Riding Better-Without A Trainer

Riding Without A Trainer

I do not have a trainer. I would love to have one, but I don’t know of any that would come to my home, (probably because I haven’t looked) and I do not have a ‘legal’ trailer or the experience to transport my horses to a trainer. So my typical riding sessions used to be me wandering around in circles for about 20 minutes or so. But riding without a trainer doesn’t have to be endless circles with no direction.

I have taken riding lessons before, but one thing that I have always found when riding with a trainer is I don’t really get out of it what I think I should. I don’t hear very well, so having someone telling me instructions gets a little jumbled. And it’s as if the words get mixed up on the way out of my brain to the portions of my body that I am supposed to be focusing on. I know, it’s confusing. And that is how it feels to me when someone is trying to tell me what to do while I am riding.

But I have found an option to this which seems to be working really well for me, and maybe it could for you too.

Recording My Riding Session

Since I make videos for YouTube to share with the world, some of those videos show me riding my horses. And at first I had my husband record me, but I found that he would get bored, or the camera would not stay centered on me riding, or cut off the top of the horse’s head, and well, you get the idea. It was a good jumping off point, but it needed work.

After several times of doing this, I didn’t want to bother him with this chore, so I decided to put my camera on a tripod to see how well I could film myself riding. After a slight trial and error, I was very happy with the results! I could ride for at least 30 minutes, and then after my riding I could review what I looked like, and how my horse looked too.

For me, this was far more useful than having someone yelling at me from across the arena! I could watch the video over and over again, and focus on different areas. I would watch my posture, my hips, my heels, hands, Frisby’s head and way of moving. I could see what I was doing wrong, as well as when I would do something right.

And after I go inside after my “riding lesson” I watch the video. And then I see what I am doing wrong, and can correct it in my next lesson. This has helped me to improve my riding in a very short period of time. Little things like looking down, or how I am holding my arms. I can’t see these things while I am riding, but they are very evident with the camera.

Setting Up The Camera

Getting everything set up and ready to go did take some practice. I bought a heavy duty tripod for my camera. And it does really well, even when it is windy. Then I had to figure out the best place to set it up. This took a few times to get right, but after a few trials, I now can set up the camera in a general area to get a good overview of the arena, and my riding.

For my set up, I got the tripod from Amazon, and my camera too. The camera I am using is a Canon 70D. It is a little expensive, but I use it for creating my YouTube videos, so it was money well spent. If you are looking for a fantastic camera for photos as well as making videos, I would strongly encourage you to consider this camera. The video it creates is the best. But the best part of the camera is the flip out LCD screen, so you can see what you are filming. I never flip out the screen while I am filming myself riding, but I always do when making videos where I am talking. Because I want to be sure to have myself in frame.

The lens that I am using right now is just the kit lens that came with the camera, and 18mm-55mm. It’s just a standard lens, and eventually I will upgrade the glass. But for now, this lens works just fine.

Video Camera Riding Instructor

I never really knew what I looked like riding. I had people tell me what I looked like. And I could feel when I would do something correctly how my horse would respond. But for me, seeing what I actually look like and being able to analyze it has been more helpful to me than a riding coach.

Some may argue that without a coach I won’t have someone to tell me what to change in that moment I am doing it wrong. And they would be right. However, even with the coach, I can’t figure out what I need to do. I need to physically SEE what I am doing in order to change it.

This may not work for everyone, but it works better for me than if I had a trainer, well at least for now it does. Who knows where I will be a year from now. Maybe I will be riding with a trainer, or maybe I will keep using my camera trainer!

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