Process Essay: The Benefits Of Horse Riding

Imagine riding a horse on white sandy beach with crystal blue waters, or a cowboy in the dusty deserts of the Wild West. Although riding a horse along a tropical island and cowboys do exist, horseback riding is recognized as a sport. Most do not realize but horsemanship can be added as a part of an exercise routine and have similar benefits of going to the gym. In addition, there are psychological gains of horse riding. There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the sport of riding horses, including that the horse is doing all of the work. Contrary to popular belief this is false. The rider needs to guide and support all the horse does. The use of abdominal muscles keeps the rider balanced and stabilized. Coordination also plays a major part in horsemanship. To get the horse to do what you want like stop or speed up, a lot of different cues given synchronously to keep the horse from wondering off on its own. Hamstrings, glutes, and quads all work to support yourself upright in the saddle and used as cues to get the horse to turn and move forward. “Straddling a large powerful animal with a mind and agenda of its own is a full body workout that will engage your muscles

This would include tacking up, feedings, cleaning stalls and other miscellaneous barn work. Not only is this all physical activity, but it teaches the rider responsibility, displace, and patience. In a study looking at the effects of Therapeutic Horseback Riding with Military Veterans by Leslie LaFleur spoke of horsemanship teaching the participate “transferable skills”. “Participants commented that the horsemanship lessons “paralleled to all aspects of your life” in ways that allowed the riders to make their own connections to how each lesson applied to their life and recovery process. These transferable skills created “ripple effects” in emotional, cognitive, physical, and social