Whether you are a top eventer like Karen O’Connor or a lesson kid who pops over fences at your riding school, you probably know the feeling. Your stomach sinks and your body stiffens as it anticipates the pain ahead....
If you spend a lot of time in the arena with your horse, it’s a good idea to hit the trails once in a while. Both you and your horse can get pretty bored doing the same things over...
Let’s look at a few sticky trail situations and how to handle them.Know the Trails
It’s a good idea to know where you’re going before you set off on a trail ride. If you don’t know the trail, ride with...
Don’t buy an unbroken, young horse. You will have a lot more fun on an older, "been there, done that” type of horse. Green or unbroken horses are a lot of work and require experienced riders.Do buy a well...
Kacey Tucker is a 17-year-old young rider who is a rising senior at Andrews Osborne Academy (AOA), a co-ed day and boarding school in Willoughby, Ohio. Kacey has been a student at AOA for two years. Her dad works...
If you ride a brave horse or pony that’s good at jumping in the arena, give cross-country jumping a go! Cross-country jumping is when you jump natural-looking, solid fences out in the open, for example in a big field...
If you feel the need for speed and your horse is quite zippy when he wants to be, then you might have a lot of fun competing in mounted games, sometimes called "contesting.” Mounted games include events like poles,...
If you watched the show jumping in the 2013 London Olympics, you’re sure to know who Reed Kessler is! Reed was in the spotlight during the event because at 18, she was the youngest person in show jumping history...
Do you have a horse that heads for the hills the second he sees a dewormer syringe in your hand? Deworming is a simple procedure that should only take about a minute to complete, but some horses make it...
Here at Young Rider, we often recommend that new riders buy older horses. Teenaged horses often make the best first mounts. They tend to be more sensible and far more experienced than young horses. They’ve seen more of the...
