Horse Riding

Horse riding is loved by all ages of people. Some people start horse riding in their childhood and continues till their old age. Horse riding is really admired by people as a hobby. Besides it provides several benefits to people in improving and maintaining their health.

The following benefits of horse riding are:

• It improved the balance and muscle strength.
• Enhances coordination, fast reflexes and increase motor planning.
• Helps in Stretching of tight muscles.
• Decreases spasticity.
• Enhances the array of motion of joints.
• Helps in improving respiration and circulation.
• Stimulates sensory integration.
• Improves visual spatial observation.
• Recover eye-hand coordination.

Since horses are used as a hobby as well as for transportation therefore it is important for owners to use precautions for horse riding. Tips to be kept in mind while horse riding:

• Riders should keep their heels down as it will help to stop his foot from being caught in the stirrup. It adds on the safety of the rider.
• Riders should keep their head and shoulders up and sit straight up or lean slightly back. This is the best position for riding a horse.
• If the horse is required for races or competitions then the rider should choose nylon – backed stirrup leather. It is quite compatible and unbreakable.
• If the horse is bit lazy then the rider should try leaning back a little with his shoulders behind the vertical. This will help in adjusting his seat according to the size of his legs. Avoid over doing it as it may put strain in the back of your horse.
• Try to avoid wearing jeans while riding as it will make you slip extremely easily. The risk of slipping in jeans is more on an English horse than western. Riding breeches are the best option for riding to overcome this problem.
• Owner should pull the reins gently so that it doesn’t hurt the horse. If the horse loses control, he will hurt the owner and start behaving in an undesired manner. Beginners should not ride alone. They should have someone else present in case of an accident
• Owner should take some riding lessons from instructor if he faces any kind of problem with horses. Riding instructors will teach the rider proper riding methods that will help the rider a lot.
• Rider should act patiently when his horse shows undesired behavior. Instead of getting annoyed at the horse’s behavior, the rider should tackle it pleasantly. Owner should try to understand the cause behind such a behavior before riding.
• It is significant for the rider to provide all the necessary tacks to his horse to keep him safe from dust, rain and sun. The rider should maintain and change the tacks if necessary.

The above mentioned tips would help the rider to improve his way of riding a horse. Riding would become a pleasure after following these tips.