Sports Realm

No matter if you are engaged in horseback riding lessons on a horse provided by your school or riding your own animal, it is critical that you are able to maintain the horse’s complete attention. If not, you will not get much out of your lessons.

When using a school horse you will find it may often doze during a lesson, this is because they have done the routine so many times and it is simply bored. When first taking horseback riding lessons, as a beginner it can be difficult to change a sequence of movements because your full attention is on steering the horse and producing the correct aids.

However if you want to keep your horse interested while learning to ride a horse you need to vary the routine a bit. There are a number of easy things you can do to keep your horse awake and interested during these lessons.

You need to know what your ability is and choose exercises within it, then use them to keep the lessons interesting for you and the horse.

If you’re taking horseback riding lessons ask your instructor if you can use these warm-up exercises appropriate to your level before the lesson starts. You might even have her use these for the whole class!

1. Walk

Take your horse and walk it with a light contact around the arena on both reins. After this take it on a 20 meter circle with a strong contact, begin with the easiest side. Get the horse to walk in long strides followed by short strides, then long strides to finish.

Slow down and then turn in the other direction and circle that way. Before you turn the horse around walk it for at least one horse length in a straight line. Swap between long and short strides again.

Your horse should now be alert to your aids because you’re switching movements and he has to pay attention.

Now ride the horse in figure eights, try to keep the changes between right and left as smooth as possible. Always walk one horse length before you change directions.

2. Trot

The above exercises can also be performed in trot, and are an excellent way to prevent your horse from getting ’stuck’ in one direction and leaning on one rein.

Introduce changes between trotting and walking, and then return to trotting once more. Try hard to make easy changes, in order to get the horse to listen compliantly to our aids and starts to accede to your contact.

If you are a more competent rider you can trot serpentines in 3 loops across the area. Try to get the horse to walk a few strides as you transition to a trot while riding from one long side to another. As you go on you will notice the horse is waiting for your aids, this is the objective, remember to use your legs and keep a forward movement. Be wary of the horse becoming hesitant between transitions as he begins to guess what is coming. To avoid this change up between trot and walk in different places.

3. Canter Exercises

Lengthen through the long sides and collect the horse when coming to the short side. Transition between canter and trot, then back to canter, doing this keeps the attention of the horse, so will going in 20 meter circles at different stride lengths.

All the above exercises help your horse become attentive because you’re varying the routine and suppling his body, making it easier for him to do as you ask. If you make your horse’s task more pleasant for him, he’ll make your horseback riding lessons more pleasant for you.

On his how to horse ride site, Jim provides simple and comprehensive lessons including video instructions. Learn how to ride a horse the easy and the comfortable way.