Tips for horse riding???

Question

Hi i have been riding for just under a year now and i was wondering if anyone had ne tips for riding walk trot canter and jumping and for nervousness!Thanx in advanced!

Answer 1

Whatever you do, don't get upset.

In the past I have gotten upset over nothing and that just ruins your riding experience.

Accept your horse for what he is.

A horse.

He is going to act and react to things differently than humans would. Just understand him.

For nervousness, you might just try placing yourself somewhere else. Think about something calming. What's the worst that could happen when you're jumping? Jumping is something you love, I'm guessing! Sure, you might get last place in a class, but that never hurt anyone.

Learn from your mistakes.

And most importantly, just take the time with your horse to enjoy a good canter with the wind in your hair. :)

Answer 2

*Have Fun

*Be Safe

*If you don't get somthing ask your trainer

*Pay attion to what your horse is telling you. (if they are hurt of *scared ect)

*Sit up

*Keep your heels down

*Don't rest your hands on the horses neck

*Expect the Unexpected

*Always Wear a helmat

*Don't pull on your horses mouth.

*Don't lean forward going to the jump

*Be prepared (runouts, falls ect)

*Falling is a part of learning

*Talk to your horse while your tacking and riding

*Praise your horse after your jumps or course to let him know they did a good job

*Don't punish your horse for triping or knocking down a jump

*Don't get stuck doing the same thing (same jumps, same flat work ect) throw in new things everytime you ride

*Try new things. Once in awhile try a western or bareback lesson

*Don't let anyone tell you riding is not a real sport or it is lame and that you should give it up. If you like it keep with it.

~REMEMBER: Horses are like humans. They are not always perfect, they might trip. It is also imporant to remember horses have minds of their own and won't always do as they're told.

~For nervousness:

*Listen to music going to the barn

*Stay relaxed it will keep your horse relaxed

*Tell yourself postive things

Answer 3

Keep still when your on your horse. Don't panic or else you'll fall off. and don't be nervous! Take deep breaths and look straight ahead, and  make sure to sit up straight.

Answer 4

Don't die.

Just kidding, I have been riding for 5-7 years (Cant remember how old I was when I first started riding) and whenever I felt nervous about something I would either:

Dont think about it. Just focus on whats going on now. Like..think about your heels being down, looking where your going, going into your corners, etc. Dont let your mind think of messing up or anything, or else thats exactly what you'll do.

Play a song in your head, that will keep you relaxed and prevent you from feeling stressed out. This is only recommended when you're doing a course that you dont really have to be paying attention in order to do well. Like if you were just doing a trot around, and you dont really have to focus all too much, you can play a song in your head and that will keep you relaxed.

Basically, what I do to keep my mind off of things, I just block it with something else, dont let myself think of it.

There's way too many tips about walking, trotting, cantering, and jumping to say in just one answer. That's what the riding instructors are for :)

But my one tip for you is:

Have fun!

P.S. To the person above:

A lot of your statements are WRONG. (Sorry to be mean)

You want to be on the correct trotting diagnol because it helps keep the horse balanced

To switch diagnols, you sit twice, not once, sitting once will keep you on the wrong diagnol

Theres NO SUCH THING as a CANTERING DIAGNOL

It is NOT DANGEROUS to check your own cantering LEAD because you do NOT have to LEAN FORWARD. You just look down. You do NOT need somebody else to look for you.

You must be on the right CANTERING LEAD because it helps keep your horse balanced on tight turns, not just jumping. It will not "stumble" because its on the wrong lead. It will lose its balance when doing a tight turn on the wrong lead, because the leading leg will not be supporting the correct side of the horse when turning.

A lead is when your horse is cantering, and one of its legs is always moving further forward then the other leg. You want the INSIDE leg (Leg closest to the middle of the arena) to be the leading leg. Ex.) When the horse's right leg is closest to the middle of the arena, you want them on the right lead.

To canter: Squeeze/kick with your OUTSIDE leg a bit behind the girth. Squeezing/kicking the flank will NOT "most likely" make the horse buck. It depends on the horse. It could be a very calm horse that will just act startled when squeezed or kicked there. You dont have to "place your inside leg" on the girth. In fact, putting pressure on the inside leg while trying to get the horse to canter will make it more confusing for the horse to know what to do.

Also, with your inside rein, gently turn your horse's head towards the middle of the arena, so that it knows which direction it would be going, helping it know which lead to pick up.

The only reason why the person above thinks that the correct lead is important during jumping is because when doing a jumping course, there may be turns where you must switch your leads, and your horse may not land on the correct lead after the jump.

Also, you do not have to trot and change your leads, you can do a flying lead switch over a jump or on the ground. It takes an experienced rider to do a lead switch though, and a horse that knows how to do a proper lead switch as well.

Answer 5

Dont fall off.

Answer 6

Well, the best way to keep safe and comfortable would be to always have a contact on your horses mouth.  Your hands should be in the position - a straight line from the horse's mouth to you elbow and beyond and sitting up straight (but not rigid) so that there is an imaginary straight line between your ear, shoulder, hip and heel.  You will need someone to check this sometimes until you get the feel of it.  Do not grip but allow the force of gravity to pull your legs down and back so that you are in a natural position.  You should be sitting on your seat bones and get the feel of them.  To acheive this you will need to take your knees and legs away from the saddle and you will be sitting on your seat bones.  Keeping that feeling slowly and gently bring your legs back in and down.

In trot - rising is at first hard, but really you need to just allow the horses movement and rythm throw you up and let you down.  Check your diagonals.  I do not have time to discuss this.

In canter shorten your outside rein - gets the horse ready to expect something different - keep your inside leg on the girth and bring your outside lower leg back a bit (prevents horse swinging his back end out and go forward to sitting trot - in a short corner of the school ask for canter and you should just sit and swing along with the horse.

For nervousness in general -- lunge lessons are a must.  A lunger controls the horse while you can do all sorts of fun things improving balance, co-ordination etc.  These lessons would last about 1/2 hour because it is hard work for the horse.  You might be then sent loose for the next half of the lesson.

Hope this has helped.  And if you do not like your teacher then say.  Ask for another!

It is all about balance, confidence in yourself and your horse.

In walk allow your hips to be swung by the horse's movement, keep upright and relaxed.  You can learn to slow your horse down simply by slowing down the movement of your hips.

Answer 7

Heels down, shoulders back, look up.

Never look down, it throws off your balance, look up and beyond jumps. As far as nervousness, just suck it up, I know what it feels like getting nervous and what I do is sing! Call me crazy, but it works.

When I was retraining the unridable (everyone was afraid of him, in fact he was going to be killed for aggression) horse, when he reared and bucked, I sang while riding him. To keep my cool and calm I sang, it's something I enjoy. If you don't like singing, find something you like saying or thinking about and focus on that a bit. :). Or pop some music into a stero and jam out on horseback lol.

Good luck sweety

Answer 8

If you want a way to get closer to your horse while riding, try riding without any equipment. Bareback really isn't as hard as it looks. All you need to do to say comfortable and balanced is keep one hand on his shoulder/wither area so you don't slide into it and hurt yourself, and keep the other hand firmly on a chunk of his mane ( don't pull his hair though )

Answer 9

If your horse bolts or won't stop running then use the One Rein Stop. Just get one rein and PULL HARD! Many horses can't run 45 mph in a tight circle! If the horse still running (with head turned) then let him run it out of him. Horses are prey so when they since danger they immediately start running. Just talk to him and try to calm him down. Just remember horses can't run forever!

Answer 10

use your legs to squeeze to hold on, the nervousness will be there for awhile. I barrel race and every time I am about to go into the arena I have butterflies to the max! But its a good adrenalin rush! All i say is keep riding and riding it will start to come naturally for you and the horse you are riding... of course learn all you can and practice all you can.

Good luck

Answer 11

Just relax, that is the best way, as the horse or pony would sense you therefore they will feel much more relaxed aswell. Horses can sense nervous, frightened people and that does not help as that what will make the horse feel nervous aswell as uneasy. It will take time, and eventually you will gradually get much more confident as well as the horse.

Good Luck!

Answer 12

always stay relaxed. when you go in to two point during the jump always keep your heels down and your back strait.  never lean forward( i learned that the hard way) always wear a helmet. and just have fun.

Answer 13

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...  - check this out and email me or answer if you're interested. There's a section in it that should help you :-)

Answer 14

Walking-

Unless you are doing dressage, when you're walking lengthen your reins so your horse can relax a bit.

Trotting-

Trot without stirrups to improve your balance, and help your sitting trot.

Cantering-

Don't grip with you knees/ upper leg.

Sit up straight, Keep your heels down and look where your going. Sort of "stretch" your legs.

Jumping-

When you turn to a jump, squeeze going up to in, then a few strides before, stop squeezing, then squeeze again. Keep you leg on the whole way over the jump, until you land and start to ride away

Nervousness-

Expect your horse to do what you want him to do! If you are coming up to a jump thinking "He's going to refuse" The horse is more likely to refuse!

Hope that helped!

Answer 15

In riding there are things called diagonals... they are when you and your horse are riding at the right time.

these are more technical.

TROTING DIAGONAL: when every you are trotting have a look to see if your on the right diagonal. to do so, look to the horses outside front leg when it steps forward you sit up, when it go's back you sit down. this will make it more comfortable for you and your horse. if you find that you are on the wrong diagonal then just sit once to the trot then continue rising. if you are on the right leg to the trot it will make it easyier to get on the right leg/diagonal in the canter...

CANTERING DIAGONAL: this is mostly important in jumping so that your horse dosent stumble, hop (or worse) when coming to a jump. to get on the right leg in the canter, you place your inside leg on the girth and your outside leg a bit futher back from the girth (but NOT at the horses flank, if you kick there they will most likley buck you off!) when you are ready sit to the trot and go into the canter. when you are in the canter you can check your diagonal. but it will be to hard and dangerous to check your own cantering diagonal because then you will need to bend over and look at the legs. so instead you get someone else to. they will look at the horses legs and if the outside, front leg is leading the canter, then you are on the right diagonal. but if you are on the wrong diagonal, it would be a good idea to go back to a trot and start the canter again from  trot.

you will soon get used to these techniques and do it automatically!

hope that helps! :-)

but the main thing of all HAVE FUN!!

PS. sorry "horse1lady" thats just the way i have been taught oh and u were right about about the sit to the trot once i was stuck on that, wondering if it was sit to the trot once or twice.