Riding

RIDING

SOME TIPS FOR NOVICE RIDERS
Lt. Cot T S Pandher, RVC (Retd)

1. The horse moves in two ways. One on his own terms and secondly ridden by the rider. Almost 80% of the time it is the horse who dictates terms and gives the rider a ride. It is upto him. Luckily horses are generally nice and generous beings and with all the discomfort they feel of uncooperative shifting of weight on their backs and jabbing at their mouths by the riders, they still give a reasonably good service. The other way is when the rider rides the horse. Here the horse is driven by the rider with his legs and hips on to his hands (which hold the reins to the mouth of the horse) which support the horses head with a nice contact and then coordinate his weight with the movement of the horse.

2. Well, the last sequence is the essence of good riding. The difference between a good and a not so good rider is how easily you can do it and master the art. Very simple yet difficult, and the rider would do well to grasp it as early as possible.

3. On your first visit to the riding school the Ustaad” tells you the position of the rider, about how you should sit on the horse. The tips here are, do not sit on the crotch with the shoulders leaning forward but feel your two seat bones on the saddle under you, and sit straight yet not stiff. The legs should stay at the line of the girth and not moving forward, even when you walk or trot. Do not clasp the horse with your legs from the knees below upto your feet, but let your legs hang freely straight down at the line of the girth and hold the horse with your calf muscles in contact.

4. Reins should be held softly and not pulling at the mouth of the horse, feeling your horse’s mouth with your hands through the reins on a soft contact. Your pulling at the horse’s mouth will elicit the same reaction from the horse, he will pull too.

5. Holding the reins means not pulling. Some horses need pulling to stop but with practice, the horse learns to the squeeze, a mild weight shift of the upper body and holding of reins.

6. For any action you want from your horse, it should be briefly preceded with a squeeze of calf muscles to the sides of the horse at the girth. For example:

(a) For walk from halt — squeeze legs, give reins by loosening your hold on the reins.
(b) For trot from halt or walk — Squeeze legs a little harder than above and give reins and a little shift of weight forward with the shoulder.
(c) For halt from walk Squeeze legs and hold the rein till it stops.

7. In a 40 minute period, the horse must be worked at a walk, trot and a canter. In between he must be taught to stop from walk, trot and canter. The movements should be interchanged and the horse not worked in one movement only for longer than five minutes. Then the direction of the circle or rein should also be changed.

8. Any novice rider is too keen to canter at the earliest, as this movement thrills him the most. It exhilarates his mind and gives a feeling that he or she has done it. One should be patient and come to this stage only once you have mastered walk, trot, halt and can balance on the horse in these gaits, as also the methodology required to attain these gaits.

9. When the horse is ridden correctly he does not give the feeling that lie is running or pulling the rider who is struggling with the reins, but is moving steadily and majestically ever eager to increase or decrease the pace or change in movement with slight indication from the rider. This level is achieved when you ride with the horse between your legs, so to say pushing the horse with your legs into your soft hands which give direction to the movements of the horse.

10. As your hands give direction and bend to the horse’s head arid neck, your legs control the horses quarters or the hind legs from moving away with the leg behind the girth and preventing the horse to ‘fall into’ circle by pressing the leg at or in front of the girth wherein his inside shoulder is pushed keeping the horse in a circle. Another thing to remember, when you are going on a straight line, the horse should be straight from head to his hind legs and when on a bend or a circle, the horse should be bent around your inside leg which on a right circle is your right leg. Similarly on left circle, the horse’s and your own legs are the inside legs, and the right side being the outside legs, hands and the reins.

11. Another tip, the horses on a trot should be ridden on alternate diagonals and the change should be made when changing the direction.

12. If you are able to achieve the above you would have achieved the desired foundation required to be a good rider. I hope these tips stand you in good stead and you find riding more comfortable and interesting. A horse well ridden by a rider is a more majestic sight than a rider being taken for a ride by a majestic horse.

13. Wishing you happy riding.