Generally improving as a rider takes weeks and months of work, but there are a few ways that you can fix common riding issues pretty quickly. Here are 5 horseback rider tips to instantly make you a better rider.
1. Stand on Stairs
Having your heels down is essential to a good equitation position, and it also helps to keep you from falling off if your horse trips or bucks. But so many of us struggle to get our heels down – sometimes it just seems like the body wasn’t meant to work that way.
Enter, the staircase. If you make the staircase your best friend, you can dramatically and quickly improve your heel position. Stand on the edge of a stair with your heels dropped off the back, and focus on letting your heels sink down. Do this every day and before you ride and you’ll notice a difference quickly.
2. Ride without Stirrups
Do you need to improve your strength and seat? This is one of the horseback rider tips that can help you do just that. Ride without stirrups for 10 or 15 minutes during each ride. This little bit of no-stirrup work can help to develop your leg muscles and your seat, leading to an improved position in the saddle.
3. Ride on a Lunge Line
Have a friend attach a lunge line to your horse so that you don’t have to focus on steering and work on improving your balance and feel of the horse. Ride with your hands on your hips, your shoulders, and your head. Close your eyes. Twist your body from side to side. This horseback rider tip will help you quickly develop improved balance and a better sense of your horse’s movement.
Interested in learning more about how you can improve as a horseback rider? Check out our article 7 Characteristics All Great Riders Have.
4. Ride with a Crop
Instead of using a crop in the traditional sense, lay the crop across the tops of your hands as you’re holding your reins. Put each thumb over the crop so that it stays balanced on the tops of your hands, then go ride. The crop naturally quiets your hands, drawing your attention to how much you actually want to move your hands up and down and side to side while you ride.
5. Count Out Loud
Try counting your horse’s strides out loud. Counting strides out loud allows you to not only feel your horse’s rhythm, but to hear it, too. If there are variations in your horse’s rhythm, they will be more evident when you’re counting, even if they’re just slight variations. By counting out loud, you can better regulate your horse’s rhythm.
Try counting strides at the walk, trot, and canter. Counting strides is also a great technique when approaching and leaving a fence.
Horse Courses by Elaine Heney
- Listening to the Horse - The Documentary by Elaine Heney & Grey Pony Films
- Shoulder In & Out Training for better balance, bend & topline development with your horse
- Over 110+ Polework Exercises & Challenges to Download
- Dancing at Liberty & Creating Connection with Your Horse (11 lessons) - Grey Pony Films
Do you have any horseback rider tips you'd like to share? Post them in the comments below!
Sue Berlo
In addition to riding bareback or riding without stirrups, at the same time, put dollar bills under your inner thighs and ride , attempting to not lose the dollars. It was always a fun exercise in riding class.