Horse Riding Basics: the foundations of equitation

“The art of horsemanship is keeping the horse between you and the ground.”

–Robbie Gaskins.

How exactly that feat is accomplished varies from sport to sport, but for everything from polo to cattle roping, you need three things: balance, communication and precision.

1. Balance is the foundation of all riding. You don’t start ballet before you can walk, because you need to know how to stand on your feet before you start leaping and twirling on them! You have to be balanced on your horse before you can do anything else. Your core strength, your position in the saddle and your “seat”–a horsey word for your butt and what it’s doing—all make big differences in your balance.

2. Your horse probably doesn’t speak much English (Noah knows “canter” very well, but has never been able to grasp the word, “Stand.” Or “stop” for that matter…). But pretty much anything you ever try to do in your life requires communication.  Telling the lunch lady you want pizza instead of a salad or showing your brother how to fill water balloons require you to communicate specific commands or instructions. It’s the same with riding, but made more complicated by the fact that you have to learn a whole new language to talk with your horse!

3. Saying something at the wrong time, even if it’s right (like shouting at the movie screen, “Look out, he’s behind you!”) never makes anyone happy. It can also be very confusing. Riding is all about making sure you say exactly what you mean to say exactly when you need to. Cantering when you’re supposed to trot in a dressage test loses you points, and asking your horse with your reins to slow down but asking him with your legs to speed up gets him very frustrated. Precision is what allows the horse and rider to work together.

So doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Check out the entry on sitting properly in the saddle, and come back to see the coming entries on communication and precision to see some of the common mistakes beginning riders make and how you can avoid them!