How do I ride a horse?
The dream of owning a horse, which girl doesn't have it? Now the question arises, do you ride a young horse yourself or do you prefer to buy a more experienced animal? If you have decided on a "raw" young horse, you can find out here how to gently prepare horses for their new task.
To ride a young horse you need a lot of time and patience. You shouldn't rush anything and only introduce the horse to the new tasks in small steps. There is no silver bullet for breaking in a horse. The procedure must always be adapted individually to the respective animal.
Requirements for breaking in a horse
- A young horse should not be born before the age of 3. Must bear the weight of the rider at the age of six. Before the 3rd At the age of 13 the bones and muscles of the horse are not nearly ready for this load.
- Some Horse breeds are late developers (for example Frisians, Icelanders and Trakheners), they should visit the Fohlenwiese 1-2 years longer, as they can still have growth spurts during this time. If you start riding early, damage to the bones and musculoskeletal system can occur.
Preparation possibilities for riding in
- Before the break-in, the young horse should be used to vocal aids, i. H. certain basic commands such as B. "Stand / Walk / Trot / Gallop" should be available. This can be achieved either through ground work or (double) lunge work. When riding in later, it can be very helpful if the horse can already trot through a command and then at the same time the correct leg and weight aid is given. The horse then quickly learns to perform the aids without the voice commands.
- During the lunge work you can use a lunging belt to get your horse used to a belt, which will later be replaced by the saddle belt.
- Important: Remember that you never overtighten the belt, otherwise the belt could be forced. It is better to re-belt several times and in small steps than to pull as tightly as possible once.
- When lunging you can either use a bridle or a cavesson. The bridle should be used on a young horse with a light and not too "sharp" bit. For example, a double-jointed bit is suitable for this. Before you start lunging with the bridle, the young horse should also be used to the bridle.
- The horse should have already got to know the saddle. To do this, you can show the horse the saddle while cleaning, for example, and then put it on carefully. You practice this process a few times. If this works without complications, you can put on a saddle girth and close it. Again, make sure that it is not too tight but also not too loose. If it is too loose, the saddle could slip and startle the horse. The next step could be walking or lunging with a saddle.
- If lunging with bridle and saddle works well, you can go a step further. Just note that not every day has to be a success, there are always steps backwards, where a lot of patience is required for the young animal.
If you hear during riding lessons that you are sitting in the "split seat" on the horse, ...
This is how you ride a horse
- After the above preparations have been completed, you can now begin to get the horse used to the rider's weight. To do this, you can have a second person take the horse to the lunge. You yourself are now trying to slowly ascend. For the time being, however, you only lie on the horse, so you can quickly jump off again if there are complications. Practice this a few times.
- If the thought goes well, you step on completely and let yourself be lunged or guided for a while in a crotch. If you are sure of what you are doing, you can start riding straight away without a lunge or being guided. Caution is advised, every horse is different and it can also happen that a horse starts running, bucking, climbing, etc. In this case - good luck and hold on tight.
- Assuming a cool, loving and well-prepared horse, the next step is to head off. Since the young horse is trained on vocal aids, this can be used to initiate the trot and at the same time give the appropriate weight and leg aids. The same applies here: the horse is not used to it, proceed cautiously. Young Horses are often not yet properly balanced and therefore cannot yet make tight turns or changes of direction, please also note this.
- If trotting is no longer a problem after repeated practice, the canter should not be missing. For this purpose, the voice as well as the weight and thigh aid are given again. If there are still difficulties with calling up the basic gaits, you can also get a second person to support you from the ground.
The break-in should now be done, now it's time to practice making perfect. These instructions are only a description of how things can go in the best possible way. Depending on the horse's serenity and willingness to learn, this phase can take a long time. There will be regression, you take this in purchase and not evil to the animal. The horse will thank you and give you a lot in return.
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