Riding costs chucks of time, money and energy. Of all the sports a youngster could start, I figured it probably only outranks curling in the chances of it earning her a scholarship to college (but, it turns out I’m wrong! Check out my new scholarship blog post). And as parents likely notice, riding also puts their child in direct partnership with a very large and sometimes exceedingly foolish animal.
So why should you let your daughter ride?
Honestly, it is for those exact reasons listed above that I think anyone vaguely interested in riding should dive right in. Here’s why.
Read more on To ride or not to ride……
I can only go in so many circles around the arena before I lose it and start squeaking like the hamster I feel like. It’s at that point that I prudently head out on a trail ride to give Noah and me a much-needed change in scenery.
Trail riding can be fun, relaxing or even competitive (yes, there are trail riding competitions…) But open trails can also add new elements that every rider needs to consider.
My golden rule is never ride outside without someone knowing where you’re going and when you’ll be back. This way, everyone back home knows when to start worrying, and can relax until then. On a similar note, I ALWAYS ride with a cell phone. This is a must if you are going to ride alone, and a good idea even if you have company.
Here are ten tips for staying safe and happy out on the trails:
- Practice makes perfect. If you can’t get your horse to stop in an arena, you can bet a pound of carrots he won’t stop out on the trail. So practice transitions, rein-backs (backing up), emergency dismounts, maybe even how to open and close a gate–all in the arena before you tally-ho out into the open. Read more on 10 Trail Riding Safety Tips – Happy Trails…
Okay, so moving on: today is the saddle. If you are riding a bony thoroughbred like most of my friends do, then you can be very thankful to have those couple of inches of leather between you and the infamous spines of a racehorse backbone!
The front of a saddle is called the pommel. Western saddles have a large knob called a saddle horse attached to the pommel for securing lassos. The dip in the middle is the seat and that’s where you park your butt. The rear of the saddle is the cantle. The saddle flaps reach down from both sides of the saddle to protect your leg from the horse’s side and your horse’s side from your leg. There is also a stirrup on each side, with a stirrup leather looping through a metal stirrup iron. Your feet go here. Apparently, the invention of the stirrup revolutionized ancient warfare from horseback, as the cavalry stopped suddenly sliding off the side of their mounts. You’ll like them too. A saddle pad or blanket goes underneath the saddle to keep the saddle clean and if necessary help evenly distribute the weight of you and the saddle. Two panels filled with a soft stuffing run underneath the saddle. The whole shebang is kept on the horse by a big band called the girth that runs under the horse’s belly and buckles in on either side of the saddle.
Ever tried a 5000 piece puzzle? Or tried to assemble Ikea furniture? Or maybe tried to build a jet engine—without a blue print? The first time I tried to tack up a pony, it felt pretty much like all of those. And the first time I took apart a bridle and tried to put it back together…well, it would have stolen the show at a Picasso exhibit.
A bit of practice, luckily, is all it takes (which is more than can be said for Ikea ventures). To start with, pretty much anything you dress a horse in is called ‘tack.’ And that’s why horse supply stores are often called ‘tack shops,’ and horse equipment closets are ‘tack rooms.’
Today we’ll talk about the bridle. A bridle is what goes on a horse’s head. It is made up of six to eleven pieces, depending on what kind it is. A bridle has reins, which attach to a bit that goes in the horse’s mouth. This setup allows you to give directions to your horse. An English bridle has a noseband or cavisson that attaches around the horse’s nose. Most Western bridles do not have a cavisson. The bit is attached to two cheek pieces which, coincidentally, run up the horse’s cheek to the crown piece. The crown piece sits like a crown behind the horse’s ears and, together with the throat latch that circles under the cheek, holds the whole thing on the horse’s head.
A saddle and a bridle are a great start to riding. But, of course, there is much, much more.
A standing martingale prevents a horse from throwing its head up. It attaches from the girth to the cavisson, with a strap around the neck. A standing martingale should never be used while jumping because it limits a horse’s freedom of motion. A running martingale acts like a pulley to give the rider more downward leverage on a horse’s head. Rather than attaching firmly to the cavisson like a standing martingale, a running martingale has two straps ending in loops that can ‘run’ freely up and down the reins. Little rubber rings called rein stops should always be used with a running martingale.
Chest plates or breast collars help keep a saddle from sliding backwards. They are common in Western riding, jumping and hunting. Breast collars have a strap that runs around the base of a horse’s neck with straps that attach to each side of the saddle and one that attaches to the girth underneath the horse’s belly. A breast collar can also have a running martingale attached. A chest plate is very similar but instead of having a complete loop around the horse’s neck, it is a Y-shape that attaches to each side of the saddle, meets at the center of the chest and connects to the girth between the horse’s front legs.
Read more on Horsey Accessories…
photography by Dave Russell
Fear… It happens to everyone. Your horse spooks at a trash can, you miss the spacing on a jump, you lose your balance in the canter or maybe you even fall–and suddenly the thought of throwing your leg back over the saddle makes your stomach flip.
At some point, something will scare you about riding. Maybe you started out scared or maybe something spooked you after you got started. I’d never been afraid of anything until my horse and I completely crashed through a 3’ 9” jump before a competition–and I mean we took out all eight poles and both standards–and suddenly even warmup fences seemed insurmountable. It doesn’t matter where the fear snuck in. The trick is to first recognize the feeling, next control it, then plan out your actions and finally just go for it!
There is nothing wrong with being afraid. The more you try to pretend you aren’t or the more you punish yourself for feeling that fear, the harder it will be to honestly address the issue. Or worse, you’ll do something you’re not ready to do just to “prove” you’re not scared. My infamous crash happened right before I was supposed to compete. I’d been training Noah for four years and although every warmup fence after that crash was terrible, because we were both so shaken, I thought it would be “chickening out” to forfeit the competition. So we tried anyway. Noah refused to jump the fourth fence and we narrowly avoided getting seriously hurt. I should have recognized that we were not ready to take on that course after our accident, but I was too embarrassed to admit my fear. You don’t have to make this mistake–be brave enough to listen to yourself and your horse. Be brave enough to know you’re not ready! Read more on Conquer Fear — 4 easy steps to getting “back on the horse”…
If you share an arena with other riders, knowing what to do can help avoid accidents.
Here are ten simple rules to follow whenever there are other riders around:
1. Call out, “Door!” before you open a door to an arena, and wait for a response before you enter. This will let anyone inside know you are there and they will be able to let you know when it is safe to enter.
2. Mount and adjust tack in the center of the arena, where you are out of the way of other riders. Stopping along the rail blocks the way for anyone else who is riding.
3. Leave at least one horse-length between your horse and another horse. Riding too closely can scare horses or result in a horse or rider getting kicked.
4. Often at big gatherings, riders tie a red ribbon onto the tail of any horse that kicks. Make sure to give plenty of room to any horse with a red ribbon in its tail. And if your horse is a kicker, make sure you tie on a red ribbon!
Read more on Riding Etiquette — 10 Keys to Friendly Riding…
My uncle, who’s a family doctor, calls horses “women’s motorcycles.” But luckily, you can follow a few simple guidelines that minimize the risk inherent to trying to boss around an animal that outweighs you by a factor of ten and thinks plastic bags, squirrels and fallen branches are deadly enemies.
Here are ten things you can do to keep yourself and your horse safe.
1. Wear appropriate riding gear. This includes a proper riding helmet, riding boots, riding pants, a belt, a sleeved shirt, and a protective vest for cross country and other higher risk sports. Just don’t ride if you don’t have these things–it’s not worth it!
2. Don’t panic. No matter what happens, the most important thing you can do is stay calm. The moment you lose your cool, you lose the ability to think clearly. Plus, if you panic, your horse will figure whatever has you spooked is worth him worrying about too!
3. Practice emergency situations. This is one of the best ways not to panic. Learn and practice emergency dismounts and how to stop a runaway horse. Practice riding without stirrups in case you accidentally lose one. Practice, practice, practice riding with a deep, balanced seat! When these things have become second nature, you’ll be able to respond without thinking, no matter what happens.
Read more on Horse Safety — Top 10 Safety Tips for Riders…
I first fell in love on August 11, 2001, one month before my 16th birthday. His name was Noah and he was in that awkward “still-growing” teenage phase, a little gangly and uneven. His hair was a brilliant red-gold, and he had the deepest brown eyes a girl could ever lose herself in. All I needed was my mom’s consent for us to be together… and four thousand dollars.
Whoever says you can’t buy happiness has never bought her first horse.
Of course I promised I’d ride him every day. And I did that, pretty much. I also said I’d take care of him.
Right. I’d just gotten my driver’s license, had four honors classes and AP Spanish at school, and I ran cross country. I cleaned stalls after school–you think it’s a chore picking up after a dog?! Try 50 pounds of poop. Per day. I also fed him whenever I could, but it wasn’t nearly enough. And you can guess who was picking up the slack. My poor mother was out there every day that I wasn’t, feeding and mucking (a glamorous horsy term for picking up horse manure).
Here’s the bottom line. Horses are a lot of work and cost a lot of money. If he’s your horse and no one else’s, there’s no one else to ride him if you don’t. And if you don’t have the time to care for your horse, you’ll need the money to pay someone else to.
Read more on Horse Care — Beware…
