More Than Riding

So your child (or you) wants to learn to ride a horse, huh? So you call up and schedule a time to come out for your first lesson. When you get to the barn no horse is ready. What’s up with that? You are told that you will learn to catch your horse and saddle him up. You say, “I just wanted to learn to ride. Why do I have to waste lesson time getting the horse ready?” Well, as an instructor who has given riding lessons for 6 years, specializing in beginners and children, I believe there are several good reasons for this. First, we live in a society that thinks “It’s all about me!” Well, checking in with the horse before you ask him to work for you teaches you that someone (or something) else counts, too. If the student spends time brushing and saddling the horse, they can look for any new wounds they should be careful of, they can check the horse’s mood, and just learn that they aren’t the only one that counts. This not only helps you become independent; but, also helps you show concern for others. Saddling one’s own horse also teaches focus. Sometimes in life you must focus on a topic you don’t really care about or that’s “boring” (Ever heard your child say “I’m bored”?). When they go for that new job orientation, they may not be enthused about schedules and mandatory trainings; but, it’s part of the job (and what they do want: the money). We know in life that not everything we do is interesting to us; sometimes it just must be done. Taking time to groom and saddle the horse for yourself also teaches patience. You must work first, and then receive the reward. Isn’t that the way life worked before our society went to plastic money? Also, there is an order to things. This concept is great for students with processing disorders, autism, ADD, OCD, and those of us with a short attention span. Lastly, the philosophy of learning to prepare your horse before riding just reinforces the idea that life (your horse) isn’t just handed to you. There’s work and understanding and a learning process that must go into anything worthwhile in life, and having a horseback riding lesson should be no different. If we were taught this early, could it have an affect on us in our marriage, our job stability, our desire for education, and our daily discipline? Maybe a riding lesson can teach us more about life if we’re not just there to ride! Hopefully, when you’re at the barn for that next lesson, you’ll have a greater appreciation for the life skills you are learning while we ride.

Written by Royce Gomez, riding instructor at Pillar Ranch. Royce has had 16 years experience working with youth and 7 years full-time experience with horses. Royce resides in Colorado.