To get started on your horseback riding adventure you have two options. You can go to a ranch, farm, or anywhere else and learn on the horses provided. Your other choice is owning your own horse. A horse alone can cost around four thousand dollars, and that's just your average, every day horse. Once you have your horse you"ll need, a saddle, which can cost any where from two hundred dollars up to over one thousand dollars. You need a bridle, which is what goes around the horses" forehead and muzzle; the cost is around forty-five dollars. You also need a bit. This connects to the bridle. It sits in the horse's mouth, and controls the horse depending on which way you pull the reins. You must be sure your horse has adequate horseshoes on its" hooves, and that you have placed a pad underneath your horse's saddle. The pad helps to absorb the friction between the saddle and the horse's coat. Before putting all of the equipment on the horse it is important to brush your horse. You are able to have all of the hair going in the same direction and are able to prevent chaffing. .
You should always start your horseback riding adventures at a slow pace. This is called a walk. The walk is a slow, flat-footed gait with fours beats, about 3 to 4 miles an hour. The horse steps first with his right hind foot, then with the right front foot, then the left hind foot and finally, the left front. The horse should walk calmly but with long strides, using his legs and muscles and stretching his neck for balance. The walk is slow, steady and even, which makes it easy on the horse and easy to ride. Walking your horse is good because, it warms up the horse's muscles before hard work, relaxes and calms him, and cools him off after work. The right posture for riding a walking horse is to sit up straight, keeping your center of gravity over the horse's center of gravity, which is directly under the saddle. You should relax.
