Horseback Heaven

Clinton Lyons asked:


There are a few things that some people wish to do before they die.  For some they want to climb Mount Everest, some want to see the ancient pyramids, and some just want to learn to ride a horse.  Fortunately for me I was able to learn to ride a horse at a very young age and it’s something I have enjoyed my whole entire life.  If you wish to learn to ride a horse I’ll give you just a couple of things that you should learn to do right at the start.

One of the first things that you should do when you learn to ride a horse is to learn how to lead one.  That’s probably not what you had in mind but still, it’s kind of important.  You shouldn’t be standing at the end of the lead rope trying to pull your horse along and you also shouldn’t be standing at their shoulder letting them lead you along.  There’s no control in either of those methods.  The best way to lead a horse is to stand with your shoulder pretty close to their throatlatch and about a foot over to the side of them.  That way you have enough room between the two of you for comfort.  With one hand right below the lead snap and the other holding the rest of the lead line, you will step forward with the horse hopefully following.  If it doesn’t then you just simply push gently in the direction you want to go with the hand that has the snap.  That will give you the most control over the horse.

Now that you know how to lead a horse your horseback riding lessons will flow smoother.  When you learn to ride a horse you have to be in control and if you can lead one with control on the ground you have a better chance of being able to learn to ride a horse.  Riding a horse works best when you know that you’re in control.  If you think that you can’t ride a horse, you will never be able to learn proper horseback riding.  They will know that you’re scared and take total advantage of you.  That’s all there is to it.  If you get scared just take some deep breaths and tell yourself that you’re the boss.  Any time my mare and I have a “discussion” and she thinks that she’s the boss I calmly let her know that I’m the boss and that I’m always going to win.  And I always do.  You can’t get rough and be mean but you have to be firm.  If you start beating and thumping on a horse, odds are it’s gonna scared and then you might get scared.  Not a good thing.

You can learn to ride a horse by taking lessons but unless you are with a trainer that has a goal of teaching you something in particular, you might be able to get the same effects by watching a few videos or reading some horse training books.  And a lot of those books you can purchase online for a reasonable cost.  No sense making horse ownership any more expensive than it needs to be.  If you learn to ride a horse, you are learning a skill that has been around for hundreds of years and obviously is still important to this day because people still do it.  Mainly some will learn to ride a horse for pleasure, relaxation or just time by themselves.  What’s you’re reason?