Cuddly Critters

Equestrianism

Riding With Benefits

By Brie Hellbusch

Horses have played many important roles throughout history, in war, in hunting, in travel, and in the transportation of everyday life. Though mechanical technology has, in many places, eclipsed the use of animals for those tasks, horses continue to play an important role in the lives of many riders today. Equestrianism as a sport has been around for more than 100 years and remains a popular pastime.

There are many reasons that people enjoy riding horses, including its health benefits. Riding can improve balance and muscle strength, coordination, respiration and circulation, visual-spatial perception, and hand-eye coordination. It can also help to stretch tight or spastic muscles and increase range of motion of joints.

Those are just the physical benefits! Horseback riding is also a great activity to help exercise the mind by improving attention and concentration, building skills in planning and critical thinking, and increasing flexibility in thinking.

That’s still not all, though. Horseback riding is also recognized as having excellent therapeutic qualities. Being outdoors can boost overall well-being and act as a great stress reliever. Like many sports, equestrianism can improve self-confidence, assessment abilities, emotional control, and self-discipline. Plus, riders learn to develop a lot of patience as well as respect for animals. Confident riders also experience a sense of exhilaration and freedom when riding. It’s fun!

While some people prefer to ride horses only for pleasure, those who love the sport can take it to the competitive level across the United States and internationally. Equestrians can take part in a wide variety of disciplines, including events like endurance, jumping, reining, and vaulting. At the Olympic level, athletes and their horses can participate in dressage, jumping, and eventing. Dressage is a demonstration of very precise movements that the horse is trained to make after nearly imperceptible commands from the rider. Jumping is, as the name suggests, horse and rider jumping together over a variety of obstacles. Eventing is basically a triathlon that includes dressage, jumping, and cross-country endurance riding.

Though horseback riding brings a lot of benefits, it does come with its share of responsibility, specifically when it comes to horse care and training. Owners must consider diet, living quarters, vaccinations, and health care, as well as social needs for horses.

The basic diet for most horses should be grass and good-quality hay. Clean water should be available all day, along with a trace mineral. If a horse lives outside, it must also have access to safe shelter at all times.

Additionally, all horses need vaccinations and regular deworming, as well as hoof trimming every six to eight weeks. A horse’s teeth should be checked by a large-animal veterinarian once or twice a year. If necessary, the teeth should be filed, otherwise known as “floated,” to make them smoother. Horses are very social animals who are physiologically most sound when they are able to roam and interact with other horses.

On the training side of things, many horse owners will opt to hire a professional horse trainer who has worked with various equines, helping to educate them so that they’re safe and suitable for riding. Training may involve introducing horses to saddle, training for performance, re-educating horses who are moving from one discipline to another, harness training, or aiding with behavioral or safety issues like bucking, rearing, biting, or kicking.

People with children are often excited to introduce their kids to the equestrian sport because of the life-enriching benefits that it has to offer, like patience, compassion for another being, responsibility, and sportsmanship.

Schools from elementary to college are incorporating horseback riding into their offered activities. High school riding associations have developed across the country to promote equestrian riding teams and clubs to junior high, middle, and other high schools. The Interscholastic Equestrian Association is one organization that provides an option for middle and high school students to compete in multiple disciplines at a national level.

Equine-assisted therapy is growing in popularity due to its experiential approach and the growing evidence of its effectiveness with adults, children, and teens who have experienced challenges such as trauma, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and disabilities. This type of therapy incorporates horses into the therapeutic process by having people engage in activities such as grooming, feeding, and leading a horse while being supervised by a mental health professional. The end goal is to help people develop skills like emotional regulation, self-confidence, and responsibility.

Whether the experience with a horse is competitive, therapeutic, or recreational, riders across the world have learned the value of a personal relationship with a horse. Equestrianism can be a fun hobby with competitive opportunities, but it’s also beneficial to mind, body, and soul.

Sources for this article included: usef.org, equisearch.com, nbea.ca, and aspca.org.