Trail Riding " Top 7 Rules A Rider Must Follow
by: Pat Brooks on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 at: 8:22 AM Go to: Previous Article Next Article
It is very vital to always put safety first when trail riding. Trail riding will be a lot more enjoyable if you always think of safe practices and have a good common sense. Remember that your instructor is not at all times by your side to guide and help you. Also, it is a lot more fulfilling if you can ride on your own.
Here are the top 7 rules you should keep in mind when trail riding.
1. If you go trail riding, always inform someone where you plan to go and when you plan to return. On a trail ride, it is not surprising if you or your horse becomes ill, lame, injured, get lost, or get stuck. Anything can happen on a trail ride and when it does, at least, one person will notice that you still have not returned. If something unexpected happens, help will come and you will be found because you have told someone where you planned to go.
It is always advisable that you ride with someone else if you are an inexperienced rider and you want go to an unfamiliar place. A child should always be accompanied by an adult rider in trail riding. If you are an experienced rider and you want to go trail riding alone, always bring with you a communication device like a fully charged cell phone. This way you can call someone in case of emergency.
2. Always bring with you a hoof pick and a pocket knife. A hoof pick is used when your horse gets a stone lodged into its frog. If you dont get the stone off its hoof and let it continue to walk, its hoof will get very sore. The pocket knife is very useful in cutting off vines or thick brush that can get wrapped around your horses leg or hoof, which usually happens if your horse has shoes on.
3. Do not teach your horse to become lax as they are not smart enough to discern playtime from work time. Trail riding may be a relaxing time for you, however, you must not allow your horse to become relaxed as well. Otherwise, you will be left without control and the trail is the last place you want to be without control.
For example, you allow your horse to grab bites of grass as you walk along the trail. Next time when it will be on the way to a show ring gate, it will get aggressive and plunge its head down at every blade of grass. You will be left momentarily without any control and you do not want that.
4. Always ride a respectful distance from the other riders but do not create unnecessary anxiety among the horses. Sometimes, violence among horses happens because they always communicate with each other. This is something that you should consider, so always keep at least one horse length between you and the next rider in front of you. But, do not cause them to think that the herd is getting split up.
5. Be careful when trail riding on a terrain you are unfamiliar with. Do not run through an open field that is not familiar to you. You never know when you are walking on an overgrown ditch or a covered up hole that your horse could stumble or, worse, get its leg broken.
6. You should know what to do when something scares your horse. What usually scare a horse are unfamiliar objects. When something scares your horse, you must ignore it so your horse doesnt make a big deal out of it. This is because the bigger the deal you make out of it, the bigger the deal it will be to your horse.
In case you are thinking that you will teach your horse to get used to whatever scares it by going back and forth in front of the spooky object, you are mistaken. This can even make the situation worse. Instead, let it look, walk slowly and sniff the spooky object to make it think that the thing is not scary at all.
7. If you come across others on the trail, walk along your horse with comfort. This will make your horse react the same way you do. If you are friendly, it will be friendly too, but if it sees you are nervous, it will get nervous too. You do not want your horse to react violently, so ride calmly.
There are several other rules a rider must follow when trail riding. But, these are the top 7 rules to keep you safe so you get the most out of your horseback riding experience.
About the Author
Author Pat Brooks is an equestrian, an attorney and Arabian horse training and breeding business owner and operator. She hosts the Horse And Rider Radio Show in Atlanta, Georgia, where she discusses information relevant to the newcomer. For additional information on horses go to Horse Riding Lessons and Horseback Lessons.
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