‘A sound mind in a
sound body’ as an old proverb says. Sport has always been a part of humans’
lives. In this article, I want to focus on one particular sport – horse riding
and its benefits to not only your body but also
your mind.
First of all, riding a
horse demands focus and patience. When you mount a horse you have to be focused
all lesson long, so that you perform exercises properly and give a horse clear
signals of what you want to do. If a horse cannot understand the signal we gave
it, it just won’t do what you want it to do. A
key to success is being focused and patient.
What is more, it teaches self-control and control over emotions. The
very first thing you need to learn when you want to ride a horse is to control
your emotions. Horses can perfectly sense our mood. If we fear something they
will fear it too, even if *it* is not defined. If you want to add courage to
your horse you have to feel this courage yourself.
The next very
important thing is to control your reactions when something unexpected happens,
e.g. a horse startles. You have to keep calm and try to calm your horse down as
well. The faster you calm down the faster you will be able to control your horse
again.
Balance and
coordination are just two more things you get when you decide to learn to ride.
Horse riding improves your core strength and
beck strength. What is more, because you have to keep straight posture while
riding a horse you’ll start keeping it while being out of the saddle. Most of
our work is done sitting, which may cause hunchback. Riding a
horse is a great way of prevention.
https://dressagetoday.com/.image/t_share/MTQ0NzkwODIyMTQ2OTQyNjEx/dt-01-dressage-position-shannon-peters.png |
Last but not least,
horse riding makes you more aware of your body language and reactions. If you
own a horse, you do not
force it to perform some actions. It’s
so called horsemanship – a bond between a person and a horse. Gaining horse’s
trust requires patience, control of emotions, gentleness and time. You can’t
just talk to your horse like you do with your colleagues. You talk to it with your body language, tone of the voice,
therefore improving your soft skills. With hard work and your horse’s trust
you’ll be able to achieve much more than just riding around the
riding arena.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2f/19/3c/2f193c3c3de444d347388158e4cdc628.jpg |
- Do you have any experience with horses?
- Have you ever considered trying any equestrian (connected with horses) sport?
- One of my friends said it helps her overcome fears. Can you think of other benefits of horse riding?
Links:
- http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/wellbeing/health-benefits-of-horse-riding-7-great-reasons-to-take-up-the-sport-11364077995230
- https://www.thespruce.com/why-learn-to-horseback-ride-1887018
Comments
Of course! It looks great, when people are riding horses, but I like the most when they are "walking". And this is my little dream, to go for a horse-tour: in some park or a forrest.
To be honest, when I'm near a horse I'm a little bit afraid, because they are really big.
Once I have considered trying to ride a horse. I thought it would be great to ride a horse across a huge field where the only thing I can see are trees and grass. But then someone told me 'Don't try it. Horses smell really bad.' And I didn't :P I regret now, but it's too late to try for me now because I don't really have time for such sports.
One of the benefits is for sure touching a nature and having a lot of time to calm down and relax away from computers, phones and Internet.
Yes, many times while being in Mragowo - it is quite fun especially in the forest, but the day after it is a living hell for me as for most of the guys because our man organs hurts like hell :) But I have many female friends that just love it.
2) Have you ever considered trying any equestrian (connected with horses) sport?
Sorry no - it is completely not for me.
3) One of my friends said it helps her overcome fears. Can you think of other benefits of horse riding?
I have many sports that give me enough of adrenaline rush (climbing, skydiving, motorcycle) and by that release me of my fears. Everyone has their way to deal with the problems - if it works, it is good.
Never considered tryin equestrian sport, I wouldn't even know how to start or where to look. Although learning to control balance, coordiantion, emotions just by riding a horse sounds nice.
Nowadays I prefer more extreme sports, in my case ATV.
I had participated in many competitions.
I don’t know what could be others benefit of horse riding. Like I said before I don’t have enough experience. But I like very much when you said that this discipline requires to learn how to control emotions, I think this is the most important advantage of this sport.
Unfortunately I'm allergic to horses so I won't try horse riding. I experienced it only once, when I was a child -it was some kind of pony.