At the latest count, over 7 million horses were living in the USA. These animals serve for recreation as well as income spinning professional sports animals.
Are you a professional equestrian involved in earning a living or making a name for yourself from riding horses? It’s important to stay in top shape if you want to make the most of your efforts.
Even casual riders can benefit from exercises to improve their riding ability if they want to get the most out of their favorite pastime
Here’s your guide to equestrian training to help you excel in every area of the sport.
Why Consider Extra Equestrian Training?
When you ride a horse, you expect it to perform at levels that it doesn’t encounter in its everyday life. It’s only fair that you play your part to help it pull off these moves as smoothly as possible.
So, even if you’re an accomplished horseman who knows the answer to every equestrian question from, ‘do horses lay down?’ to ‘What are the aids for the half pass?’, you can benefit from extra training.
Improving Your Balance
A balanced horse and rider combination can perform at their best no matter what’s asked of them.
It takes hours of training to produce a horse that’s balanced in all gaits. Yet, without a competent, well-balanced rider, all this training is in vain.
Try these tips to improve your balance and help your horse:
- Practice posting at the walk with your hands on your hips
- Try trotting with your weight lifted out of the saddle and weight on your feet
- Going without stirrups often while horse riding
Complete a few minutes of these exercises during your warmup phase every time you ride, and you’ll soon see results.
Building a Stronger Core
Your core muscles hold you upright on your horse and allow you to use your hands and feet independently without losing balance.
Some of the best core exercises include:
- Lying on the ground and rocking your spin into a neutral position
- Four-point kneeling with your wrists under your shoulder and knees under your hips
- Lifting objects with bent knees and a neutral spine
You can do these simple equestrian workouts for a few minutes a day on your own or enlist the help of a personal trainer to help you strengthen your core.
Improving Suppleness
A supple horse and rider are a thing of beauty to watch and score top points against the competition. Here’s how to do your bit to bring suppleness to your equestrian aesthetic:
- Stair stretches to loosen your ankles
- Ankle rolls
- Moving your arms in big backward circles
- Flexing your toes upward while riding without stirrups
Not only will you look better when your body’s supple and in tune with your horse’s movements, but you’ll also feel better.
Self-Improvement’s the Name of the Game
Do you have your heart set on becoming an equestrian expert? Conscientious equestrian training is one way to achieve your aims sooner.
Learning new things all the time is one of the best benefits of horseback riding. So, if you’d like to find out more about horses, or other animals, browse our blog for more snippets.
