Horse Riding Tips for Beginners - AmO: Life Beauty Without Limits...

Make Safety A Priority

First, you need to make sure that you take safety very seriously as horse riding can be danger-ous if you are not careful. This means staying alert and respecting the horse - you will soon learn to read a horses behavior but to start with you should be extra cautious around them and never approach from their blind spots (behind and directly in front of them). You must also in-vest in all the proper safety equipment and wear this at all times.

Learn with A Great Trainer

Much like when learning to drive, having a great trainer and someone that you feel confident with is vital for building confidence and developing skills initially. You should spend some time researching horse training specialists so that you can find a great trainer that will help you to ride safely, respect the horse and enjoy the experience. Do not shy away from asking questions as this is how you build confidence and learn.

Practice Regularly

As when learning anything new, practice makes perfect when it comes to horse riding so you should try to practice a few times a week. This will help everything to feel familiar, build confi-dence and also allow you to build a relationship with the horse.

Spend Time Grooming & Interacting with The Horse

Leading on from this, you will find it helpful to spend some time on the ground with the horse grooming and interacting with it. This can be a great way to reduce nerves, build a relationship with the horse and allow you to be able to “read” them.

Start with A Walk

To start with, you should start simply with a walk to get used to being in the saddle and to learn basic controls before advancing to a trot or lope. Additionally, you should never ride at a speed that you are not comfortable with and gradually work your way up in terms of speed. As you do develop to a trot or lope, try to match your breathing to the horse’s movements.

These beginner tips will hopefully help you to get to grips with the basic and reduce any nerves that you may be experiencing (this is perfectly natural to start with). Horse riding is an amazing activity and popular for a very good reason, but much like any new activity, it can take some practice and getting used to.