Horse riding is a sport which also develops into a passion for some people. They engage in it throughout their lives because it becomes part of their lifestyle. It requires time and effort to become a skillful horse rider, however, the nature of the sport brings its own benefits such as good mental and physical health and a certain bond with nature.
Even though you can ride a horse without lessons, it is better to take them to do so. Confidence when riding a horse comes with experience and good training and therefore it is a better option to take lessons.
However, if an individual does not prefer taking lessons, they can choose to ride safely on a broke horse. Also, if one is riding the horse for recreational purposes, no real training is required.
Riding a horse without practice might make a person nervous. Horses can sense danger and fear and may get jumpy if their rider is scared, making the whole experience unnerving.
Even if one is brave enough to climb a horse and ride it, it is better to train oneself and their body to work with it smoothly for a decent amount of time.
Why Are Lessons Important and Preferred?
Unlike bicycling, riding a horse is a completely different experience. Being on a live, fully grown animal requires some confidence and tips such as where to place your feet and how to sit comfortably.
Lessons and training help make the process easier, and you learn things with a trainer that you would otherwise be unable to think of. There are many other reasons why taking lessons for horse riding if you want to pursue it regularly can prove advantageous.
Riding Confidence and Reducing Fear
Taking lessons builds confidence in the rider. Regular practice of getting on and off a horse, steering it, and getting used to its pace can improve the quality of the horse riding experience. The fear of riding an animal wears off more quickly through training and supervision.
Cues and Horse Movements
During lessons, you will learn the different ways in which a horse can trot and lope, which will otherwise be a hassle to learn on your own. You will also learn the cues and kicking movements in order to make the horse canter and gallop.
Safety Precautions
The typical horse riding experience may involve one riding a horse at a slow pace, but in case one practices to ride a horse fast or for events like Rodeo, a lot of training and lessons go into the safety of the horse and the rider. It is likely to fall off a fast galloping horse when you start practicing riding it, and through lessons, one can learn emergency landings and dismounting the horse. These practices and lessons reduce the risk of serious injuries.
Constant Supervision
Being human, we all find easy ways out of things, and being on your own can lead to one learning bad habits. Under supervision and coaching, you are unlikely to fall into that trap. For instance, a trainer will make sure you wear safety gear when riding. You might slack while doing that when on your own.
Practicing How to Balance on a Horse
An important thing when riding a horse is learning how to balance oneself, and that is possible when you practice on a horse. A trainer can explain to you the dos and don`ts of balancing. It is crucial because being off-balance can put you at a risk of falling down and experiencing a serious accident.
Not Everyone Lives on a Barn and Owns a Horse
It is not convenient to own a horse for every horse lover. Housing small pets is easy due to their size and convenience of looking after them. Horses require grazing grounds to feed and big stables to live in.
These things take up a lot of cost and time of the owner. For some people, it is difficult to regularly engage in their passion of horse riding due to reasons such as living in apartments and being unable to arrange space to ride a horse or shelter one. If you take lessons instead, this problem is eliminated.
Trained and Untrained Horses
If you just bought a completely untrained horse to ride, then it is recommended to get training for both your horse and yourself. Just like a brand new pet that needs taming, a horse requires relationship building with the owner. It needs to get comfortable with him or her.
The owner will have to read and learn the horse`s body language and will make mistakes on the way. The whole process will require a lot of patience; more than what will be required if both of you have a good instructor or trainer.
Even if your horse is trained, some lessons are required for you yourself. Horses learn cues through training to be led around, and the rider should be aware of these cues to get on the saddle confidently. In such cases, broke horses are the best option as they are fully trained to understand simple to technical cues by any rider.
Horse Riding Lessons Without Riding a Horse
Now that everything is easily available on the internet, one can also learn a few things regarding riding a horse without actually being on one. Even though a practical, hands-on experience is always better, but under circumstances where lesson taking is not possible, a few tips can help you learn how to ride a horse without taking lessons.
- Broke horses can come in handy in this case. These horses are trained to follow directions and carry any kind of a rider. They are given a lot of training to know more than just the basic cues.
- Online videos about caring for a horse can also increase your overall knowledge regarding horse riding. You will not just get a horse and start riding it; you will also have to learn how to clean, tie, and groom it. You would also need to know how to put on a saddle and a bridle on a horse. Videos and tutorials, in this case, will be helpful.
- Some tutorials regarding cues can give you good enough knowledge about how to tame a horse. You can learn horse movements and responses in reply to your own movements and verbal cues through the experiences of others.
There are only a limited number of things you can learn sitting at home, and therefore it is advisable to join horse riding classes instead of trying to figure things out on your own.
If it is a One Time Thing, Then No Lessons are Needed
If you are planning to go horse riding just for a day for fun with your family and friends, then it is not advisable to take lessons. You would only need someone to help you up on the horse and ride in a small area of ground where you can ride the horse under supervision.
Many people go horse riding this way, but these trained or broke horses move slow and don`t canter in order to keep newbies safe.
The only thing you will have to make sure in this case is to sit on a trained horse, which would move slowly and not be too jumpy.
It is true that the internet offers plenty of knowledge regarding a variety of things, including horse riding, but sports cannot be fully learned and enjoyed without being on ground. We all have tendencies to learn things on our own, but it is important to take proper lessons for any skill, including horse riding, to fully enjoy and learn the sport.