A phenomenon, a hinderance, or simply a survival mechanism? Eniola Odurinde looks into Fear.
Fear. Stress. Anxiety.
These are all negative emotions. People say that riding is the ultimate stress buster, but does the stress that you carry through the yard gate have an effect on your horse?
It does.
Horses can sense fear. They can feel the hand that holds their reins tremble. They can feel the quick pounding of nervous hearts and they can sense that something is frightening the rider. Horses are flight animals and we are their guides. Wild or feral horses survive in herds, but we have taken the place of the herd leader. If the herd leader is afraid of something, you should be afraid of it too. What the horses dont know is that what is (usually) scaring the riders is the horses themselves. At other times it may be a black binbag that the riders think the horses will be scared of, so they tense in anticipation, and the horses feel the rider tense up and spook at the black binbag because they think they should be scared of it because of the riders fear. It is a vicious circle, but many people dont realize the effect, and smack their horse because they think the horse is being naughty. The horse gets confused and does not quite understand, and the rider becomes even more fearful because they anticipate the ‘bad’ behavior.
Some riding school horses are used to the negative, anxious vibes that they receive from beginners, but most horses, especially young ones are extremely sensitive to these vibes.
If you are suffering from stress, be it over a divorce, or a hard time at work, you must not take it through the yard gate with you. Breathe deeply. Even though it sounds obvious to keep breathing, sometimes people just stop breathing. To avoid not breathing, sing a catchy, happy tune such as you are my sunshine. When you get to the yard gate, breathe deeply and close your eyes. Visualize your problems, grab them and stuff them in a bag. Seal the bag so they cannot escape and put it aside. Then enjoy the time spent on the yard.

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Horse riding, the art of keeping a horse between you and the ground, has many important aspects, including sitting corectly.
General position
The basic position for walk and halt is sit up straight and tall, keep your elbows in a diagonal line with the horses mouth (your arms should never be straight), keep your heels down. keep the ball of your foot in the stirrup,ensure your shoulder, hip and heel are in a straight line.

Hands
When riding the position of your hands is important. How you hold the reins is also important, you should be able to feel a horses mouth without jabbing or pulling at the reins. Your instructer will tell you how to hold the reins correctly, but remember, always keep your thumbs on top and don’t rest your hands on the saddle or the horses neck.

Stirrups
Stirrups need to be different lengths for different activities. Dressage is done with long stirrups and requires confident riders with a deep seat.
For beginners, stirrups should be as long as your arm from finger tip to arm pit, to give a general idea.

Jumping position
When you start to jump your instructor will explain every thing you need to know but it is good to come prepared.
Approach
The way you approach a jump is very important. Keep your heels down, look ahead, keep your normal position and ride positively.
Take off
As you take off the only change in your position should be that you fold forward at your hips. Keep your heels down!
Moment of suspension
Keep the same position as above.
Landing
As you land, keep your heels down, they are your anchor, and sit up so that as you make the getaway, you are back in your usual position.

To achieve a good seat there are some exercises you can do. These include riding without stirrups and practicing sitting still (although this will most likely not be done in your first lesson).

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One of the suggestions relationship counsellors tends to make to couples who are growing apart in their relationship is to do something they would both enjoy together. Relationship counsellors tends to suggest things like dancing, yoga and other new hobbies. One of the things that is not often suggested which couples that are growing apart could benefit from is learning to ride a horse.

Horse riding is one of the most exciting recreational sports you can think of, especially if you live in or near a rural area. Though couples who are growing apart from the complacency that tends to arise in a long term relationship would benefit from learning to ride together, couples who has just found love together (preferably via our site Horse Lovers Dating) should consider learning to ride horse together as well, it could help get the new relationship to a very Strong start from spending time together learning a new exciting pastime such as horse ridding.

This article will explore learning to ride a horse step-by-step beginning from the very first thing you need to do once you have both decided to take horse riding lessons together; choosing a ridding school.

You can find the nearest ridding school by doing a quick search on the Internet, you can also look in your local newspaper for the ridding school nearest to you. Haven identified the nearest ridding school, you need to find our if they offer lessons to complete beginners, availability of ridding instructors and prices. Usually when you book several lessons in advance you may get a discount. Group booking also tends to be cheaper than one to one tuition but you get much more out of one to one tuition than group lessons. The next article in this series will look into how to prepare for your first ridding lesson.

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