Things to Remember When Racing Horses
Before you can even ride a horse, you need to have at least the basic riding skills and basic knowledge about horses. But when you are planning to be on a race with your horse, you and your horse need to have some serious training together to be able to understand each other and get comfortable.
First, you need to learn to ride a horse. This is best done with an expert. Here are some basic things that you need to know:
- You have to know how to sit correctly in the saddle
- How to mount and dismount
- How to post the trot
- How to cue and direct your horse by using your hands, legs and body
- Learn how to walk and stop your horse
- Learn to put your feet in the stirrups
- Learn the right position in horseback riding
Next is all about training your horse. Find out the best methods to teach your horse. Training a horse can be exciting but it can be really challenging if you have a stubborn horse. They say it's best to leave the training to the experts, but if it's your horse and you want to race it, be the one to patiently train it. All you have to do is interact with your horse at all times.
- When training a horse, stay in a round pen, ring or arena
- You need to instill to your horse what your horse needs to know like knowing how to load onto a trailer
- It’s also good to teach your horse some tricks on how to kiss or hug to know if your horse is really cooperating and making a connection with you
- In addition, never try to straddle your horse with some ropes just to teach him to turn a right or a left or whatever. Hurting your horse isn't the answer, because if you do this your horse might just get wild on you and less chances that your horse will want to be trained
- One more thing, you have to teach your horse manners like behaving with just a lead of your hand or standing quietly beside you. Things like these are important to know whether your horse is progressing or not
Lastly, if you and your horse are done with training, it’s time for the both of you to be healthy for the upcoming race. Make sure that you as a rider, are healthy and in shape for riding. With your horse, make sure you maintain close ties with the Vet to check on your horse all the time.