Everything you need to know to begin riding! By: Chesney Gardner
What you need to know!
Safety #1 Safety is a very important part of horseback riding. Horseback riding is a very dangerous activity. Many lives have been lost due to horses or horseback riding. To stop these fatalities or injuries, people should start taking precautions like wearing a helmet anytime they are riding. Helmets are a very easy way to stay safe. Helmets protect the head and if the rider falls the helmet could help the rider from dying or gaining a very dangerous head injury. Another way to stay safe is to always wear the correct riding clothes. It is a necessity that riders wear properly fitted clothes. There are certain clothes riders can buy to help them. These types of clothes can contain:a fabric with a nice grip to the saddle on a pair of breeches, good gripping gloves and and tall boots that are fitted in case the rider has to dismount. To be safe, you also need to know that horse may seem tame, but can buck or bolt at any moment. Horses may seem safe but it is all good to take certain precautions. Learning how to do a emergency dismount is a good technique to know. When you do an emergency dismount, you swing both of your legs out of the stirrups and roll on to the ground away from the horse. This helps because you may never know when you will need to dismount off a horse. Take these precautions and stay safe while riding.
This is a regular riding helmet
This is the regular English saddle.
Two to Choose There are two main styles of horseback riding. English and Western. There are many differences between the two styles of riding. There are many different events for each style. Some events of Western style riding consist of cutting, reining and barrel racing. Most of Western riding classes can be seen at a rodeo , like cutting and barrel racing, but others types of classes are in Western riding shows. Western riding shows are shows where riders can only compete in Western classes. In Western riding shows you always need to be riding in a Western saddle.Look at both images to see the difference between the Western and English saddle. English riding is a completely different style in riding. Some events of English riding are jumping, dressage, English pleasure and English flat classes. Most people prefer to ride English although many people ride Western too. If you want to ride English, there are horse shows that are mainly for English style of riding. At these shows you will be judged and could possibly win a ribbon. To be a great rider at either style, try to practice all you can. One day it will come in handy.