| By :
Josie Amani
As most horse riders will tell you, there's always room for improvement, even the most advanced riders work relentlessly at improving their riding skills. Here are 5 great tips to help you improve your riding: 1. Watch Others: Watching other riders can help you differentiate between good and bad posture. Humans are usually visual learners and you'd be surprised how much you can learn by watching good riders at work. Try to attend a clinic or riding lesson and pay attention to what the instructor is saying and how he or she is critiquing the rider to pick up some horse riding tips. Observe how riders communicate with their horse and pay attention to how the horse responds, you can learn a lot by simply observing others. 2. Enlist the Help of a Trainer: Perhaps the best way to work on your riding skills and posture is to enlist the help of a professional trainer or instructor and take some equestrian riding lessons. Even professional riders use trainers to tweak their riding and posture. A trainer can help identify problem areas in your riding and they can help you correct them. If you own a horse try to find a trainer who is prepared to work with the two of you, this is the ideal set up and you will find your riding skills improving dramatically. 3. Work on Your Balance: Balance is essential in any equestrian discipline, even if you just want to hack or trail ride. Achieving balance helps protect you from falling ooff; it helps your horse as well. To achieve good balance try to work with your horse without stirrups and reins and incorporate some bareback work. This is best done with the assistance of a friend or preferably a trainer as the horse should be kept on a lunge. If you don't have someone to assist then try to ride your horse without stirrups or bareback as much as possible. 4. Cross Training: Keeping physically fit is essential as it helps you ride better! Pilates has become very popular among equestrians in recent years as it focuses on increasing the strength of your body's core. It is also among the very few forms of exercise that target the lower abdomen, and abdominal strength is very important in horse riding as it helps you maintain balance and proper posture. Almost any exercise will be beneficial, but especially so are strength and agility exercises. 5. Practice: You've heard the saying "practice makes perfect" so get out there and start practicing! Clinics, exercising and observing others will only get you so far, you need to apply what you learn. Whether you're riding for pleasure or competing, the more you ride, the better at it you'll become!
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