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Riding
is a partnership. |
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The Rider |
First Lessons | ||||
 
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Before you mount - checking your gear Even before you get on for the first time you should be shown how to check your horses girth (the large strap that holds the saddle on the horse's back) and how to correctly lead your horse out to the mounting area. Hopefully, you'll have been introduced to your horse and have had a few minutes to get to know one another.
It's important that you check your gear prior to mounting each time you ride, particularly the girth. Even if your mount is tacked up and waiting for you, when you arrive for your lesson, it's still your responsibility to check your gear. After all, it'll be you that's dumped unceremoniously on the ground if your saddle slips around to the horse's belly! To check the girth, try slipping your fingers between the horse's belly and the girth, if you can't you're ok. At the same time, don't be too fierce about this, you need the saddle to stay on but think about your horse. If you had to run around with a really tight belt on your pants, how would you feel? Very loose girths are often promoted by advanced riders, as it is balance not the girth that should be keeping you on while riding but it is impractical and dangerous advice for jumping or eventing and not for beginners. It can be a good idea to do another quick check once you've walked your horse out to the mounting area, some horse's will extend their stomachs when the girth is done up and the little walk will cause them to expel some air. Check it again once you mount up or arrive out at the lesson area. If this sounds paranoid, remember its your body that's on the line! |
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| On this Page | |||||
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Mounting Sitting Correctly At the Walk At the trot Dismounting |
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| Related Pages | |||||
| This may
be your first fear, you're going to make a fool of yourself getting on (or
attempting to). In fact you may not have to worry
about this at all, until you want to. Most riding schools have
mounting blocks, these will get you up off the ground enough to make
mounting much easier and safer.
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Using a mounting block is much better for your horse. There is considerable strain on a horse's back when riders are mounting from the ground. This is one reason why you'll see even very experienced riders using a mounting block or getting a leg up. Riding school horses are even more susceptible to back strain with frequent use by inexperienced riders, so its a good idea to continue using the mounting block even after you feel more comfortable with your riding skills. You'll also help save the stirrup leathers, which will stretch in time on one side (and need to be swapped occasionally).
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Sitting on a horse | ||||
| There are two basic riding
seats (excluding western style riding which I confess I know nothing
about). The first used for all flatwork is the one you will be
taught initially and is shown in the picture on the left.
The position you should be aiming for is as follows; imagine a vertical line runs from your heel, through the point of your hip to your shoulder and on to your ear. Contact with the saddle should be evenly distributed between your two seat bones. Your back must be both straight and supple (particularly the lower back) to absorb the movement of your horse. Ideally your legs will be slightly bent (an angle of around 110? should exist at the back of your knee) and should stretch down around the horse, as long as possible. However, when you first start your instructor may put your stirrups up to stop you losing them and as you progress they will be let down. Your legs will be turned slightly inward to allow your knee to sit correctly and your feet to remain parallel to the horse's body. The insides of your legs lightly touch your horse's side, without gripping. Your heels should be lower than your toes, with the stirrup under the ball of your foot.
The Lesson format and Instructors Sound complex? Well, it is but you're going to get a lot of reminders over the course of your lessons about where your various body parts should be and how you should be using them. Like any new physical activity it takes time and practice before you become competent and confident. You'll find that you'll probably remember to do one or two things at first and your instructor will remind you about the rest. Until you get more used to the whole process you may find yourself 'ping-ponging' from one area of concentration to another - when your hands are low and soft your legs will do strange things and vice-versa. You'll also find that you learn in 'layers' and keep coming back to refine basic principles again and again as you progress. One thing that might take you by surprise is the specialist terminology used by your instructor. While you might be prepared to learn the names of the different bits of tack having to learn a new term for 'go to the left' or 'slow down' might be a little unexpected. Don't worry, if you don't understand an instruction just ask, any good instructor will explain everything to you and its quite normal at first for you to ride almost oblivious to the instructor because you don't hear or don't understand something.
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Lesson at the walk | ||||
| Once on your horse, you
may be apprehensive about being expected to control your mount or worry
about falling off when you are trotting or at speed. Don't worry,
most of your first few lessons will be at the walk (if they aren't, its
time to re-evaluate your instructor/school). You will also find that
a well schooled horse will not leave the arena, even though there is often
only a tiny barrier. If in doubt, your horse will turn in towards
your instructor and stop, rather than running randomly around the school
as you may fear. Indeed, later on in your lessons, you will find
that one of your biggest problems is getting your horse to continue at the
requested pace, rather than slowing down or stopping when he/she gets to
where ever the instructor happens to be standing.
At the walk you are going to learn how to sit on your horse correctly, how to adjust your stirrup leathers, how to hold the reins, how to feel the horse's leg position through your body and generally how to move with the movements of your horse.
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| At the trot | |||||
| Once you have mastered the
basics of sitting correctly on a horse and have some idea of how to move
with the horse's movement at the walk you'll move on to the trot.
The rising trot requires that you rise slightly from the saddle on one beat and sit on the next beat of the trot. This is achieved by using the muscles of the thigh, stomach and the momentum of the horse's movement. The aim is to move your hips toward the pommel (front) of the saddle and land lightly back in the seat, rather than a bobbing up and down movement. It is important that you neither use your legs to stand nor your upper body to lever yourself from the saddle, as this will not give you the required freedom of movement for your lower legs and will cause your arms to move about too much, pulling on your horse's mouth. You'll spend quite a long time refining your rising trot, so don't expect to get it straight away but you should have the basics in a few lessons. When riding on a circle you must rise in time with the movement of the outside diagonal pair of legs to make it easier for your mount. Initially you will need to check the movement of your horse's outside shoulder to see which diagonal you are on. You should rise when the outside shoulder is moving forward. (see terminology) i.e. when the front outside leg is off the ground. During your first lessons you will probably have short periods of sitting trot to improve your riding and some of these will be without stirrups. At first you may need to hold on to the front of the saddle (or a neck strap) for security but with frequent practice you'll be able to work without stirrups and then with stirrups in the sitting trot. Strangely, sitting without stirrups is easier than with because it takes away the ability to brace against the stirrups which pushes you out of the seat.
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| Getting Off - Dismounting | |||||
Dismounting, like mounting,
is all about staying safe and in control of your mount. As you are
about to dismount take both feet out of your stirrups and take the
opportunity to give your ankles a good wake up, so that hitting the ground
won't be so much of a shock.
So that's what you can roughly expect from your first few riding lessons, doesn't sound too scary now does it? Get out there and have some fun!
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Virtually Horses 2002
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Mounting and dismounting are two of the most dangerous times in riding,
you should always concentrate fully on your horse and try to mount or
dismount as quickly as possible. 
When
you do get onboard please don't sit there and bounce up and down in the
saddle until you get comfy. Remember, there is a living being
underneath you, not a lounge chair! That's his\her back you're bouncing on!
Your
arms should hang at your sides to your elbow, your forearm making a direct
line from your elbow to your horse's mouth via the reins. Your hands
should be held with thumbs upright, a little rounded at the wrist to
provide 'give' for your horse's movements. The reins pass between
your little finger and ring finger, up through your hand and out over your
index finger. Your thumb gently holds the rein in place.
You
may also do some basic limbering exercises to get you used to working on
horseback and to help you keep your legs in the right position while you
move your body.