Riding ain’t easy. If you are planning on becoming a rider or training your own horse the sooner you come to terms with that phrase the better. Of course riding is magical and amazing, but riding and training is also painful and tough and can sometimes be downright dirty.

It does not matter if you are bought a trained horse or are training your own you are bound to run into many obstacles along the way. Just as a marathon runner sweats his way through a grooling race you can expect the same for riding. Quite often you will find you hit a point of no return. Your horse is acting up but you can’t just get off and quit, you have to see it through. It may take an hour, it make take two or three or more. You have to do whatever it takes. Riding is not for the faint of heart, but for the dedicated and determined. You must learn to pick your battles, when to get in and more importantly, when to get out.

Riding is about consistency. You don’t just get out of bed one day and plan to climb a mountain. You get out of bed everyday and work little by little, piece by piece until you reach your goals. – Goals are an important part of riding. Know where you are now and where you what to be and do what it takes to get there. No excuses. Horses are living, breathing creatures with thoughts and ideas of their own. They don’t always do what you want, when you want. The goal is to get them to trust you enough to get them to look to you for their next move. Grant it, sometimes they just don’t care and do what they want to do anyways. But don’t back off, this is when you have to learn to rise to the challenge. They are testing you, seeing what you’re made of. If they can get away with it they will. Riding ain’t easy.

If you are looking for an easy sport try tennis or baseball. You hit the ball or you don’t. The ball isn’t going to turn around and bit you in the ass. It is just going to lay there until you pick it up again. With a horse, well, the possibilities of what a horse can do are endless.

When riding a horse you have to be in the moment. There is no time for the mind to wonder, you are riding a 1200lb animal full of power and grace and you have to be prepared for the unexpected. When you are riding there is nothing else in the world that matters, it’s just you and your horse. The smells, the speed, if you are lucky, harmony and unity. But don’t be fooled. Riding ain’t easy!