Getting started with horseback riding involves practicing how to give directions to the horse and maintain balance while riding. As you progress, learning to move forward, backward, turn right, and turn left can increase both your enjoyment and the difficulty of riding.
While intermediate and advanced riders often appear to move smoothly with their horses, you might wonder what the difference is. However, horseback riding is not a solo activity — if your commands don’t communicate well, you can’t expect your horse to move as you wish. So it’s natural for beginners to find it challenging.
This article introduces what beginners need to do to walk with a horse and explains the basic commands and tips for moving forward, backward, turning, and communicating effectively.
Let’s overcome the challenges of riding and enjoy a fun riding life.
Communicating with Your Horse for Movement
Horses are generally calm and gentle but can be sensitive and timid animals. Just like dogs and cats, individual horses have unique personalities.
Riding requires harmony between rider and horse. To make the horse move, you need to give timely instructions suited to the horse’s personality. Therefore, communicating with the horse and understanding its character are essential.
Here, we introduce how to communicate with horses effectively.
Understanding Horse Emotions
Horses can’t speak words, but you can read their emotions from ear and eye movements and body language. Recognizing these expressions is part of communication.
For example, when anxious, horses move their ears independently and glance around. Alert horses pin their ears, and angry horses lower their ears with a stern stare.
If horses snort or nibble, they might be hungry; if they nostril or enjoy being brushed, they seem happy. Such expressive horses are often adorable to watch.
Just like humans, horses prefer to be left alone when they’re in a bad mood. Understanding their emotional state helps determine how to approach them.
Observe your horse’s behavior to gauge what emotion they are experiencing and how best to interact. Calm them with voice if anxious or step back to find out what’s causing their anger. Tailor your communication accordingly.
Touching Your Horse
Gently tapping a horse’s neck is a common way to praise them. When riding or bridling, praise generously when they cooperate. Horses remember those who praise and are kind to them.
Actively touch your horse through grooming and feeding to build trust. Remember that horses are timid animals, so always approach them carefully. Speak gently and avoid sudden movements or touching when they aren’t expecting it, to make sure they recognize your touch.
Additionally, each horse has preferred spots for being touched and sensitive areas. Adjust your approach based on each horse’s personality.
Getting Them to Recognize Your Face and Scent
Horses observe human movements and listen well. Being intelligent, they can remember faces through frequent interactions and have a keen sense of smell.
Extend your hand to their nose for smelling, or show your face and make eye contact to communicate effectively.
How to Make Your Horse Move Forward
Starting with small steps, riding beginners usually practice moving forward. Whether walking fast or jumping over obstacles, you need to be able to go forward first.
While some beginners might think moving forward is easy, it can actually be quite challenging. The movement uses leg aids.
Press the horse’s belly with your calves and move your ankles to make it go forward. Many beginners tend to kick too much, but often the horse doesn’t respond well.
This happens because communication between the rider and horse isn’t smooth, and the horse doesn’t pick up the intention to move forward. Horses are good at reading human intentions.
If you’re anxious or unsure, the horse won’t respond well to your cues. Maintain good posture, stay confident, and focus on your aids and intentions.
Can Horses Move Backward?
Have you ever wondered, ‘Can horses move backward?’ While you may have seen horses move forward, you probably haven’t seen them go backward often.
Unlike some animals that cannot move backward, horses can indeed back up. If you want your horse to reverse while riding, you need to stop the horse, then pull the reins and give the proper cue.
During this process, avoid leaning forward or losing your balance, as tipping forward might be mistaken for a forward cue by the horse.
Sometimes horses move backward without a command, which might be related to the distance between them and other horses or your riding balance. Make sure there’s enough space and remain balanced to prevent this.
How to Turn Left or Right
Turning left or right requires aids with the reins. To turn right, open the right rein. To turn left, open the left rein. At the same time, keep the opposite rein close to the horse’s neck.
This aid involves opening the rein, which guides the horse to move in the indicated direction by loosening it, rather than pulling to direct the face.
Many beginners mistakenly think that pulling the reins makes the horse turn, but it actually signals to stop or slow down. The proper aid for turning involves opening the rein.
In Western riding, the method for turning is different. In Western riding, the aid to turn is a pushing rein.
For pushing aids, when turning right, press the left rein against the horse’s neck; when turning left, press the right rein against the neck. This method differs from British riding, where opening means turning.
Summary
We’ve covered the basic commands beginners need to learn to start horseback riding: moving forward, backward, turning left and right. Memorizing these fundamentals is an important step toward a lifelong enjoyment of riding.
At first, giving clear commands may be difficult, and practice is necessary. Understanding the horse’s emotions and building communication outside riding are also essential for effective control.
By understanding your horse’s feelings and engaging in other forms of communication, you’ll be able to work together smoothly and guide the horse in your desired direction.
Riding isn’t just about sitting on the horse — it’s about walking together with your horse. Building a good relationship with your horse is the key to quicker progress and more enjoyable riding.