The Dedication and Commitment of Equestrian Sports

All equestrian sports require a lot of responsibility, dedication, and commitment. From caring for your horse to taking wins in the area, riders improve through years of experience and mileage in the show arena. 

If you or your child is interested in starting riding lessons, regardless of discipline, start slow. Caring for a horse, buying tack and clothing, and pursuing a discipline requires the rider to be committed with their time and financially. Talk to trainers and do your research to be knowledgeable about the years of dedication equestrian sports require. Horse Connect has lots of information on getting started in your discipline and has many resources of horse professionals that can help guide you into our wonderful community of horse lovers. Start slow to make sure you or your child are ready to take on the responsibility of the care of your horse and the commitment to developing as a rider.

Horses alone require lots of care between picking the right feed, exercising them regularly, veterinarian check ups, farrier visits, supplements, grooming, etc. New riders should start by learning on school horses or on a leased horse to learn about horse care before looking to invest in a horse of their own. 

Riding is forever a learning process because it goes far beyond learning how to ask the horse to go or stop. Riding is about understanding how the horse responds to your body movements.

Every horse is different and reacts differently to the various cues given by the riders, so riders are always learning how to not just ask the horse to do something, but understand the horse and how the horse responds to the cues. Your body language tells the horse a lot about what you want to do, so it can take a long time to develop the self awareness and control that anables riders to excel. Everybody develops these skills at different paces so it is important to communicate with your trainer about your riding goals and how you can improve. 

Showing is a fantastic way to figure out how you can improve too. When you're at a show or rodeo, you are constantly watching other riders and can go “oh she did that which made the ride better and overall did really well, maybe I can practice that with my trainer.” Showing also helps you learn how you and your horse respond to pressure and stress, which is why riders that show more often usually place very high because they have enough mileage in the show arena that they have overcome the pressure to perform.

Understanding the level of commitment and dedication for your discipline will help as you get more and more involved. While it might seem scary, it is better to know than get too involved before realizing that riding isn’t for you. Because of course you’re gonna love it! Who doesn’t love horses? 

Talk to your equestrian friends, potential trainers, and horse owners about the time they spend and the amount of work they put into caring for their horse and furthering their skills before jumping right in so that you can understand the dedication of equestrian sports.