1) Riding a Horse Is Just Sitting. This myth makes horse riders laugh. It also makes them wish they could make the person who believes this get on a horse and ride a dressage test, or go out on a ten-mile trail ride. Those of us who ride know that it takes much more than sitting to ride a horse. Sitting is something you do on a couch, but on a horse, you are using many more muscles, your balance, and your brain. That’s not sitting. That’s an activity that includes many skills and body awareness.
2) You Just Need to Trust Your Horse. Riders need to understand how horses think, and that our horse’s priority is not the rider’s safety and comfort but their own. As prey animals, horses are not programmed to be self-sacrificing. Riders need to understand how to make their horse trust them by always being consistent and good leaders. If you let a horse think for itself and trust it to make its own decisions, you are asking the horse to be a leader, and that can lead to problems.
3) Scared Riders Just Need to Understanding Horses. It’s a myth that people who aren’t confident riders are inexperienced riders who need to understand how horses think. If that were true, then there wouldn’t be riders with years of experience working with and riding horses suddenly finding they’ve “lost their nerve.” Whether it’s a result of a bad accident, or you’ve just started playing a game of “what if” in your brain, loss of confidence can happen to the best of riders. The good news is, fear can be overcome. It just may take some time and outside help.
4) Horseback Riding Isn’t Exercise. Again, this is a claim that is made by someone who hasn’t ridden or worked with horses. The goal of the exercise is to strengthen your muscles, increase your endurance, and improve your balance. Horseback riding does all of those, and it uses a few muscles, like those along the inside of your thighs, that few other activities do. Exercise burns calories and horseback riding also fit that bill. Lifting and carrying saddles, grooming and spending time in the saddle all contribute to your fitness. Riding is also good for your internal organs. Even at a walk, there are fitness and health benefits to riding.
