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Your First Lesson - regardless of their age, new riding students
feel more comfortable having an idea.
Ron Petracek
Your First Lesson
When their first riding lesson is nearly at hand, students
often wonder what type of horse they will get and what they
will be expected to accomplish. It's understandable that
some students have anxiety as they wonder what to expect.
Most students worry particularly about their intended
mount; so, keep in mind that at respected riding schools,
school horses are often characterized into groups based on
their appropriateness for riding levels. Beginner riders
will often be assigned the aged, semi-retired, easygoing,
forgiving lesson horse whose only vice may be his pokiness.
Knowing that a beginner will have little control over her
hands or feet and may flop around in the saddle, the ride
school will provide a safe horse for her level.
When you arrive, the school will likely ask to check your
helmet to ensure that it is ASTM/SEI certified for
horseback riding. If it is not or it is not a horseback
riding helmet, you will need to borrow one from the ride
school.
As you move about the premises, be courteous to fellow
horseman. That means, no running or sudden movements near
horses being handled or ridden. Leave your dog at home as
barking can upset some horses. Turn your cell phone to
vibrate or off. Understand that some horses are sensitive
to flash photography, so before taking any pictures, ask
the instructor. For parents bringing other children, there
is to be no running around the horses at any time. Also
note that some horses spook at strollers, so alert the barn
if you intend to bring one.
Most likely, the instructor will accompany the student into
the barn to get the mount. Younger children need to be
reminded that they must act like a guest in someone's house
and don't touch anything unless they ask first and to use
their indoor voices. There is to be no running or yelling
in a barn. Following are some guidelines to remember on
your first visit to the barn:
Entering the Stall
Do not enter the stall if the horse has his tail to you.
You are to enter the stall only when the horse is facing
you. Do not enter the stall until the instructor tells you
to do so.
Leading Your Horse from the Stall
Most facilities have the beginner horse tacked and ready to
go prior to the lesson. So, you should be able to lead the
horse from his stall. Before leading the horse into the
aisle of the barn, call "heads up" so you don't come
crashing into someone else going down the aisle.
For small children leading horses, some facilities will ask
that you keep the reins over the horse's neck. This is
because small children may let go of the horse, and if they
do, there's less of a chance the horse will step on the
reins.
For older children and beginner adults, you may be allowed
to take the reins over the horse's head and lead him with
the reins held in both hands-right hand under the chin and
rest of the reins going to the left hand at your left side.
Check with the facility as to how they prefer the horses
led.
Leading Your Horse to the Arena
Hold your horse directly under his chin in your right hand.
By holding further back on the reins, the horse can turn
and bite you. (Not that he would, but for safety's sake,
we'll hold him the safest way.) Hold your arm straight out
to him so that both you and he have your own separate
paths, and he won't accidentally step on you.
Entering the Arena
When you enter the arena, you typically lead your horse
into the center of the arena and turn and face him toward
the in-gate. Horses should face the in-gate so they aren't
surprised by other horses coming in and can see them
approaching or other things going on around the arena
entrance.
Mounting
Don't get on the horse until your instructor tells you to
and helps you. The first thing you and your instructor must
do is check the equipment to ensure it is on correctly and
safe for you and the horse. The instructor will check the
saddle pad to make sure it is protecting the horse's back.
She will also check the girth to make sure it is tight
enough that the saddle doesn't slip when you mount. She
will also check the girth again when you are mounted,
especially if you're using a very thick saddle pad. The
instructor will check the bridle to make sure all the
leather parts are in the right spot and secured.
Your instructor may give you a leg up or have you mount
from a mounting block. Either way, you will be mounting the
horse on his left side. You will take the reins in your
left hand, grab a lock of main in the hand. Using your
right hand to hold the left stirrup, place your left foot
into the left stirrup. Then take hold of the cantle (the
back of the saddle) with your right hand and swing your
right leg over to the right side without hitting his
hindquarters with your foot. Try not to come flopping down
on his back and sit softly and quietly. (It's hard to do
your first few times, but try!)
Your instructor will then adjust your stirrups.
The Lesson
For your first lesson, your horse may be placed on a longe
(pronounced "lunge") line. The line is handled by your
instructor and keeps your horse on a circle around her so
she can control where he goes and talk to you.
Your instructor will go over the basics of the proper seat:
Sitting-like you're standing next to the horse with bent
knees, not like you're sitting in a chair all the way back
on your butt. Sit on your seat bones. Straight back-by
lifting from the base of your sternum and allowing your
shoulders to stay back. Not roaching the base of your back
and not forcing your back to arch unnaturally. Leg beneath
you-not pushed out in front. Your heel should fall nearly
under the bend in your knee. Your calf is slightly behind
the girth and in contact with the horse's side. Heel-flexed
down, allowing your weight to drop down into your heel. The
stirrup iron should be on the ball of your foot.
Hands-holding the reins. Hold your hands like fists with
thumbs facing up. The reins will run either: through the
bottom of your fist, out the top under your thumb or in
through the ring and pinkie fingers and out through the top
under your thumb. Hands should be over the horse's withers
(his shoulder) and angled to the angle of the shoulder (in
between thumbs up and angled slightly toward each other.)
Hands are held slightly apart from each other and are to
make a straight line through the reins to the bit in the
horse's mouth. Head-up and eyes looking ahead. In your
first lesson, you will be taught how to make the horse
walk. You will also be taught how to make him turn and
stop. You may even get to trot in your first lesson! And,
if you trot, your instructor may start teaching you how to
post (if riding english). At the end, you'll be taught to
dismount by taking both feet out of your stirrups and
swinging your right leg around his back and sliding down
the left side. Or your instructor may teach you to "kick
free" in dismounting by keeping your left foot in the
stirrup until you swing your right leg over, then kicking
free your left foot of the stirrup then jumping down to the
left side. Regardless of how you are taught to dismount,
you will always do so facing the horse and off the same
side that you mounted from--the left.
That's all you will likely do in your first lesson. It may
not sound like a lot, but you will be spending a bit of
time just getting used to balancing on a horse, maintaining
and correcting your position, keeping with his rhythm and
basically getting a feel for where your hands, feet and
legs are. It will be a lot to think about, and you'll
probably be tired afterward. Good luck with your first ride
and happy trails!
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