Does Your Horse Secretly Hate You?

Bring him over to the mounting block, tighten the girth, adjust the saddle, and then mount.

Hold the reins in one hand and mount from the ground. Once you're up, wriggle the saddle into place if it shifted when you got on.

Make sure that your horse is standing still, which usually takes a few seconds because he is fidgety sometimes. Then ask your instructor to check your stirrups before getting on.

C) I always focus on going into the corners and steering my horse the right direction – precision is key!

B) I like to keep my horse going at a brisk pace – and I know that it is important that he knows I am the boss!

A) I work hard to keep a good distance between the horse in front of me and the horse I am riding.

C) I’ll try using a neck strap. Anything that will improve my jumping will make me happy! I can’t wait to see if it’s a success.

A) That’s a good idea – I certainly wouldn’t want to jerk my horse in the mouth because I’m pulling on the reins.

B) Why would I need a neck strap? I doesn’t matter how you get over the jumps, as long as I am able to tackle the really big and exciting ones!

A) I love to ride a new horse every so often to switch up the routine and get used to different kinds of rides.

C) I like easy-going horses that will listen to my commands – I find that most horses seem to ignore my aids to slow down or speed up.

B) I like fast horses most of the time, but I don’t mind the slow ones, as long as I have my crop in my hands!

B) I will un-tack my horse and then jump in my mom’s car to drive away before someone makes me wash him or something!

C) I can never un-tack correctly, but I still give my horse a small treat for putting up with me.

After un-tacking, I give my horse a treat if I have one and spend a couple minutes grooming and brushing him.