Getting Good

Tamarack Hill Farm I don`t think that learning how to ride is all that "tricky", but there are some basic "rules of engagement" that those who adhere to will discover will ease the process: 1. Become at least a reasonably fit athlete. If you are "The Blob That Ate Chicago", unblob yourself. 2. Get in a place, mentally and physically, where you can ride a lot. Can`t get good without practice, can`t practice without access to horses. 3. Find competent help. If you practice the wrong things, you will get better and better at doing it worse and worse. 4. Study what makes you tick. Find out about yourself. Figure out what you have that will let you become a good rider, things like patience, perseverance, a work ethic, perhaps, and figure out what things you will need to change, things like easily frustrated, perhaps, or timid, or non assertive. 5. Try to gain a support network, even if it`s one single friend, who believes in you and bucks you up when it gets hard, which it will. 6. Become a horseman/horsewoman on this journey. Riding is vastly much more than what happens after you climb on. 7. Be ready for a long journey---it`s a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck---