Horse riding is both fun and thrilling experience. The reason may be any, a casual hobby, sport or you may be learning it for fun. Before riding a horse you need to be dressed up perfectly, find an instructor and get ready to experience a thrilling and challenging ride. This article on how to ride a horse will give you some useful tips to ride a horse.
If you have never tried riding a horse before then you might find it a bit scary. Hiring an instructor would be the best option if you want to ride a horse. There are two ways of riding a horse, such as the English and Western way of horse riding. Mostly we prefer learning English style of horse riding.
English style
- In English style of horse riding both the hands are used to control the horse i.e. we use both the hands to control the rein of horse.
- There is also difference in the sitting arrangement on the horse. The seat of saddle is flat and light. There is no saddle horn and the stirrups are also thinner than those used in Western horse riding.
Western style
- This style of horse riding was used mostly by the cowboys and the ranchers. It is not easy for everyone to learn Western style of horse riding.
- In this kind of horse riding we use a single hand to control the horse i.e. one-handed control is used to ride the horse.
- As single hand is used to control the horse it is quiet difficult to control the horse easily, so the saddle of the horse is deep and contains horns so that you can easily balance.
Riding a horse
Learning to ride a horse requires a lot of patience and practice. Here are few tips that will help you in riding a horse.
- It would be safe to learn riding a horse with a trained instructor. You can hire an instructor according to your goal i.e. if you want to learn a horse riding for the purpose of sports, then you may hire a more experienced instructor who could teach you horse riding understanding the requirements of a sportsperson. Others such as those who teach you horse riding for fun may be different.
- It’s always safe to learn horse riding in a big open space. It is mostly preferred to learn riding a horse in a ground.
Dressing
- Dress-up yourself perfectly so that you can be comfortable sitting on the horse. Wear your riding boots, people mostly prefer wearing riding boots that are hard and can fit easily in the stirrups.
- Wear a riding helmet. This is for safety as there is always a possibility of falling down from the horse while riding because of the speed of the horse. It mostly happens with the new riders, so ride carefully.
- Wearing riding gloves is a must; these gloves are made up of leather that will prevent your palms from slipping off.
Reining
- It is very important to hold the reins of the horse properly. While holding the reins of a horse, flip them around your hand and make sure that your thumb comes upwards. This will help you in holding the reins tightly.
- There are two ways of reining a horse, neck reining and bit reining. Your method of reining depends upon the reining for which the horse is trained.
Mounting the horse
- Always mount a horse from the left side.
- First hold the reins in your left hand while putting your left leg on the stirrups. Then sit on the saddle of the horse. Now, hold the rein on the other side and put your leg on the stirrups on other side.
- Sit on the horse with your back straight and toes pointed.
Dismount
- While mounting down from the horse hold both the reins in your left hand. Take both the legs off the stirrups. If the horse is moving forward while you are dismounting, then pull the reins slightly backwards.
Speeds of riding
There are various speeds that can be used to ride a horse. You may walk, trot, center and gallop and slow down and stop.
- If you want to walk, then pull the reins slowly or shake your legs slowly to touch the horse.
- If you want to trot, give another squeeze of legs. Keep a firm hold on the horse while you are trotting.
- Giving another squeeze to the horse will signal the horse to gallop. Horses will slow down or stop mostly when you pull the reins backwards.
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