Horseback riding for beginners can seem a bit of a challenge at first, here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. Horseback riding for beginners is great fun, but it can be dangerous if you do not have a good instructor so make sure your instructor is qualified. In the USA this means they should be certified by the American Riding Instructors Association and in the United Kingdom by the British Horse Society or the Association of British Riding Schools.

2. It is important that you are able to control your emotions at all times when you’re riding a horse, you need to be calm and relaxed, your horse will be able to sense how you feel and if you are lacking in confidence the horse will lack confidence in you as a rider. Don’t forget the horse doesn’t know that you don’t know, so if necessary just act as though you know what you’re doing.

3. Notwithstanding what I said above try and be gentle when you are dealing with your horse, the firm hand inside the velvet glove is the best approach.

4. Decide which style of horse riding you wish to learn, i.e. English or Western style. Obviously this depends on what is available at your local riding school, but if you have a choice you will probably find Western-style with its more supportive saddle easier to get started with. However some instructors preferred the English saddle because they believe it encourages pupils to develop a better balance on the horse.

5. Think about the clothes you’re going to wear when horseback riding for beginners, when you first start you are better off just using some old casual clothes, provided the pants have long legs i.e. a pair of jeans or something similar. Do not ride a horse while wearing shorts; you will rub the inside of your legs raw! You will get dirty riding a horse and until you are sure that this is something you really want to do long-term don’t waste your money on expensive horse riding clothes. One exception you might want to consider is buying a decent pair of riding boots and of course it is essential that you have a safety helmet, but all good riding schools will provide these.

6. When you first start riding it is essential that your riding school provide you with an experienced horse so at least one of you knows what is going on. Normally as you become more experienced you will ride several different horses so you can see how they are all a little bit different, just like people.

7. Obviously you can only learn to ride by actually getting on a horse and been taught by a qualified instructor, but you can save a lot of time by watching a few videos or reading books on how to ride a horse. These books and videos are available at your local bookstore or perhaps even more conveniently you can find them online.

Horseback riding for beginners is great fun and with the appropriate training you will soon be able to enjoy all the pleasure it offers.