How many years should I be riding before I get a horse?
If you are Mongol you might receive a horse on your birthday. My niece received a horse when she was born, from her maternal grandfather. She gets a horse on special occasions. Now she is around 14 years old and has at least 20 horses. Her grandfather has around 100 horses, not much by Mongolian standards. The grandfather makes hints to my brother that it is time to make a separate herd, my brother just smiles.He doesn't do it because he lives in the city. To separate, he needs to have a separate herder, separate horse branding etc. A good person who would look after his horses and take care of them, which is not easy to arrange if you are in the city.Unfortunately my father-in-law doesn't have any horses and I don’t own any, but my kids learn to ride too. In the pic above, my son is learning to sit on a saddle. He was around 1 at the time…
Is horse riding expensive?
Horse riding is not necessarily expensive - no more than, say, learning to race cars.Like racing cars, however, there is a continuum. On a budget, you can read books on driving, find a local track, and purchase ad hoc instruction on the weekends. You can get personalized instruction for a price, or just rent the car and track time by the hour. It’s cheap enough that, if you are unable to afford it, “recreation” probably shouldn’t be on your list of things to do near term.Should you want to own and maintain your own car, things get more expensive. Still, there is a continuum - you can spend a lot, or a little, but maintenance will be ongoing.With horses, you may simply begin taking lessons - either individually or with a group - at intervals that are affordable. You can lease a horse yourself, or share a lease with someone else. How does leasing work with a horse? Essentially, you are agreeing to afford the upkeep - boarding, feed, vet care, and hoof care - but do not own the horse. Should you want a different horse, or your own horse, or no horse, at the end of the lease, you do not have to worry about the fate of your horse. The lease is up, the horse is the actual owner’s responsibility.If you want to own your own horse, the price of the horse can be whatever you want it to be - from free - nominal, to $250,000 or more. But horses are not like cars in this regard, where there is some vaguely discernible correlation among engineering, design, quality, and price. If you know what you’re doing - that is, if you understand horses and conformation - you can find an inexpensive horse and make him an “expensive horse” with proper training and development.What is expensive is undertaking the operation of a grandiose equestrian facility and all that comes with it - in the name of your equestrian habit (much as it would be to open a race track after deciding to take up car racing). Too many confuse the one thing for the other, and end up mired in horse husbandry - having never learned very much at all about horse riding.
Should I take horseback riding lessons?
Hey :) I'm 13, and I just quit gymnastics a month ago. Lately, I've been very interested in horseback riding. - If I do horseback recreationally, using the stable's horse, and not buying any special clothes or equipment, would it be roughly the same cost as gymnastics? -I just thought of this a few days ago, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. How can I be sure that this is what I want to do?? (I want to be sure I want to do this before I ask my parents to spend $200 for 4 lessons) -Any basic tips for lessons, or deciding if I should do it? -but most importantly, is it as fun as it looks? It just looks so exhilarating to go fast and fly through the air on a horse!! Thank you so much, this is a really important decision and I need some help! :) :)
Horse riding after broken tailbone? Read details please!?
I'm going to make a few assumptions and generalizations here based on what you've told us. Hopefully we'll get you the right answer ;) (And I do speak from experience. I've broken mine once and bruised/strained it many many times) Normally when people injure the tailbone in a riding accident, the way that the injury occurs makes the position/angle of hunter/jumpers relatively impossible. The angle of your hips can strain the pelvic area and the tailbone. Riding dressage or saddleseat, where you firmly sit on your seat bones, will alleviate the strain of that joint angle. BUT it can cause some pressure to the seat bones that you're not acoustomed to. And keep in mind that dressage changes ALL body angles compared to hunter/jumpers- so you may find other things hurt now. lol. I switched from hunters and eventing to dressage after my accident when I broke my pelvis and tailbone. After the initial 'soreness' wore off in about 6 months, everything has been great. And I've found that I really enjoy dressage much more! First thing I'd tell you is to start slow with your riding-- go on little 30 minute trail rides And try not to 'hunter hover' or 2 point too much. Just try to sitin the saddle. Also try lengthening your stirups a smidge- this will stretch the thigh, gluts, and back muscles which may not like being pinched now that they accomodate a broken tailbone. Longer stirups and straighter posture often are the easy fix. Give yourself some time. Carry Aleve with you to the barn. And know that your body is going to be S-O-R-E no matter what discipline you're riding b/c it now has to work around an injury that wasn't there before. So you are retraining your muscles to work a different way.
How do I ride a horse?
How do you begin horseback riding?If you're really serious about it …Google “horseback riding lessons near me,” then go to one or more of those stables and talk to them.Once you’ve had a certain number of lessons and know the basics of riding, saddling and horse care — and meet a few horse owners — you're going to discover people who are actually eager for someone to ride their horses, in order to exercise them and keep them from getting bored.One thing, though: They will only let you ride their horses if you gain a reputation as a sober, serious, responsible person who will take really good care of any horse in his/her charge, who will respect the people and horses around the stable, who will pitch in willingly on chores, and who DOESN’T GET INJURED. —One little lawsuity injury and nobody will want you around. Ever.Horseback riding and ownership is a LIFE, not an idle hobby in which you can briefly dabble. If the owners see that kind of commitment in you, you're in.If you're not that serious about it — say you only want to do it once or twice, maybe to make up your mind about how far you want to take it — Google “horseback trail rides near me.”Go to the nearest trail ride stable and take a guided ride. You'll get a helmet, a comfortable, gentle horse, already saddled, and someone who will help you climb aboard. You'll travel out along a trail for an hour or so, through a park or some woods, behind an experienced guide — who might just be a 16-year-old girl..A couple of little warnings about horses:They’re BEINGS just like you, with personalities, feelings and moods. Until you learn to read their expressions, don't assume they're cuddly Care Bears who will never hurt you. They can bite the hell out of you, kick you, step on you (usually it's an accident; it can still break toes), even buck you off and head for the horizon at a gallop. They will also occasionally bite or kick each other; if your leg is in the way, you may catch an unintended consequence.Horses are also big scaredy-cats. Every horse has something like a children's picture book in their heads, a book titled Things Not to be Afraid Of. Everything not in that book is going to scare them, at least a little bit, and none of their books have many pages. They can react to a blowing plastic bag as if it's a mountain lion.
How much time does it take to learn how to ride a horse?
It depends on the horse. It also depends on the rider.I taught horseback riding at a summer camp, so I had to teach around 10 kids at a time how to ride a horse, and had 25 horses to pick from. In a 3 day block (an hour each day), I could take a kid from 0 horse experience to trotting, which is a step up from walking. It took another 3 days to even think about getting them to lope. Some kids were fine to lope after day 4–5 but some took 3 full blocks (9 days) to even try it.The next step varied incredibly wildly. Bareback. We had some kids who wanted to do that from the beginning, so we considered that into our approach and taught them bareback skills, such as riding without stirrups and being more strict with seating and posture. I had never ridden much bareback before this summer, but I was a very solid rider with a good seat and extensive saddle time. It took me all of 30 minutes to learn to lope barebacking comfortably.Those were on horses that (mostly) wanted to cooperate and were chill and easy to ride. There are horses out there that I can’t ride. That could toss me in a second. It'd take years of practicing and getting tossed and breaking bones to master them.Riding is the element of horsemanship that takes the least amount of dedication and natural talent. Moving from rider to horseman takes months of daily effort and getting stepped on and kicked and thrown and messing up and looking like an idiot. It's lifting hay, scooping poop, spending the night in the barn because a horse is sick, it’s total immersion into horses.But one day, you'll walk into the barn and see a horse you've never met and instantly know what it is thinking and how to get in its head and what to do. You’ll know where to stand, where to touch it, how to pet it, when to crack the whip and when to give the carrot. You won't know why you know. You just do. And that's what a horseman is. And you'll never be done. You’ll learn something new every day. You'll challenge yourself every day to do something you've never done before. And you'll fail. Over. And. Over. But one day you'll succeed. And then you’ll find something else to fail at. Go ride a horse. But don't stop there.
Horse riding during periods?
Matilda, what you are talking about is an old wives' tale. And it's easily remedied anyway, simply by your wearing a tampon during your lesson. I used work for someone who was a breeder and had stallions at stud on her farm, and I handled some of the "boys" when I was there. If I had my period, I wore tampons... and I never had even the smallest problem. You shouldn't be riding a stallion in any case, since you're a beginner. I think you need to find another barn to ride at, and I mean that quite seriously. What they have you doing now is NOT SAFE, either for you or for the horse.
How do you improve your horse riding without a horse? I would like to still grow in my riding. But have no access to horses
Like others have said reading books on riding, horse care, training, horse biomechanics, etc.. can help you bring a better sense of what to do and why once you do have more access to a horse. There are rider fitness books and dvds that are aimed to train muscles needed or flexibility for riding in addition to improving specific movements to improve your riding. Some simulate riding motions on a large balance ball or device like the Balimo or Humantool are supposed to help train seat and simulate movements in saddle. Any balance and flexibility or core strengthening are helpful exercises. Yoga, stretching. Many riders like Pilates and there are Pilates routines specifically put together for equestrians. A Bosu or balance board can be helpful to fine tune balance. I also think any work you can do to have inner calmness and be emotionally grounded will be very helpful in working with and riding horses. Meditation, guided visualizations, breathing exercises, etc…But don’t be dismayed if when you do actually get on the horse it doesn’t feel like your body is entirely under control. It takes some time and there is no complete substitute for actual time in the saddle but I do believe you will progress faster with this prep work and be a better rider with these complementary approaches.I am not sure about your exact situation but you don’t have to have a horse necessarily to ride. If there is a riding facility anywhere within reach you could contact them about lessons on one of the horses they have there. Even if you took a bus or something once a month you could make some progress and satisfy your desire to ride and be with horses a bit.
Gymnastics or horseback riding?
Well i can see by your name that i think you have done ballet and tap before.But for me it would be an easy choice. I would take out horse back riding all together. And whether you choose ballet or tap or gymnastics, i think both would be great. By your personality i can tell that you will not like horse back riding. I just find dancing a lot more fun because there is always something new to learn. But in horse back riding i don't think they is much stuff to learn other then how to move your horse in different directions. I am not trying to say horse back riding is bad, but in my opinion i would hate it. I would rather choose dance. I love dancing and i think you will love it to :) Good luck with making the fun/right choice