Mini Riding Guide
What to Wear
- Long pants
- Boots with at least 1/2 heel
- Approved Equestrian Helmet
The right riding apparel will keep you safe and comfortable. Boots with a heel keep your foot from potentially getting lodged in the stirrup, and a helmet protects your head in case of a fall. These two items are very important! Long pants will protect your legs from being chafed on the leather saddle, and you may wish to wear chaps or half chaps if you ride in an English saddle. Do not wear dangling jewelry or oversized clothing that could get caught up on the saddle.
Get Familiar with Your Gear
Even if you are going to a riding facility that gets your horse ready for you, you should still get familiar with what the equipment that the horse is wearing, called “tack.” Most everyone knows what a saddle is, but the halter and bridle are often confused. A horse wears a bridle when he is being ridden, and a bridle typically has a bit on it. The horse wears the halter when he is tied or in the barn before and after riding. The diagrams below show the two main styles of saddles, english and western.
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Walking, Slowing Down, and Stopping
When you start riding, the most important thing is to relax. When you are tense, your horse will be uncomfortable and you will be unable to balance and go with the horse’s motion. Start out by focusing on feeling the horse under you, how he walks and allowing your seat to follow that motion as you sit in the saddle. A horse will naturally follow your motion as well, so if you want your horse to pick up the pace, get a little more energy in your body first. Similarly, if you want your horse to slow down , then slow your movement. We use this same concept when asking the horse to stop. Instead of just hauling back on the reins, stop your body first. In other words, stop moving with the horse. Stretch up with your upper body and stretch your legs down to first ask the horse to stop.
Steering
To steer, you will get a better response if you do more than just pull the horse in the direction you want to go. Instead, direct the horse with your seat and torso. Look and twist (don’t lean) in the direction you want to go. This will move your hips in the saddle, giving the horse a subtle but clear cue as to where you want him to go. Of course, you may need to follow up with some rein contact, but keep it slow and smooth and your horse will be much more cooperative! Whenever you use your reins, use this progression – squeeze the reins like you were squeezing water out of a sponge, then pull with just a motion through your wrist, pushing your hand down, then you can actually pull back on the reins if necessary.
Trotting
So now you know the basics, time to pick up the pace. The horse has four different “gaits” or footfalls – walk, trot, canter, gallop. The walk is obviously the slowest and easiest to sit, next is the trot, which can feel very bouncy until you learn to ride it correctly. At the trot, you can either sit or post (this goes for both english or western riders) Posting the trot means rising up and down with the horse’s rhythm, and once you get the hang of it is much easier and more comfortable than sitting the trot. We will start with the posting trot. As your horse begins to trot, you will feel his back going up and down. At this point, probably just feels like bouncing! The trick is to start rising in the saddle each time his back comes up. Think up, down, up, down. Start by just pushing off the balls of your feet to stand up, and you will know immediately when you have caught the ryhthym because it will suddenly seem almost effortless as the horse pushes you out of the saddle.
Next you should learn to sit the trot. This can be very easy on some horses, very difficult on others. To sit the trot properly and comfortably you have to relax through your hips so that your hips can move independently from the rest of your body. This means that your seat does not leave the saddle, and your hips absorb all of the bounce. Make sure that you are sitting back on your pockets, back flat, and don’t grip with your legs. Keep looking forward and find your balance by allowing yourself to move with the horse.
Next you should learn to sit the trot. This can be very easy on some horses, very difficult on others. To sit the trot properly and comfortably you have to relax through your hips so that your hips can move independently from the rest of your body. This means that your seat does not leave the saddle, and your hips absorb all of the bounce. Make sure that you are sitting back on your pockets, back flat, and don’t grip with your legs. Keep looking forward and find your balance by allowing yourself to move with the horse.
Cantering
The canter is probably the most fun gait – it has enough speed to make it exhilarating, but is actually very comfortable to ride. The canter is a rocking horse motion, if you watch a horse canter you will see that his front ends comes up, then dips down, then comes back up. The canter is kind of like riding a sitting trot in that you must relax and let your seat or hips move with the horse. The horse can canter on either the right or left “lead” – this simply means that either the right or left front leg is leading the stride. If the horse is turning to the right, he needs to be on the right lead to be balanced. If he is on the right lead, you will find that your right hip is a little in front of your left while you are riding the canter. The opposite is true if the horse is on the left lead. When you ask a horse to go into the canter you have to sit down and move your seat in the saddle like you were already cantering. You may need to squeeze with your outside leg as well. Then relax and go with the motion!
Galloping
You do not want to try a gallop until you have mastered the previous three gaits – if you gallop before you are ready, it will not be a good experience! Also before you gallop, you will want to master the two-point or jump position. The gallop is not a comfortable gait to sit, so we ride it in the two-point so that we are not bounced around. In a two point position you are essentially crouched above the saddle, with all your weight on the stirrups. The key is to balance over the balls of your feet and find the place where you feel if your horse disappeared, you would land on your feet and not fall forwards or backwards.
"The First Step to Staying on the Horse"
The first key to riding is sitting on the horse correctly. No matter what your discipline, if you do not have a balanced position you will not be as comfortable and as effective when you are riding. There are many different styles of riding that have developed over the years, but the fundamentals to staying secure and balanced in the saddle have not changed. Rider position is a topic that we will talk a lot about in the Back to Basics Riding Course - See you there!