Welcome to Gaia! ::

So I have just started lessons again after a year and a half (involuntary) break, and my new instructor is great, I really like her, but I am not sure what I think of her school of thought of teaching, called centered riding. I love how much more gentle to the horse it is than some others I've tried, but I think that it may be impractical, as it seems too hippie-dippie and fluffy for daily riding. It seems that, unless you have a horse who is perfectly trained for centered riding, you could easily lose control and be thrown or have the horse bolt.

So my questions for you are: What is your general opinion of Centered Riding? Is it enough to learn that style? Or, should a young rider who is looking to own her own horses learn other methods? Is it good because of how it values the horse? Or should more traditional styles be applied?

Any input would be great, and I do plan on talking to my current instructor, and other riders and trainers I know.

My riding instructor swears by centered riding. She was lucky enough to work with Sally Swift a couple of times. 3nodding
So we get a lot of centered riding concepts in our lessons.

The stuff I've learned from it was beneficial and informative. I've learned a lot, and the instructor I have now is probably the best I've ever had. She explains how and why riding works. But she doesn't only go by centered riding. She builds on more traditional riding--what we've learned and have been learning--with what she knows about centered riding. best of both worlds.

I don't know enough about centered riding to have an opinion on it, but all of the centered riding I've been taught can be used on any horse I've ridden, without me feeling unsafe or in danger. I've never met a horse that's trained for it.
I think it's good to try different styles of riding, because you learn more. From what I understand, I like centered riding. That doesn't mean everyone will.

But hey, different strokes, right? Just find what style works best for you and the horse you're on. 3nodding

what's centered riding?

to be honest ive never heard of it

I've read both Centered Riding 1 and 2, i loved the book, it really depends I think on the type of riding you like or are going to do. Some poeple ask me why I do, natural horsemanship other than traditional, really i think it depends on the horse, Cookie was in some sort of natural horsemanship so i continued in a similar method, but it doesn't mean i don't like traditional , i love it also, i love to try new things. Centered riding is just another method of training, and i use *some* of it in daily lessons. *Soft eyes ^.^* I hope that said...err, something and helped, a little and i didn't mess up. sweatdrop

I also have never heard of it before, and every single person in this thread who has mentioned knowing something about it has not described a thing about its principles. Could we non-knowing people please get a rundown of the basics involved so we know what you're talking about? sweatdrop I did a quick search on it, but all I could really find was sites saying "Well, this person invented it and it's awesome and makes the horse happy and rider awesome! And she's sold lots of her book, so she must be good! Buy the book!" Not overly informative. razz

Also, like, i ride in a riding school, with school horses, and unfortunetly, they haven't gotten to reading the book like i have.