Dyslexic child learning a dressage test
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Ems147
14 Dec 2010 13:43
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My daughter is 7 and is obsessed with dressage. She is riding all the walk trot test movements with ease at home and we have said she can take part in an unaffiliated competition in the new year.
We have one major problem, she is dyslexic and has trouble knowing her left from her right. I am not keen for her to over practice the test on the pony as I don't want him anticipating/getting bored to death. We have had some success teaching her linked movements the problem is linking the links.
She rides show ponies at county level and from time to time gets quite obviously lost in her show and that's one cantered figure of eight if we're honest.
Does anyone have any tips to help her learn the test? The just reading it out to her method doesn't work as you find yourself saying,
"Track right... the other right."
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DressageSpain
14 Dec 2010 17:32
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How about marking out a small child size dressage arena that she has to run/walk round, so that she is actually "learning by doing"? That way she is doing the test, but not the pony?
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Ems147
14 Dec 2010 17:44
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That's a great idea. Thank you. The garden is now a mini dressage arena!
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Fiona_
14 Dec 2010 18:13
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Hmm - that's how I learn my tests!
Don't know if this would help but - if you are sitting on the horse and look at his head, the ear on the left makes an 'L' shape with the head. My daughter found this useful when trying to work out which way the instructor wanted her to go!
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Jon Pitts
14 Dec 2010 18:31
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Hi All, the first thing to say is that in some form or another there a quite a few who suffer from dyslexia when riding a test. As you are aware, there are different types of learning difficulties and the key is to work out which format your daughter has. With most riders it is necessary to determine how they process information and which techniques they use, i.e. visual, verbal or aural, and then build a technique around this. Therefore, what works for some might sound great but you don't want to head off down a path that further adds complication to the learning process. This can be a process of trial and error, but there are clues in how your daughter does other things. The added complication is the neural reactions to being on a horse and the potential danger (see my article currently on the site) because this can affect the learning at a subconscious level. However, we have had a great deal of success in making progress with this, and if you need any further help please do contact me! Jon Pitts
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Ems147
16 Dec 2010 13:16
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Thank you all. Grace goes to a fabulous school and Senko has done a great deal of work into investigating the way in which she learns. I will have a chat with her after the holidays to get a better handle on the best way to teach her. I have looked at her most recent school report and it says she has a quite extraordinary auditry memory, so that may well be the way to go.
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