to all three learning types in every class.
As the above story illustrates, it's also very beneficial for riders to supplement their "saddle time" with books and DVDs to continually improve their riding. Kids Horsin' Around loans out many books and DVDs to student riders and volunteers and will continue to do so, believing in it's enormous benefits. However, if you would like to purchase materials for your own growing equestrian libraries, the selections here have been hand-picked for you and are offered through Amazon.com.
Enjoy browsing!
By the way, the movie mentioned above is "A Young American Rider" and is unfortunately out of print. You can, however, still buy used copies - look for it under DVDs.
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| Want to learn more about learning styles? |
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What is your learning style?
VARK (Visual-Aural-Read/Write-Kinesthetics) is a method that was developed to identify learning styles and thus, make learning easier and more enjoyable for all people. The VARK questionnaire provides users with a profile of their learning preferences. These preferences are about the ways that they want to take-in and give-out information. Take the VARK questionnaire: "How do I learn best?" at www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire
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There's a large selection of riding apparel available, too. Helmets and sturdy boots with a heel are required for riding, so purchasing your own is a worthwhile investment for the serious rider.
Thinking of showing? Check out riding breeches, shirts and jackets.
The Silver Spurs Open Schooling Show at Fallbrook Riders Field is April 19th and I know several Kids Horsin' Around riders are ready to go!
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