Derriere Equestrian: How fun, childhood activities can improve our adult riding expertise! By Bex Mason, showjumper

How fun, childhood activities can improve our adult riding expertise!

By Bex Mason, showjumper

Going back to ‘the good old days’ of riding as a child brings us such lovely memories! How did you learn to ride? Were you a Pony Club member or did you attend a Riding School? Were you lucky enough to have your own pony, or did you beg, borrow or steal rides? All of the experiences and the fun and games we had were such good grounding for the adult rider!

For example, do you remember...

Round the World - an initial challenge providing the first steps to balance. Removing your feet from the stirrups, you’d move one leg over the saddle, sitting sideways, then continue to the back of the saddle, now facing backwards, and then to the other side, while someone held the pony!
You’d then maybe move on to sliding off down the pony’s tail, if you were brave enough. Then you may have performed full scissors, when you’d remove your stirrups, flip both legs backwards and up into the air and cross them, returning to a sitting position facing backwards... and also the less scary half scissors, whereby you’d remove your stirrups, take the outside leg over the pommel, and ‘thread’ it under your inside leg, lying on your tummy, before putting the outside leg back over the cantle.

You probably also tried mounting from either side, vaulting onto your pony, maybe even in walk, trot or canter – all done with the long-suffering pony being a willing helper by your side. All of this was all about feeling comfortable with whatever can happen on horses, e.g. if they spook, shy, or run off... these exercises gave us the confidence and ability to cope and regain our seat and the status quo!

As you became more advanced with your riding, you would have moved on to riding without stirrups and reins, trying bareback riding, and swapping mounts with your friends. Ah, such nostalgia!

However there is no reason why we cannot continue these fun challenges as adults, and have a get-together with friends, play some silly games and put a few laughs back into training. Sometimes it is easy to become obsessed with how the horse is going, and forget about ourselves.

Try and get out of a monotonous rut whereby you always do the same thing and the same hacks; why not find time to be a kid again, and have a go at some of these suggestions:

Put a five pound note (or more if you are confident!) between your bottom and saddle, cross your stirrups and set tasks such as trotting a serpentine or cantering a circle - last one to keep the cash intact wins!
Knot your reins and see if you can steer your horse just using your seat and legs; move on to trot and canter if you feel brave!
Try a bending race and later add a cup of water to carry (something stronger if you prefer!). Variants such as no stirrups can be added, to increase the fun.
A group can try swapping horses, which can prove an interesting interlude, as if you are not used to anything but your own, a different equine can be quite a challenge to adjust to, let alone play games with! You can learn a little from having to deal with different animals, and it will broaden your experience.
Part of our childhood memories will all be about the social side of riding, and this can be brought back into our lives in so many ways. Get the maps out and find some interesting rides and pile into a lorry and go a little further afield. Beach rides are great; just check with the coastguard for the times you are allowed to go, and the state of the tides, so that you are safe. Join up to go on some long-distance sponsored rides, take picnics and flasks and enjoy your days! Happy riding, everyone.

About Bex

Producer Bex Mason has worked for many years breaking in horses and competing at an international level with elite riders such as Tina and Graham Fletcher (GB), Ludo Philleaperts (BEL), Steve Cohan (NZ) and Viki Roycroft (AUS). Bex specialises in producing competition horses.