Welcome back to My Favorite Things series! I hope you enjoyed my last post, and maybe you took away a new outlook on running. This week’s favorite thing is horseback riding. In this post, I’ll tell you about what it is like to have a horse and why riding is such an exciting sport.
A Pet in a Paddock
Of course, dogs and cats are the usual pets to have, so a horse is an unexpected one. Having a horse is more than having a pet, though. Horses are more wild, free animals and especially riding them requires you to show a lot of respect for their power and grace. My horse does not live in my backyard, but she stays at a barn nearby. Here are my basic guidelines to taking care of a horse:
1. Keep up to date with their veterinary and farrier information. This is the number one thing because their health and safety is most important.
2. Visit them almost everyday. This way you can check and see if their stall is clean and water is clean. You can also see if they are feeling okay and look happy and healthy.
3. Groom them often. This is super fun anyway, and sometimes their manes get a little long and need a trim.
4. Give them treats. My horse loves apples, but carrots, peppermints, and other treats are satisfying too!
My Style
Horseback riding has numerous disciplines. What I do is sometimes called English riding, which is more like what you would see in the Olympics. The other style is sometimes called Western, which is like barrel racing for example.
But the disciplines divide even further than those two categories. The type of riding I do is called Hunters and Equitation. Hunters focus on the quality of the horse’s movement, their pace and stride, and riding in a low relaxed frame. The ideal qualities originated from the fox hunts on horseback. Equitation focuses more on the rider’s position, use of aids, and presentation and communication with the horse.
I think my discipline of riding is one of the best because it emphasizes a relaxed, rewarding communication with the horse. You aren’t rushing the horse for time or speed over fences. You aren’t asking him to be aggressively athletic. In hunters, you are asking for a long, graceful movement and soft contact. In equitation, you are asking for a responsive horse but the liability is on you as the rider and how you communicate with the horse in the proper position and manner.
The Mind of a Horseman, or Horsewoman
Why are horses so amazing? That is another one of those questions where the answer seems to be, “well they just are.” To put into words a horse’s strength, beauty, and power will never be a sufficient comparison to what a horse actual is. I love horses because they teach us about patience, persistence, and passion. I love horseback riding because it has made me stronger and braver. I also love gradually working with a horse and slowly seeing a difference in their pace or their softness or their flexibility.
I would like to leave you with a quote by one of the greatest riders and horseman, George H. Morris. Not only has he inspired me with his ideas about what it means to be a true rider, but his plethora of accomplishments are truly admirable.
This quote is from an article in a book about Hunter Seat Riding. George Morris captures the essence of what it means to be a horseman or horsewoman in this phrase. He says that while the hunter competition world is always changing, the basic principles of riding won’t. And we can always rely on the horse to tell us what is going on.
“After all, only the horse will really know. And he’ll always tell us…if we were born to listen.”
Hopefully I was one of those people who were born to listen.
A Pet in a Paddock
Of course, dogs and cats are the usual pets to have, so a horse is an unexpected one. Having a horse is more than having a pet, though. Horses are more wild, free animals and especially riding them requires you to show a lot of respect for their power and grace. My horse does not live in my backyard, but she stays at a barn nearby. Here are my basic guidelines to taking care of a horse:
1. Keep up to date with their veterinary and farrier information. This is the number one thing because their health and safety is most important.
2. Visit them almost everyday. This way you can check and see if their stall is clean and water is clean. You can also see if they are feeling okay and look happy and healthy.
3. Groom them often. This is super fun anyway, and sometimes their manes get a little long and need a trim.
4. Give them treats. My horse loves apples, but carrots, peppermints, and other treats are satisfying too!
My Style
Horseback riding has numerous disciplines. What I do is sometimes called English riding, which is more like what you would see in the Olympics. The other style is sometimes called Western, which is like barrel racing for example.
But the disciplines divide even further than those two categories. The type of riding I do is called Hunters and Equitation. Hunters focus on the quality of the horse’s movement, their pace and stride, and riding in a low relaxed frame. The ideal qualities originated from the fox hunts on horseback. Equitation focuses more on the rider’s position, use of aids, and presentation and communication with the horse.
I think my discipline of riding is one of the best because it emphasizes a relaxed, rewarding communication with the horse. You aren’t rushing the horse for time or speed over fences. You aren’t asking him to be aggressively athletic. In hunters, you are asking for a long, graceful movement and soft contact. In equitation, you are asking for a responsive horse but the liability is on you as the rider and how you communicate with the horse in the proper position and manner.
The Mind of a Horseman, or Horsewoman
Why are horses so amazing? That is another one of those questions where the answer seems to be, “well they just are.” To put into words a horse’s strength, beauty, and power will never be a sufficient comparison to what a horse actual is. I love horses because they teach us about patience, persistence, and passion. I love horseback riding because it has made me stronger and braver. I also love gradually working with a horse and slowly seeing a difference in their pace or their softness or their flexibility.
I would like to leave you with a quote by one of the greatest riders and horseman, George H. Morris. Not only has he inspired me with his ideas about what it means to be a true rider, but his plethora of accomplishments are truly admirable.
This quote is from an article in a book about Hunter Seat Riding. George Morris captures the essence of what it means to be a horseman or horsewoman in this phrase. He says that while the hunter competition world is always changing, the basic principles of riding won’t. And we can always rely on the horse to tell us what is going on.
“After all, only the horse will really know. And he’ll always tell us…if we were born to listen.”
Hopefully I was one of those people who were born to listen.