Sample Our Newsletter
"Rider Checklists," from my FREE monthly newsletter

From the Trail Horse Training Series:

"I'm going to give you three "Rider Checklists" today. Together they'll keep you safer and accelerate your training to boot. How accelerate? They'll keep you rational; they'll keep you from "losing it" – which has the effect of setting your training back. The fact is, when we don't have an objective means of approaching our training, when we simply "ride," reacting emotionally to what's happening, we're asking for a wreck – or at the very least, a bad day. The horse gets confused and we get frustrated or lose our temper. Not an environment conducive to a proper education, would you say?

Each of the following lists will cover small things you can simply check off in your brain. Basically, has something happened or not? If the answer is "not," I'll tell you what to do. Your answers to those questions will, flowchart-like, tell you how to act in the moment or how best to form your day's game plan."

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From John Lyons Trainer Keith Hosman

Stop Bucking Study Course
A Downloadable Book

A sample from Day 4:

"Tonight’s homework calls for you to read a short article called “How To Get Your Horse’s Attention.” You’ll find that the way to get your horse’s attention is to improve his performance. That means that if you concentrate on getting your horse to step more lightly to the left ormove a back leg to the right or soften and drop his head to x-height... anything specific, you’ll find that your horse has handed you more of his “attention” as he’s gotten better at any of those things. Pick anything to practice; it doesn’t matter.

Here’s a great way to take and advance yesterday’s head-down cue: When you can drop your horse’s head at a stand still, try the same maneuver at a walk, then trot and finally a lope. Be careful to be honest and not move to a higher gait till the horse is dropping is head softly on command at the slower gait/speed. Remember that your horse will act as though he has no idea what your asking for when you move to the next higher gait. You will need to virtually re-teach the exercise at each new gait so be prepared and keep cool."

- Print out from home
- 5 Days, 5 chapters
- Learn at your own pace

Just $4.99

For more info:
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Available Downloads:
"Stop Bucking"
"Rein/Speed" (for Nervous Horse Owners)
"Round Pen First Steps"
"Trailer Training"

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GUEST AUTHOR ARTICLES Horseback Riding For Beginners

 
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"Horseback Riding For Beginners - 7 Vital Tips"
By Roger Overanout

Horseback riding for beginners can seem a bit of a challenge at first, here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. Horseback riding for beginners is great fun, but it can be dangerous if you do not have a good instructor so make sure your instructor is qualified. In the USA this means they should be certified by the American Riding Instructors Association and in the United Kingdom by the British Horse Society or the Association of British Riding Schools.

2. It is important that you are able to control your emotions at all times when you're riding a horse, you need to be calm and relaxed, your horse will be able to sense how you feel and if you are lacking in confidence the horse will lack confidence in you as a rider. Don't forget the horse doesn't know that you don't know, so if necessary just act as though you know what you're doing.

3. Notwithstanding what I said above try and be gentle when you are dealing with your horse, the firm hand inside the velvet glove is the best approach.

4. Decide which style of horse riding you wish to learn, i.e. English or Western style. Obviously this depends on what is available at your local riding school, but if you have a choice you will probably find Western-style with its more supportive saddle easier to get started with. However some instructors preferred the English saddle because they believe it encourages pupils to develop a better balance on the horse.

5. Think about the clothes you're going to wear when horseback riding for beginners, when you first start you are better off just using some old casual clothes, provided the pants have long legs i.e. a pair of jeans or something similar. Do not ride a horse while wearing shorts; you will rub the inside of your legs raw! You will get dirty riding a horse and until you are sure that this is something you really want to do long-term don't waste your money on expensive horse riding clothes. One exception you might want to consider is buying a decent pair of riding boots and of course it is essential that you have a safety helmet, but all good riding schools will provide these.

6. When you first start riding it is essential that your riding school provide you with an experienced horse so at least one of you knows what is going on. Normally as you become more experienced you will ride several different horses so you can see how they are all a little bit different, just like people.

7. Obviously you can only learn to ride by actually getting on a horse and been taught by a qualified instructor, but you can save a lot of time by watching a few videos or reading books on how to ride a horse. These books and videos are available at your local bookstore or perhaps even more conveniently you can find them online.

Horseback riding for beginners is great fun and with the appropriate training you will soon be able to enjoy all the pleasure it offers.

To find out how you can get started horseback riding for beginners visit http://www.horsebackridingtime.com

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Next, I'd Read:

Recommended articles featuring the methods of John Lyons:

• The First Thing I Do
• Scared of My Horse
• Keys To Improvement

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