In the last few installments, I went over some basic horsemanship tips on how to turn yourself and your horse out to project a more polished, serious, credible image. This is something you should take seriously, as not many people are willing to let just anyone ride their horses. The sooner you develop good basic horsemanship skills, like the ones I highlighted, and make them a habit, the sooner you will be on your way to having a reputation as a serious rider that can be trusted with someone’s investment.
So, there you are, dressed and ready to go with all the necessary clean, well-fitted equipment for both you and your horse (guidelines for this are explained in earlier installments). And your equally properly turned out lesson horse is by your side, waiting for your cue for him to follow you into the ring for your lesson.
Lesson rings, whether indoors or out, can be very busy and dangerous so there are certain rules of the road that are important to follow not only for reasons of safety but for courtesy. Most rings have a mounting block in one corner and regardless of where it is, I like to choose the safest track that will allow other riders to go about their business while keeping myself and my horse out of harm’s way.
Let’s say you are entering the ring on one end and the mounting block is in the corner to the left. Since you lead your horse on his left side, it is not wise to stay close to the rail while you walk left towards the corner. A horse passing by could pick a fight with your horse and suddenly, you’ll find yourself pinned between your frightened horse and the wall. It is best to consider the track that goes closest to the rail as a busy highway and to leave that free and open for mounted riders. It is best if you find the closest thing to the ‘median strip’ in your ring and head for that, then make your way over to the corner. This is typically the quarter line, or, the track just about a horse length away from the rail. You can also head straight for the center of the ring, then head over to the corner from there. Bottom line, you want to stay out of the main flow of traffic.
It is bad manners to walk up to the mounting block and then choose that time to tighten up your girth, pull your stirrups down, readjust your stirrups, fasten your helmet and put on your gloves. I have stood behind people who do this and being ready to go, I could have already mounted and been on my way in the time it took them to do this. So, when you walk into the ring, before approaching the mounting block, stop in a safe, non-active area and check your girth and make any adjustments. Pull down your stirrups. Reach over to the rein on the opposite ‘off’ side of the horse and flatten it out and do the same on your ‘near’ side. Use this time for any last minute pre-mounting adjustments. Then, when the coast is clear, walk over to the block.
If your mounting block is situated so that you can put the horse between you and the corner, this is the safest scenario, because it puts the horse’s haunches the farthest away from any traffic. Ideally, you do not want to attempt to mount while any horses are near or about to approach.
Most horses like to walk off as soon as you put one foot in the stirrup. You want to always try to train them not to do this. I’ve seen someone lose their balance, fall and end up on crutches for weeks after such an incident. The best way to avoid this is to shorten the outside rein, the ‘off’ rein – the rein farthest away from you. Shorten it up just enough to keep the horse from walking away sideways from you and from walking forward. As you swing your leg over, your open left palm should be resting on the horse’s whithers while still holding the reins between your thumb and index finger, then, place your right hand right under yourself in the center of the saddle and support yourself until you have found your other stirrup. Then, either allow your horse to walk slowly away as you slowly sink into the tack or ask him to continue to stand quietly while you sink into the tack.
Once seated, walk away from the block and find another safe place to stand where you are well out of the way and make any additional adjustments. Typically, this means going up one more hole with your girth and ensuring your stirrup length is where you want it. You should practice doing both while mounted and with your foot still in the stirrup. At the least, your reins should be secured in the crook of your right arm while you do this.
Now, you are ready to hit the rail. It is best to start out in the direction of the majority of the traffic. Typically, in starting a lesson, this would be to the left. Be certain the coast is clear before you make your way to the active path. If others are trotting and warming up, you, as the slowest moving horse, should stay off the rail for now and stay on the quarter line or even closer into the center of the ring until you are ready to start working. Again, this allows all traffic to continue doing what they were doing and decreases the problem of faster moving horses having to pass slower moving horses.
While warming up, if people are moving in both directions, you must always follow the rule of left should to left shoulder. Meaning your horse’s left shoulder should pass the left shoulder of the horse closest to you. However, this rule does not apply if the person is such a distance apart from you that there is no risk of a head on collision. For instance, if you are tracking left and are on the rail and the person coming in the opposite direction is clearly cutting the end of the ring off, you do not need to be concerned about this rule. You both are a safe distance apart from each other.
Do not assume that everyone knows this rule, even if they are adults. There are many adults that pick up riding much later in life and are learning just like every other beginner. So, should another rider approach you and you are not confident they know where you are headed or you are not confident where they are headed, simply call out your position. Calling, “Outside” while tracking left typically means you are holding the rail. If they were to call before you, and were following the rules, they’d call, “Inside”.
When navigating a ring where jumping is taking place, you would do best to give jumping riders the right of way. Know that they need the corners to find the best track to a jump and to navigate the safest track through turns. Therefore, don’t park in a corner thinking you will be out of the way. It is a good idea to ask their instructor (or the rider) what course they will be doing so that you can navigate around, staying out of the way of the jumps they are using. It is also a good idea to learn the lingo of jumps and jumping. For instance, ‘outside line’ is the line of jumps that run alongside the rail, that is, either rail of the ring. “Diagonal” are the jumps that cut up the center of the ring diagonally in either direction. “Single” jumps are sitting by themselves with no other jump in a direct track from it. Learn the names of the style of jumps, such as oxer, coop, stonewall, brickwall, wishing well and so on. As a courtesy to other riders, a rider on course will call out her track using the line or the jump name if she feels the other riders are unaware of where she is going. This is a good safety measure for all in the ring. It is not necessary to call out each jump, however, when a track is obviously clear. If a track suddenly does not appear clear then yes, the jumping rider can call her line. Doing so more often than necessary can be a disruption and an annoyance to other riders.
Once your instructor starts your class, there are even more guidelines for how to build a good reputation as a responsible rider that could be entrusted to ride someone else’s horse. I’ll cover that in Part V.
