Why I love horse back ridding!

I love horseback riding for many reasons. First of all, horseback riding is a great form of fitness. For you to perform well in competition, both you and your horse need to be in the best physical condition. Since you are sitting on your horses back for a long period of time you have to be well fit and thin to make his job as easy for him as possible. Knowing this will encourage you to stay fit and exercise frequently. Also Studies have shown (www.wikihow.com) “Novice riders who ride once a week will begin to develop the correct muscles and suppleness”. Riders will maintain fitness by riding frequently. Riding may appear to be easy but it actually requires a lot of work. It will improve leg and arm strength as those are the parts of the body used the most while riding. These muscles are what controls the horse. Horseback riding will also improve stomach muscles since it requires a great amount of balance, which requires your stomach muscles to remain tight. Second of all, horseback riding is a good bonding experience. Bonding with your horse is very important. Without a good bond between you and your horse, you will find that you’re limited as to what you can do together. You must communicate with your horse in a way he/she will understand, giving him/her treats when he/she’s good, giving him/her praise and patting his/her neck after a good jump, brushing him/her etc...These things will show your horse you respect him/her and he/she will respect you in return. When you have developed a good bond with your horse he/she will depend on you, allow you to ride him/her and he will be your best friend. With a good bond you will develop trust. You have to trust your horse and he/she will trust you in return. Horseback riding is a dangerous sport whether you’re jumping 6 ft fences, racing or simply barrel racing, you’re putting you and your horse at high risk of possibly getting injured if something were to go wrong. This is why it’s very important to have trust and confidence in one another. Finally horseback riding is a fun activity. Horseback riding lessons are often done in groups, therefore you will get the chance to meet new people and make new friends. You will be able to do your everyday barn chores with friends such as trail riding, grooming, mucking etc… Doing these things in groups will make them more interesting and fun, since you will be able to socialize while doing them. There are many games played on horseback, such as polo. Polo is a team sport played on horseback, the objective of the game is to score goals against an opposing team. Polo requires two teams of four. The game is played with a small ball made of leather, the ball looks similar to a small football. The players hit the ball using a stick with a long thick handle and a head like a hammer. The game requires a fast flexible horse to allow you to get the ball and get points as quickly as possible. Your horse is constantly running up and down the field following the ball, to allow you to hit it and get it into the net.