5 Reasons Why Horse Riding is Good for You

  1.  It improves your mental state

Horse riding is a sport that requires focus and determination like any other sport. It requires balance, patience, care and hard work. While riding a horse, all your thoughts are redirected to the activity of riding since you require all the focus and balance that you can muster so as to ensure that you do not fall off or run into something. Focusing your thoughts on one thing takes your mind off all the other things. This means that when riding, you can forget about all your problems for a while and feel your spirits and mood lifted. The activity can, therefore, be sufficiently deemed as therapeutic and can help you to feel happy and relaxed after a long, hard, day.

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2.    Horse riding improves your muscle strength

Since the activity can actually be a sport, it forces us to exert the same amount of effort as we would while doing a different but similarly demanding activity such as running. Horse riding, therefore, improves body strength, balance and stamina and helps one to exercise their muscles. Due to the upright position which we assume while on the horse, riding improves our posture and enables us to stretch all our core muscles and be in a good body state.

3.    Horse riding enables you to establish a bond

A horse can be a pet like any other animal, for instance, a dog or a cat. Taking up the activity can enable you to create a special bond with the horse, as you get to spend a lot of time with it, for example, while brushing its mane or feeding it. In addition to loving human company, with time, eventually, horses enjoy being ridden, and thus riding one will do a lot of good for both you and the horse.

4.    It teaches you discipline and patience

For one to be a good rider, you must efficiently take care of your horse. This means you have to remember to feed it, groom, it, clean up the stables and the saddles and so much more. This is not easy work and a lot of people tend to slack and do away with the activity altogether. This should not be the case since in the long run, staying committed and true to all these activities will enable you to acquire various life skills that you can use all your life. Taking care of a horse teaches you patience, hard work, resilience, discipline and so much more. All these are wonderful traits which enable you to become a better person in life.

5.    Provides an opportunity to interact with others

You may take up horse riding as a pastime activity, but it may also be a good idea to consider joining the races and competitions. This kind of engagement will present you with the opportunity to meet other like-minded people like you who care about horses and would love to participate in something challenging and fun. Enrolling in a horse racing competition will also help you to improve your discipline as you have to train every day and it would definitely provide a great sense of fulfilment once you win a particular race.