Becoming a cosmetic dentist will take many years of schooling. There is much to learn in this field and it will take time to learn what is needed. Included in the years of study will be many hours of hands on training to make sure that each student has seen everything there is to see and will have experience once they go out into the real world looking for employment. The field of dentistry is a very complex field and this is not the career field for everyone. For those who are dedicated and who put the time in, the field of dentistry can be very rewarding.

The title of cosmetic dentist is one that dentists, once they are out in the working world, give to themselves. There is no specialty during dental school where a student can take certain courses to qualify to be a cosmetic dentist. The title of cosmetic dentist is made up of different procedures that are all lumped together. Before any student can even begin to decide what they would like to specialize in, a student first needs to choose a college and obtain their four year degree. Some dental schools will only require a two year degree but most require a four year degree.

After finishing up a four year degree, a student who wishes to continue on to dental school will then apply for dental school. In dental school, students will choose either general dentistry or they will choose a specialty. Depending on which option is chosen, that will determine the length of time that a student is in school. Students who choose a specialty will spend more time in dental school because there will be more in depth subjects to cover and learn.

Once a student graduates from dental school, they will be able to pursue employment. Once a student has become a dentist and begins working, they will then be able to perform the tasks of a cosmetic dentist. A cosmetic dentist performs tasks that improve the look of a person’s teeth, gums, or bite and many of these procedures are performed daily at every dental office. It does take many years to become a dentist but for those who put in the time and the effort to learn what is being taught, they will excel in their craft and help many people over the course of their careers. Dentistry can be a rewarding career path for the right person.

The ground is rapidly crumbling beneath the long-term care insurance industry. Genworth Financial, a major LTC player, has been caught in the landslide.

Genworth recently posted a quarterly loss of $844 million, driven largely by costs associated with its LTC products, according to Bloomberg. (1) The loss was the largest since Genworth spun off from its parent company, General Electric, in 2004.

Genworth CEO Tom McInerney said in a statement, “The turnaround in this business will be more difficult and prolonged.” (1) But doubling down on long-term care coverage, of which Genworth is the largest vendor, is ultimately going to be a losing proposition, not simply a challenging one.

That is because the reasons that Genworth’s policies were grossly underpriced in the first place are unchanged today and unlikely to change in the future; in some respects, the problems are liable to become more acute. People are living longer than ever, on average, and need a higher standard of care as they age. This means the costs are going to continue to swell.

On a call with analysts, Genworth management fielded a question about whether it should put long-term care insurance into “run-off” – that is, wind down the business by halting sales of new policies.

The response was that Genworth considered running off its LTC insurance business, but decided to hold out because state regulators are likely to approve rate increases on previously sold coverage. The company has stopped selling policies in the states that declined to approve higher rates: Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. The other 47 states had reached agreements with Genworth by the end of October.

This decision implicitly admits that even recently sold policies are probably still underpriced. Insurers have consistently underestimated how fast costs of care will rise and how many customers will both buy and use their LTC policies. And Genworth’s decision also overlooks the major problem of adverse selection: As premiums rise, the healthiest customers, who are least likely to need expensive benefits, have stronger incentives to drop their policies, leaving the insurer with only the sicker and more costly portion of the risk pool.

The other argument in favor of holding on in the long-term care market is that low interest rates have resulted in lower than expected returns on invested premiums. This observation is true. But it is also a problem that affects all sorts of insurance, not only long-term care products. Yet only about a dozen companies sell meaningful numbers of LTC policies these days, compared to over 100 companies that did a decade ago. Those remaining companies have raised prices and deny coverage to about one in five individual applicants.

Genworth’s stock tumbled 37 percent the day after it announced its financial results, and the company’s bonds are at risk of being downgraded to sub-investment grade status (generally known as “junk”) at Moody’s. “We believe the company remains exposed to further, significant deterioration in its legacy block of business,” Moody’s said. (2)

Genworth argues that LTC insurance is a product that the market needs. This is untrue. LTC insurance is fundamentally an unsustainable product that cannot work in the long term, precisely because so many people are apt to file claims against it.

What the market does need is a solution for the problem of how to affordably care for an aging population. LTC insurance does nothing toward this end, even though states like it because state regulators want to shift costs away from Medicare and Medicaid. Doing so only moves those costs, not reduces them.

What we really need are more cost-effective ways to care for people – ideally at home, whenever possible. An army of people, largely outside the country, is available for this work, but we’ve provided no effective mechanism to get those people here. And increasingly, various rules make it harder for a family to hire household employees. This trend forces older Americans and their loved ones to use home aide agencies, which are often more expensive than hiring help directly. Or, in many more cases, it forces them to institutionalize individuals who really could remain at home if help were available, driving costs of care higher still.

LTC insurance is proving that it is not a solution. It is not even a viable product. As it gradually fails, maybe we will turn our attention to the real problem.

Sources:

1) Bloomberg, “Genworth Tumbles After Record Loss; CEO Apologizes”

2) Bloomberg, “Genworth Bonds at Risk of Cut to Junk as Moody’s Reviews Rating”

It kills women all over the world to always be the one to tell the guy she misses him. And what’s a guy’s usual reaction? He seems to be untouched by it. Women always ask why they always have to be the ones looking desperate. Can the tables be turned? Here are some “hold off” tactics that you can do in order to make this guy miss you terribly:

Appear too busy to answer his calls or e-mails

Whenever he calls, let the call go to voice mail then listen to him as he stammers his hello. Get busy with something else. Do not reply to his text messages as well. Try your best to keep your silence. This won’t be difficult, especially if you know that eventually, he would go crazy and would show up right at your doorstep.

Do not make yourself available each and every time

Each time he asks you to go out, tell him you already have plans. The next time he asks you out again, tell him you have a date with your girlfriends. Play your role to a T, make him wonder why you’re not peeing in your pants to see him.

When he leaves a message on your machine, call him back 3 days after

Three days might just be the time you need for him to miss you. Make sure he doesn’t hear from you in those three days. This is the most acceptable time for you to make him wonder why you still aren’t calling and whether you’re alright.

If he is always taking you for granted, ignore him for two weeks

If you are the one who’s always asking him if he wants to go out, or if you are the only one making an effort to make the relationship work, be a no-show for two whole weeks. This would catch him off guard and, hopefully, he’ll be the one to make the effort to be with you once more.

Do not waste your time just waiting for him

You cannot just simply mope around, waiting for your phone to ring. You need to keep yourself busy because waiting around for him wouldn’t do you much good. You could spend your time being with your friends or even working out.

Resist the temptation of getting in touch with him

Try to put in a little more hours on your work. Not only will this keep you from dialing his number but it also would do wonders for your career.

If you want him to miss you, ignore him when you see him around

Whenever you see him around, say in the office or in school, ignore him. For a few days, appear as if you don’t care whether you see him or not. The time apart wherein you two don’t talk should make him miss you.

Surprising it does not take long to make beautiful quilled creations once you get the basic shapes learned. However you can certainly spend hours on larger and more intricate designs if you’d like. Large quilled patterns are usually works of art that stand alone and can be framed for show. Most of the designs you’ll probably make when you are quilling will be smaller items to embellish other crafts you are doing so rest assured that it does not need to take all day just to make a few quilled flowers; although your friends might think so! The great thing about quilling is that it looks a lot more difficult than it actually is to do!

Quilling paper is a lot of fun and a great way to be creative with the basic coils and scrolls you’ll learn how to make. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the works of art you can create with just a few different types of quilled pieces. Just remember that you need to have a bit of patience (especially as a beginner quiller) since you are working with small tools and small pieces of paper. Each small coil or scroll will be just one tiny portion of the overall design. Remember to have fun and make your designs as detailed and intricate as you’d like. Take time for some trial and error as you learn and you’ll soon be amazed at how quickly you are able to make some really cool quilled designs.

More advanced quillers may spend hours and days or even weeks to create a very involved design. Some are even 3 dimensional which is really neat but of course takes quite a bit more time to be so detailed and intricate.

If you are ready to learn the art of quilling so you can start adding some new paper designs to many of your craft projects, I’d love to teach you this great paper craft.

10. The government isn’t going to pay for long-term care at home, in a nursing home, or in an assisted living center. Medicare pays 100% of long-term care for 20 days and all but $95.00 per day for the next 80 days–after that nothing. However Medicare only pays for skilled care and most long term care is not skilled care.

9. The national average cost for nursing homes is approximately $105.00 per day. Assisted living ranges anywhere from $50 – $90 per day. If you live on the Eastern Seaboard you can easily spend $50,000 to $80,000 for a year’s stay in a nursing home. These costs are perfectly capable of wiping out a lifetime of savings-not to mention the emotional effect long-term care has on a family.

8. A Harvard University study showed that 69% of single people and 34% of married couples would exhaust their assets after 13 weeks in a nursing home. 13 Weeks = 91 days!.

7. At age 65, a woman has a one out of two chance of spending some time in a nursing home. A man has a one out of three chance. In the case of men, mortality catches up with morbidity.

6. Medicaid kicks in only after a person’s assets and dignity are gone. In many states the eligibility threshold for single people is $1,500 in assets. After all Medicaid is WELFARE.

5. Children would like to help, but children often have children of their own. They certainly can’t quit their jobs to care for their parents.

4. Health rarely improves with age.

3. People can’t buy long-term care coverage at crisis time or when they are ready to use it.

2. American’s have access to the best health care in the world, if they can pay for it.

1. Most People want to choose where they go instead of having to go where they are taken, and if independence is important to them, they will need to have either a big estate or adequate insurance.

Information quoted directly from:

* A Shopper’s Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance , National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

* Long Term Care Companion Consumer Guide, Transamerica Occidental Life.

The aging demographics of the United States coupled with the Pension and Recovery Act of 2006 (the “PPA”) and Deficit Reduction Act of 2007 (“DRA”) have provided an excellent planning opportunity to create tax efficient vehicles to solve a clients’ planning needs. Beginning on January 1, 2010, a tax-free planning option will become available for individuals who desire to provide for long-term medical care by utilizing an existing annuity or life insurance contract purchased after 1996. While not a new concept (it dates back to 1997), the 2010 tax-free planning opportunity may be beneficial to an individual with a larger than needed life insurance policy death benefit, unaffordable monthly or annual premiums, an under-performing or matured deferred annuity contract, or the desire to incorporate long-term medical care into his or her estate plan.

Under the PPA provisions, annuity funds may be withdrawn completely tax-free on a FIFO (First-in, First-out) basis for long-term care benefits (amending Section 72(e) of the Internal Revenue Code). The PPA also includes a “1035 exchange” option which allows for the tax-free and penalty free basis withdrawal of the entire annuity value for qualified long term care expenses. However, no income tax deduction will be allowed for any payment made from the cash surrender value of a life insurance contract or the cash value of an annuity contract for coverage under a qualified long-term care insurance contract (Section 213(a) of the Code).

This benefit is further enhanced by the modification of the Medicaid “look back” period from thirty-two (32) months to sixty (60) months for transferred assets, and the authority for all states to adopt “partnership long term care insurance plans” under the DRA. The qualified partnership plans allow an insured to “exclude an amount of assets equal to the value of the benefits purchased in a long-term care partnership policy from Medicaid qualification.”

Implications:

The benefits of converting an existing annuity or life insurance contract include (i) no surrender charge will apply to account withdrawals for qualifying expenses; (ii) withdrawals for qualifying long-term care expenses will be categorized as a tax-free reduction of basis; (iii) a spouse can be added to a policy for care purposes; (iv) ten (10%) percent free withdrawal provision for non-long term contract withdrawals; (v) the ability to purchase an optional lifetime provision with guaranteed premiums; and (vi) the annuity’s cash will remain available if the long-term care portion of the policy is never utilized. However, the conversion will also result in (i) the commencement of a new surrender charge period for the contract; (ii) medical underwriting (at a time when the individuals health may be declining); (iii) health care benefits that are limited in scope and to a specified number of years; and (iv) the cost of the long-term care rider reducing the annuity’s tax-deferred income stream. In addition, the typically policy will contain a two-year waiting period from the time the annuity is purchased before benefits can be activated and a 90-day “elimination period” once a claim is filed.

Conclusion:

A hybrid policy of this nature should not be used as a substitute for comprehensive long-term care insurance. It is recommended that these policies only be utilized when an individual can’t afford or is uninterested in comprehensive long-term care insurance.

How long should your book be? How long a book should be depends on the genre and the intentions of the writer. If you want to self-publish, it doesn’t matter how long your book is or isn’t because you have total control. But if you’re seeking a traditional New York publisher, here are some guidelines for how long a book should be.

Please note: These are generalized guidelines for genre fiction only. There are always exceptions to the “rules.” Be sure to do your own research based on your unique needs and goals. These lists of sub-genres are substantial but not entirely inclusive. There are always many ways to combine genres.

How long is a fantasy novel?

A fantasy novel contains approximately 80,000 to 100,000 words.

Sub-genres of fantasy novels include: alternate history, Bangsian fantasy, comic fantasy, contemporary fantasy (urban fantasy), dark fantasy, fairytale fantasy, heroic fantasy, high fantasy, historical fantasy (Celtic fantasy, steampunk, wuxia, medieval fantasy, prehistoric fantasy), juvenile fantasy, low fantasy, fantasy of manners (mythic fiction), romantic fantasy, science fantasy (sword and planet, dying earth), superhero fantasy, sword and sorcery, and more.

How long is a romance novel?

A stand-alone (single title) romance novel contains between 80,000 and 100,000 words. Category romance (such as those imprints published by Harlequin) are generally short. Each imprint has a specific word count. If you want to write for Harlequin, identify your imprint first.

Sub-genres of romance novels include: adventure romance, African-American romance, category romance (aka “series”), chick-lit, contemporary romance, dark fantasy, erotic romance, erotica, fantasy, futuristic romance, GLBT romance, gothic romance, historical romance, inspirational romance, interracial romance, mainstream, military romance, multi-cultural romance, mystery/thriller, paranormal romance, Regency romance, science fiction, single-title romance, suspense, sweet romance, time-travel romance, traditional romance, urban fantasy, women’s fiction, World War II romance, young adult, and more.

How long is a historical fiction novel?

Historical fiction novels are generally between 85,000 to 100,000 words, though some are longer.

Subgenres of historical fiction novels include: alternate history, historical fantasy, historical romance, sagas, sword and sandal, historical whodunit, sub-genres pertaining to era (as in Renaissance, medieval, Civil War, WWII, etc.), and more.

How long is a mystery novel?

Mystery novels vary in length between 75,000 and 100,000 words. If the mystery has elements of thrillers, the book may be longer. If the mystery is a “cozy” or part of a series, it may be shorter.

Sub-genres of mystery novels include: amateur sleuth mystery, courtroom drama, cozy mystery, crime, fantasy, hardboiled mystery, historical mystery, medical mystery, police procedural, private detective, serial killer mystery, science fiction, supernatural, suspense, technical thriller, thriller, true crime, Western, whodunit, and more.

How long is a thriller novel?

A thriller novel can be between 90,000 and 100,000 words or more.

Sub-genres of thrillers include: action thrillers, conspiracy thrillers, crime thrillers, disaster thrillers, drama, eco-thrillers, erotic thrillers, legal thrillers, spy thrillers, techno thrillers, and more.

How long is a horror novel?

Horror genre novels can include between 80,000 and 100,000 words.

Subgenres of horror include: body horror, cross genre (slipstream), dark, detective, erotic, extreme, ghost, gothic, Lovecraft, noir, occult, psychological, quiet, supernatural, surreal, suspense, weird, and more.

How long is a young adult novel?

Young adult (or YA) novels can between 40,000 and 75,000 words, depending on the targeted age group.

Young adult novels generally have the same sub-genres as adult novels. Edgy YA tackles controversial or tough issues.

How long is a Western novel?

Western novels can be between 45,000 and 75,000 words.

Western sub-genres include: coming-of-age, buffalo runners, celebrity, detective, fantasy, Gothic, horses, Indians, inspirational, land rush, law and lawmen, mining, Mormons, mountain men, mysterious rider, railroads, romance, science fiction, series, sweet and savage, the West still lives, town marshal, wagons West, and more.

When I was in the third grade, I lived in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. I was the only minority child in my class at Lincoln Elementary School. It was not that long after the end of World War II, and I was a Japanese American. I experienced some minor racism and prejudice because of my ethnicity, but life was good with friends.

There were two girls in my class whom I remember well. I can’t say that I remember any of the rest of my classmates from that year. Linda was a pretty, blonde girl. Judy had brown hair which she regularly wore in pigtails. They were best friends, but somehow they included me and the other girls in the class as friends also.

There was a religious meeting for children one day a week after school at the church across the street. It was for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I was not a member of that church. However, I enjoyed going to be with the other children. The classes were in age ranges so I was in the church class with kids who were in my class at school. Judy was a member of that church so I went to class with her. Linda was a member of another church, and she did not go with us to the after school meeting.

The next year when we were in the fourth grade, I continued to go with Judy to the church class after school once a week. Then my family moved away in the middle of the year. I never saw Judy or Linda again, and I never wrote to them or made any contact with them from that time forth.

When I moved away, I again went to the children’s church class after school once a week in the new area. Then after a while, I and my family joined the church. It became a large part of our lives.

Life went on with school, college, work, marriage, and children. We moved several times which included to California, back to Utah, to Virginia, and then back to Utah. When I returned to Utah the last time with the internet and social media being readily available, I decided that maybe I should try to contact Judy after all this time had passed.

Over the years I thought of Judy off and on, but I never made contact. I appreciated her being kind to me although I never told her. I was able to find information about her on the internet even though I only had her childhood name. Unfortunately, the information was in her obituary as she had passed away a few years before that time.

With the amazing technology available to us today, old friends can be found with connections on Email, Facebook, and other social media. Relationships can once again be picked up after many years of absence. Just don’t wait too long. Old friendships can be rekindled, and old friends can bring joy into one’s life.

For a relationship to culminate in a successful long-term, committed union, a five-step relationship-building process must be acknowledged, understood, and traversed.

The Five Required Steps to a Long-Term Relationship

The path from initial introduction to a long-term committed relationship goes through five separate stages of relationship: (1) Step 1: The Transition Relationship, (2) Step 2: The Recreational Relationship, (3) Step 3: The Pre-Committed Relationship, (4) Step 4: The Committed Relationship, and (5) Step 5: The Marital Relationship. (For a discussion of recreational, pre-committed, and committed relationships, see David Steele, Conscious Dating, (Campbell, CA, RCN Press, 2008). For the classic description of a pre-committed relationship, see David Steele, Conscious Dating, (Campbell, CA, RCN Press, 2008, 301-319).

This article addresses the third step in the relationship-building process, Step 3: The Pre-Committed Relationship

The Pre-Committed Relationship Is the Time for Logical Analysis

While the recreational relationship spotlights the contribution of your heart and intuition, the pre-committed relationship highlights the role logic plays in building a relationship.

A pre-committed relationship focuses on systematically determining if your basic requirements for a long-term relationship will be met.

Goal and motivation. The goal of a pre-committed relationship is to decide if someone is a “good fit.” The source of motivation that drives a pre-committed relationship is the question, “Will a life with this person give me what I require in a long-term relationship?”

The roles you and your partner play. Both you and your partner are expected to be a girlfriend/boyfriend who is willing and able to talk openly about what you each need in a long-term relationship.

The nature of a pre-committed relationship. The “feel” in the pre-committed stage is one of focused thoughtfulness and logical analysis. You get crystal clear about what your non-negotiable requirements are for a long-term relationship and determine whether the relationship with your partner can meet all your requirements.

Requirements for a Relationship

The heart of the pre-committed step is knowing and communicating your requirements to your partner.

A requirement is something that must be provided by your partner if the relationship is to work. Steele uses the analogy for a requirement of air, water, and food as requirements for maintaining life in the human body. The absence of even one of the three would result in death. Likewise, the absence of even one thing you consider a requirement for a relationship will sooner or later kill the relationship. (David Steele, Conscious Dating, (Campbell, CA, RCN Press, 2008, p 90)).

Potential Problems with a Pre-Committed Relationship

The two most common ways we fail at the pre-committed step are (1) we either do not know what our requirements are or do not realize how important it is to respect their necessity, and (2) we simply skip this step altogether and go straight to the committed relationship step, as if we can intuit each other’s needs. We can’t.

Failure to identify and test out your non-negotiable requirements. After I got divorced the first time, a friend wanted to “fix me up.” She asked me what I wanted in a potential partner. I told her I needed (1) someone who had been divorced before – so she could empathize with what I had been through, and (2) someone who had kids – so she would not be threatened by my parental love. That list of two requirements turned out to be a good place to start, but it left off another 5 or 6 that I was unaware of at the time and which ultimately caused my second marriage to fail.

Skip it altogether. During the recreational relationship everything feels right. It feels like you are in a committed relationship. It also feels like you are so in-tuned with each other that a discussion of your requirements is not needed and, in fact, raising the issue would be downright insulting to your partner. So you never even broach the topic. You just ride the euphoria telling yourself you have found the perfect partner, your soul mate, and skipping the pre-committed step poses no problem.

This is a dangerous roll of the dice. Occasionally it works out. Most of the time it doesn’t. To never discuss requirements or to jump from a recreational relationship straight to a committed relationship, seriously threatens the success of your relationship.

So, What’s the Point?

Make damned sure you make the time to identify your requirements – all of them. Then be doggedly insistent about both of you sharing them with each other.

Then, and this is the hard part, spend an extended period of time together (often 12 to 18 months) to make sure that you and your partner’s requirements can actually be met in a relationship with each other.

This is where most marriages that fail can trace the cause back to. Take the pre-committed step seriously. Your relationship future depends on it.

As a riding instructor, it is your job to ensure that your students receive enough value in their lessons to justify the cost of those lessons. Although time is not the only determining factor, it certainly makes a difference. When you set out into the arena with a group of students, how long should they be mounted and under your instruction? The length of time that a riding lesson lasts is a point of major contention among riding instructors.

Unfortunately, this is a question that is not easily answered when I don’t have a specific situation to consider. How many riders are involved in each lesson? How many lessons do you intend to teach in a day? What equestrian discipline are you teaching? And at what level are your students riding? Since every riding instructor teaches differently, it is impossible to give a definitive answer about how long a riding lesson should last. However, this insight should give you some insight into your own situation, thereby helping you make the decision that is right for you.

The Concept of Value

Many riding instructors seem to forget that they are running a business. In exchange for their services (riding instruction), they are paid money by their customers (students). It is no different from buying a hamburger at McDonald’s or paying a home improvement company to install your new hardwood floors. Since riding instruction is a service, and since you are selling your services to the public, it is important that you understand the concept of value. Otherwise, you’re just running pony rides for a bunch of squirmy horse-crazy girls who will never understand what it means to really ride.

Frequently, however, riding instructors the concept of value interchangeably with words like longevity. The length of time that a riding lesson lasts is not necessarily indicative of the value the student received for that lesson. You can spend an hour-long lesson going over in-depth concepts with your students and teaching them the fundamentals of their chosen sport, or you can spend it sitting on the fence as you watch your students ride ’round and ’round. Each lesson includes the same amount of mounted time, but which group receives the most value?

This is something that all service providers who charge hourly encounter with their professions. For example, a friend of mine once hired a contractor to paint her walls a beautiful shade of robin’s egg blue. They were compensated by the hour, and consequently they did as little as they could each day they worked, attempting to stretch out the number of hours they would rack up for the same amount of work. When she told them she would pay a flat fee for the rest of the job, however, they really got their butts in gear.

The Strict Approach

Now that you understand that you need to be providing value during your riding lessons, let’s get down to the question of time. How long should a riding lesson last, and when do you know to call it quits? There are two basic ways to structure horseback riding lessons, the first of which is the strict approach. This simply means that each riding lesson you teach lasts a specific amount of time, and never varies from that schedule. If you decide that all of your students will ride for an hour, they mount up at three o’clock and are dismounted promptly at four. No variation; no hassles.

This is arguably the simplest approach to teaching horseback riding lessons, and often raises the fewest concerns. Human beings are naturally comforted by schedules and conformity, and they respond well to limits. If your students know that they will be mounting and dismounting at specific times, the riding instructor receives no complaints when it comes time to quit. The problem with the strict approach, however, is that riding instruction is not easily controlled. Since you’re dealing with human beings and animals, it is impossible to predict those things that can throw off schedule at a moment’s notice. For example, what if one of your students gets hurt in the middle of the lesson, and must go to the emergency room for treatment? Obviously, the lesson will be thrown off track, and so will every subsequent lesson scheduled that day.

Furthermore, the strict approach lends itself to less value than the other one (which I will discuss in a moment). It can sometimes leave the riding instructor glancing constantly at her watch, counting the minutes until she can bring her riders in and call it quits for the day. Furthermore, if you discover that you need more time to accomplish a goal, you have no options except to put the lesson on hold until next week. However, the strict approach to riding lessons is usually most convenient, especially when you have students who just show up for their lessons at their scheduled times, then leave immediately when it’s over.

The Flexible Approach

The second approach to scheduling riding lessons is the one that I use most frequently, but only when I’m working with advanced riders who own their own horses. The flexible approach means simply that lessons last as long as they need to. A goal is set for the day, and I end the lesson as soon as we’ve met that goal. In other words, if we accomplish our goals in twenty minutes, the lesson ends after twenty minutes; if it takes an hour and a half, we devote that much time to getting there.

The problems with this approach to riding lessons are obvious, even if they do promote more value during class. When you have students who are picked up and dropped off by their parents on their lesson days, it is important that you respect their schedules and keep to the one you’ve set for your classes. For example, Susie might have horseback riding at 4pm, but have to rush off to piano lessons at 5:30. Letting the 3:00 lesson run over for fifteen minutes screws up Susie’s entire day.

However, when your riding lessons last as long as you need them to, you’ll find that you get more done and accomplish goals much more quickly.

Let’s say, for instance, that you’re teaching an advanced jumping lesson every Tuesday at 3:00. You decide one day that you’re going to work on lead changes in courses, so you set up a complicated, twisty-turny course and ask each of your riders to jump it. You originally thought that they might have trouble with the concept, but you’re surprised to discover that they have it down pat after jumping the course two times each. It’s only thirty minutes into the lesson, but you’ve accomplished your goal.

Now, let’s say that you operate on a strict riding lesson, so you have to find something with which to fill the next thirty minutes. You send them around the course again one more time each, and this time they all fall apart because they’ve gotten too cocky about their prior success. Now their horses have learned that they can get away with doing the wrong thing, and you have to squeeze more instruction into the next fifteen minutes or so.

Counter-productive? I think so.

If you’re going to use the flexible riding lesson approach, however, it’s important to make sure your students are fully aware of the arrangement. Eventually, it all works out concerning time, because you’ll go over your time just as often as you’ll finish early, but this can be difficult for clients to understand.