Have You Been Getting Your Horse Moving?

When you decide to ride your horse you would be wise to think a few things over before you mount up. Practically every rider will fall off a horse at least once in their lifetime. An experienced horse person may take risks that to them are simply the natural way of doing things. If you do not have years of experience with horses take your time to learn good horse riding skills.

Once you are on your horses back you use the correct riding aids to ask him to move forward. If you do not know the exact aids you could take a few riding lessons, read them up in a horse riding book, or ask some one who does.

If you are new to horse riding, it is always helpful and supportive to have some one, with horse riding know how, to watch you and give you advice. If your horse is new to having some one on their back the same concept applies, have some one around. This provides an important step in safety when working with horses.

Safety cannot be overemphasized when horse riding. Accidents can happen and should be prevented. When you mount up and are safely in the saddle you can ease your horse to move forward by gently giving him a nudge by squeezing his sides with your heels.

Your heel should touch his flesh just behind the girth. Your horse will take some steps forward and you will want to support this action by allowing your hands to move with his motion. If your hands are pulling tight on the rein this will send a confusing message to your horse.

The advantage of riding a trained horse is that they know how to respond appropriately to the rider's aids. When you ask him to move forward in a walk there is little chance that he will buck or bolt in that exact moment.

There are horses that may well ignore your leg aid to "walk on" for a variety of reasons. You can use a riding crop to tap him behind your leg as you give the leg aid. Use your voice and in an authoritative tone say "walk on". The use of spurs is not recommended for any rider until they have learned and mastered the basic riding skills.

Once your horse is moving forward allow your hands and body to gently move with his motion. You do not need to sit rock still and fix your hands on the reins; this will only hinder you forward moving progress.

Turning in either direction is once again directed from the rider's seat using leg aids. The reins are used as a guide, not to yank him in a different direction. You only need to watch a single western movie to see how the action is exaggerated. A horse's mouth is sensitive and pulling or yanking on the reins will hurt.

Learning to go forward and turning are important lessons to learn. Once you have successfully got your horse to respond well, you can then learn and attempt to have him go backwards. Every rider will at some time in their riding career have to ask their horse to go backwards.

Once you get moving forward you can proceed from a walk to a trot and then a canter. You do your horse a service to warm him up first; if you simply start cantering he will be more susceptible to injury. Treat your horse well and he will be fit and healthy giving you many pleasurable riding days.