Horseback Riding
Riding History

Riding your horse weekly will help keep him in good physical shape. The more riding you do will not only make you a better rider but it will also help your horse and stay sound or get sound. If you ride everyday your horse will most likely be in better shape than most other horses. But be sure not to over work your horse and cause him to become sore. On hot days your horse can get over heated, the best way to prevent this is trying to ride in the shade if possible and don't work him hard. When the weather is cooler out you wont have to worry about them getting over heated because there body will already be cool from the air.

After you ride you should hose the sweat off your horse as long as its not cold out. On hot summer days hosing your horse will help prevent him from over heating. If it isn't hot enough to hose them down you can brush the sweat away so it doesn't dry on your horse and make him uncomfortable.

You should practice a different thing every time you ride so that your horse doesn't get bored or start misbehaving. One day you may want to practice barrel racing. The next day go to pole bending. Mix it up for your horse. Give them something to look forward to when you ride. Take them on a trail then come back and go over some jumps.

Riding Position

Posture is very important when you ride know matter what discipline you choose. Some say that the English style is all about the riders posture and how they look riding the horse. It may be true that they are generally judged on how they sit in the saddle, but that does not mean if you do not ride English you do not need to worry about how your posture is. Every rider should practice sitting correctly because it is better not only for the horse but for the riders back as well. If a rider is bouncing around with poor posture it can cause the horses back to become sore resulting in the horse refusing to listen as well or even throwing riders off, which most humans would interpret as a bad horse when really the horse is in pain. Having the correct posture when riding can prevent injuries for both horse and rider. When mounted on a horse there should be an invisible line starting at the riders heels and moving straight throw the hips to the shoulder. When these parts are all aligned it ensures that the rider is not leaning to far forward or backward which would cause both horse and rider to be off balance.

I had my mom take pictures of me riding to demonstrate the correct posture all riders should have. I drew a line that shows the alignment of the heels through the hips to the shoulders.

Safety

To stay safe when riding your should wear a helmet. If your horse was to spook at something you may fall off. Also some horses get frisky when the weather cools so they might buck. Falling off from a buck can be dangerous.

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