What Are The Benefits Of Being A Horseback Rider?
By — — Posted in Horse Riding
Horseback riding comes with many benefits, mental and physical. Everyone has his or her own reasons for wanting to learn how to ride. The strengths you learn in this sport you can develop in other areas of your life not just riding.
Let’s examine some of the benefits from riding horses regularly:
Mental Health Benefits
Interacting with horses is therapeutic. Therapeutic horseback riding can treat ADD, anxiety, autism, depression, dementia, and many other mental health conditions. Other mental benefits of horseback riding include stress relief, mental exercise, and relaxation. According to the BHS study, horseback riding stimulates mainly positive psychological feelings. More than 80% of riders say they feel “quite a bit” or “extremely cheerful, relaxed, happy, and active” after riding. Learning to ride helps develop confidence and good self-esteem.
Physical Health Benefits
In addition to offering a form of exercise, horseback riding is a physically demanding sport that can help you stay in shape.
Here are a few ways that horseback riding helps with your physical health:
Enhances Core Strength
A strong core has many benefits that can be used in everyday life, such as preventing injury, improving sports performance, decreasing lower back pain, and improving posture
Improves Balance And Coordination
In addition to keeping yourself balanced while riding, you’re practicing coordination as you guide the horse in different directions. The ability to balance and coordinate are crucial skills for more advanced riders as they navigate barrels, fences, or other obstacles.
Strengthens Muscle Tissue
There is no muscle that horseback riding does not strengthen. This includes the chest, arms, and legs.
Circulation And Flexibility Are Improved
Horseback riding, like many forms of exercise, improves circulation. The rhythmical movements your body makes while riding a horse promote healthy circulation and stretch many muscles. This, improves flexibility and your range of motion
Other Benefits
Positive Character Traits
Horseback riding teaches the rider responsibility, just like wagering at https://sportsbetafl.net/odds/. Horse riders need to be able to care for their horse during times of health and illness. Learning all about horse health, is very time consuming and is a big responsibility to put into practice every single day for the benefit of the horse. Additional qualities that horseback riding teaches is- patience, discipline, understanding, empathy, compassion, self-control, dedication and most importantly problem-solving.
Riders need to be able to problem solve and make quick decisions. For example, if a horse is set on going one way and the rider wants to go the other, the rider has to determine how to make a 1,000-pound horse go the direction that they have chosen in a humane and safe way. The unexpected can happen at any moment and riders need to be able to think quickly in the saddle to remain safe and in control.
Now that we have discussed the all of the benefits of being a horseback rider, if you do not ride already, maybe this article will convince you to saddle up and start horseback riding.
About Doreen Cohen
