How to Ride a Horse 101
Ya gotta love those old western movies. While very entertaining, many of them are prime examples of how NOT to ride a horse.
The "cowboy" mounts while his horse is disrespectfully moving around in a circle, ready to gallop before the guy even gets in the saddle. Every time I see a guy bobbing up and down on his horse's back, yanking the reins so hard that the horse's head is forced high - mouth gaping, I cringe.
Expert horseback riders just don't ride that way. And, let me give credit where its due, plenty of western movie actors could and did ride well. I'm simply picking on the ones who didn't right now to make a point. It's important to know how to ride a horse.
If you were like me when I first started riding (I was pitiful) you need horse back riding lessons. I envy those expert horseback riders. There were many of them back when the old westerns were made and there are plenty around today. I would venture to say, though, that none of them got to the "expert" level until after doing a great deal of riding (including the falling off part).
In these modern times there are now many of us with horses who didn't grow up around them and therefore didn't have access to riding them. Today, many vacation packages include horse back riding. That means we inexperienced riders are horse back riding in New York, horse back riding in Houston, horse back riding in San Diego and horseback riding everywhere between and beyond, without really now what the heck we're supposed to be doing up there in the saddle.
Many of us just don't have the experience that someone who grows up on a ranch, say, does. Some of us may be city-folk or live in the suburbs and go out to the stable to ride our horse whenever we can cram it into our already over-crammed lives.
That means that many of us haven't had the opportunity to hone in on our riding skills. Many of us horse owners find ourselves in our mid-life stage of life. Some of us may have young, flexible bodies but have never ridden a horse before. So, not only are we feeling unsure about how to ride well, our BODIES are also unsure about the whole riding thing.
That's why exercises tailored for riding a horse are so valuable to those of us who love to ride but don't have the background of lot's of riding experience under our belt.
There are of course many other aspects to learning to ride well besides exercises. But they are definitely one important step in getting us more comfortable in the saddle. So try your hand at some tailor-made exercises, watch good riders ride, take lessons, read up on the subject and ride as much as possible.
The horse under your back will thank you for it.
The "cowboy" mounts while his horse is disrespectfully moving around in a circle, ready to gallop before the guy even gets in the saddle. Every time I see a guy bobbing up and down on his horse's back, yanking the reins so hard that the horse's head is forced high - mouth gaping, I cringe.
Expert horseback riders just don't ride that way. And, let me give credit where its due, plenty of western movie actors could and did ride well. I'm simply picking on the ones who didn't right now to make a point. It's important to know how to ride a horse.
If you were like me when I first started riding (I was pitiful) you need horse back riding lessons. I envy those expert horseback riders. There were many of them back when the old westerns were made and there are plenty around today. I would venture to say, though, that none of them got to the "expert" level until after doing a great deal of riding (including the falling off part).
In these modern times there are now many of us with horses who didn't grow up around them and therefore didn't have access to riding them. Today, many vacation packages include horse back riding. That means we inexperienced riders are horse back riding in New York, horse back riding in Houston, horse back riding in San Diego and horseback riding everywhere between and beyond, without really now what the heck we're supposed to be doing up there in the saddle.
Many of us just don't have the experience that someone who grows up on a ranch, say, does. Some of us may be city-folk or live in the suburbs and go out to the stable to ride our horse whenever we can cram it into our already over-crammed lives.
That means that many of us haven't had the opportunity to hone in on our riding skills. Many of us horse owners find ourselves in our mid-life stage of life. Some of us may have young, flexible bodies but have never ridden a horse before. So, not only are we feeling unsure about how to ride well, our BODIES are also unsure about the whole riding thing.
That's why exercises tailored for riding a horse are so valuable to those of us who love to ride but don't have the background of lot's of riding experience under our belt.
There are of course many other aspects to learning to ride well besides exercises. But they are definitely one important step in getting us more comfortable in the saddle. So try your hand at some tailor-made exercises, watch good riders ride, take lessons, read up on the subject and ride as much as possible.
The horse under your back will thank you for it.
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