10 Horse Riding Tips for Beginners: Learn to Ride a Horse
Learning to ride horses can be a fun exercise if you love horses. However, looking at a horse gallop can be intimidating. However, there is no need to worry – we have lessons for every riding level. Starting with a simple walk, you can learn how to ride a horse in a safe and confident manner. Then, you will be able to do more intense techniques and even learn tricks.
This blog will help you on your journey to mastering the basics. These tips will cover the necessary knowledge to prepare you before you ever mount a horse to the end of your ride.
The Best Horse Riding Tips for Beginners
Here is how you can safely ride your horse and prepare for it:
1. Seek Professional Lessons
The first thing to keep in mind when you start riding is to gather knowledge and ask questions from professionals. You should receive horse riding lessons from an expert who regularly teaches in a licensed school. First, you should remain with the same instructor so they can track your progress more easily.
Another way you can learn is to watch them ride. Analysing their movements and posture can help you learn how to hold yourself properly when you start to ride.
2. Pick an Experienced Horse
If you are new to horse riding, you should choose an experienced horse. It should be an older, docile horse. Moreover, some breeds referred to as ‘cold-blooded’, such as the Irish Draught, will make riding easier because they are less sensitive, know the commands, and do not startle as easily. These qualities make it easier to learn how to ride a horse.
3. Greet Your Horse
Before you start riding or even mount your horse, you should greet the animal. To greet them, hold out your arm toward them, presenting the back of your hand. In this position, your horse can smell you and get used to you, making it less likely to startle when you mount it. At this stage, you can also notice if your horse is uncomfortable and unwilling to participate.
4. Spend Time with Your Horse
You should also interact with your horse when you are not riding it. You can walk with them, groom them, and give them treats. As you spend time with your horse, you will learn its cues and behaviour and be able to understand how it feels. This way, you will be able to read its signals and realise when it does not feel comfortable. This is crucial to ensure the animal’s health and well-being. However, if you cannot care for your horse full-time, you can rely on livery services to house, feed, and medically care for your animal.
5. Stretch and Warm up before You Mount
Stretching and warming up yourself is essential before every ride. For exercise, you could walk while leading your horse. As for stretching, you should focus on your neck, shoulders, back, hips, and ankles. This is because, according to reports, the most common riding injuries are 51% back, 37% pelvis, and 39% shoulders.
6. Wear the Right Gear
Wearing the right protective clothes is a key riding tip when riding a horse. The following are the most important gear you should wear:
- Hat: A snug, protective hat will protect your head.
- Gloves: They will give you a proper grip.
- Riding Tights: You should wear riding tights or long, close-fitting trousers with sticky seats.
- Heeled Boots: To ensure you have a proper grip on your stirrups, you should wear low, heeled boots.
Note: Do not wear accessories that can be tangled with any of the gear or surroundings.
7. Mount with Help
When you mount your horse, you should use a mounting block. This will stop you from pushing on the horse to raise yourself. In addition, you should wait until the instructor helps you mount. They will ensure the horse is calm and adequately situated for you to mount.
8. Sit with a Straight Posture
Another tip for horse riding is to sit with a straight posture. Your head should be pointed toward the path ahead while your back is straight. Then, your arms should be down and bent at a right angle at the elbow. This relaxed position allows you to hold the reins gently. As for your feet, you should ensure your heels point down.
9. Act Confident
Acting confident is a large part of learning how to ride on a horse. This is because your horse will be less nervous if you are confident. This does not mean you must be an expert to start riding. Instead, you need to act in smooth motions without startling the horse ― even if you do not feel confident. So, you will need to trust your instructor to point out if you make a mistake.
If you still feel uncomfortable or nervous, improving your skills with British Horse Society training courses will help you be more comfortable with your horse and build your relationship with it.
10. Do Cool-Down Exercises
Lastly, you should do cool-down exercises after your ride. Specifically, studies prove that an active cool-down helps you have a faster recovery of heart rate, reduce muscle soreness, and help clear your body of lactic acid.
Wrapping up
Now you know the best tips to learn how to ride a horse. So, getting comfortable with your experienced horse and learning from instructors is important to get a feel for this activity. You also need to prioritise safety ― yours and the horse’s. This is crucial to ensure you are both comfortable from the mount to the dismount. Additionally, good posture and confidence are essential.
Gaining this confidence starts with having a knowledge base with professional lessons from horse riding centres like Trent Park Equestrian Centre. Their instructors have been riding and training all their lives. So, consider their private and group lessons to begin learning horse riding.
