You've got your horse and all your equipment, and you're pretty sure you know how to care for him so that he'll live to the age of thirty. Now nature has provided you with a brisk, clear day, and you can't wait to mount up and go for the first real ride since you've owned your own horse.

If you are an experienced rider, there's nothing to prevent you from mounting up and riding off. But if you are a beginner, be prudent about this first adventure. First of all, your parents may be watching and you certainly won't want to make some silly, avoidable mistake in front of them or anyone else on your maiden voyage. Second, it's one thing to feed and care for a horse and keep him healthy; you're on solid ground there, and if you are puzzled about some­thing, you can always ask a friend or check it in the book. But it's a totally different thing when you're five or six feet off the ground on an animal which is a lot stronger than you! Third, and most important, you have your own sense of pride and responsi­bility. You must honestly estimate how well you ride and just how far you are able to go in terms of your own horsemanship. Learn thoroughly each step involved in riding before you advance to the next step. Never try to show off or be a daredevil— not only because that sort of behavior is childish but because it is dangerous and indicates that you simply aren't ready to have a horse of your own. Of course, you never intentionally do something foolish on a horse. But riding fills a person with a feeling of carefree ease, of delight and exuber­ance. It is very easy to get carried away and try something, such as jumping, which looks like so much fun but which you may not be ready to begin. So keep a level head and don't go overboard out of excitement. But now it's time to mount up. Be sure you do it from the left side. Lead the horse from the barn and stand him in a quiet spot away from any other activity. Turn your back toward the horse's head so that you are facing toward the rear. With your left hand gather your reins (see p. 72) and hold the pommel of the saddle. With your right hand hold the stirrup (on the horse's left side) and place your left foot in it. Now move your right hand to the cantle (that is the rear part of the saddle) and pull yourself up as you push off the ground with your right foot. Once your weight is firmly on your left foot in the stirrup, swing your right leg over the rear of the horse and gently sit down in the saddle, placing your right foot in the right stirrup. Do remember to land gently, though, and not to flop down on the horse's tender loins like a sack of meal!

To dismount, you reverse the pro­cedure. Take your right foot out of the stirrup, swing it over the rear of the horse so that you are standing on your left foot, which is in the stir­rup. Lean your body over the saddle so you can kick your left foot out of the stirrup. Then jump down.

Mounting: gather reins in left hand and place left foot in stirrup. Hold pommel of saddle and cantle (rear)

Once you are on the horse, you must be certain that your stirrups are properly adjusted. The length of the stirrups will vary according to the type of riding you will be doing. The person who intends to do some jump­ing would wear his stirrups somewhat shorter than the person who rides saddle seat. But if you are simply going out for a pleasure ride (called hacking), the best way to adjust your stirrups is to let your legs hang relaxed as you sit in the saddle. Then fix your stirrup length so that the bottom of the iron comes to your ankle bone. This is a good average length and you can always raise or lower the stirrup a notch to suit your needs. But make sure that your stirrups are even; otherwise, you'll be riding lopsided.

At last you're in the saddle and all set to go. But question yourself once more: are you sure you're ready to ride ? Are you in the correct posi­tion, with every part of you poised exactly as it should be and set to stay that way? Your head and shoulders should be erect but not stiff. Your back should be straight, never sloppily hunched over. Your weight should be forward in the saddle and forward in your body—resting on your pelvic bones, not on the coccyx, the base of your spine. Your knees and legs are your means of hanging on in case the horse shies or bucks, so they should grip the saddle tight at all times. Never allow daylight to peek through between your knees and the saddle, and if you want to test yourself on your ability to keep your knees in tight, try riding with a coin between them and the saddle. If the coin slips to the ground, you will know that you need to work harder.

to pull up as you push off ground with right foot. Swing right leg over horse's back and sit down easily

Snaffle bridle has one rein. Here we see the way to hold it, with hands well down

Your heels must always be down and your toes should point forward as they would in your own natural walking position. Your ankles should be flexed slightly outward forcing your knees in and your feet away from the horse's sides. The stirrup should be right on the ball of the foot, and your heel well down.

As for your hands, make sure, first of all, that you are holding the reins correctly and that you have light con­tact with the horse's mouth. You should not pull at his mouth, but there should be no slack in the reins except for the curb rein, the bottom rein.

A good fit and protection for your head

This should always be a little loose. Your thumbs should not be straight up nor should your hands be held in a completely horizontal position—as if you were suddenly going to start playing a piano! Instead, your hands should be midway between those two positions (see p. 75). In fact, the best way to get the proper angle is to rest your hands, while holding the reins, against the horse's shoulders on either side of his withers. The natural angle of his shoulders is the natural angle for your hands.

How high ought your hands to be held? About an inch or two over the horse's withers. And remember not to let those hands go flying up in the air in a moment of excitement! As for holding on to the saddle—that's a real crime for anyone but the ex­treme beginner who may need to steady himself now and then.

Also, remember to keep your elbows in close to your body. Let's not have any wings flapping out at the sides as if-you were a huge bird ready to rise in flight!

Bear in mind that riding a horse is not merely sport, a question of strength or athletic ability. Truly, it is an art that has a lot in common with dancing; as you progress, you will gain a sense of balance and rhythm that a dancer might well envy. And when you sit your horse, you will come to feel you are working with a partner.

At left, correct way to hold two reins. The upper or snaffle rein is outside the little finger At far left, the rider has feet too far forward. Toe and knee should form a straight line Below, beginner pays close attention as instructor gives him pointers

Every natural action of the horse is based on a distinct beat, so you must be as close to your horse as possible. Your thighs and calves must be held in tight, your hands close to his neck, your elbows near your sides. No part of you should flail out. Keep your senses tuned to the horse's movements and soon your own responses will become completely graceful and natural.

Now it's time to get on the move. To make the horse walk forward, simply kick him with your heels by moving the leg back from the knee and tapping the horse in the ribs. Don't lift up your whole leg from the thigh and dig the poor animal in an ungainly fashion, and above all don't jiggle the reins and expect the horse to know what it is that you want him to do.

The reins are for stopping and turning the horse. If you want to stop him, pull back steadily and evenly on the reins. Just pull by flexing your wrists. Don't lean back in the saddle and tug with all your might, nor should you jerk or snatch at the reins. A little movement from the wrists is all it takes, and after a few steps the average horse will stop. Horses with superior training will stop on a dime at the slightest touch from the hands or will increase their gait at the barest shift in the rider's weight.

The horse is now moving at a nice walk and you know how to stop him. Pine. The only trouble is, what good is it to know how to stop and start the horse if you can't steer him? He'll have enough sense not to run into anything, but he may well carry you right into the nearest grain bin or pile of hay! To turn the horse and make him go where you want him to go, pull evenly and firmly on the rein near the direction you want to have him head. In other words, if you want to go right, pull steadily on the right rein—pull it straight back to your body, not out to the side. To go to the left, pull on the left rein.

There are some horses—such as Western horses or polo ponies—which are 'bridle wise' and steer in a differ­ent fashion because they must be ridden with one hand. If you know your horse is bridle wise and you want to turn left, lean the right rein against the right side of his neck. If you want to turn right, push the left rein against the left side of his neck. Instead of pulling your horse's head toward the direction you want to go, you push his head in that direction.

Aside from these basic details, there are certain fundamentals of riding you should be aware of before taking your first trip out on your horse. A chief rule is that you should never blame the horse for anything that happens while you are riding. If the horse shies at something which fright­ens him and you fall off, don't say "he threw me" and decide that the horse is at fault. It's up to you to anticipate when a horse might become scared by something strange. You must be alert enough to feel the horse tense up, and you must be ready to soothe your pet and grip your knees m tight so that, if he does shy, you're ready. The sure sign of a poor rider is a person's saying that the horse threw him rather than admitting that he fell off.

top riders take a spill so don't feel it is anything to be ashamed or badly frightened of

Hunters and riders near"in"gate awaiting their turn in the ring. Nervous horses are kept walking. Calmer ones stand quietly

Schedules for classes and diagrams of courses are posted near "in" gate. Here information gets a final check before the next class begins

Always bear in mind that you must have respect for your own horse and for other riders. Don't work your horse hard without giving him rest periods. He must surely be walked the first and last fifteen minutes of a ride and should never be ridden at more than a walk on hard roads. Why? Remember about laminitis? Your horse is likely to get it if you trot or canter him on pavement or before the circulation in his feet has had a chance to be stimulated by walking.

If you're riding on a bridle path and come upon other riders, assume that there may be a timid horse or a novice rider in the group and walk past these people instead of galloping by them. Suppose you were one of these riders and you had been on a horse only once or twice before. Some young rider comes galloping by, your horse takes off after him, you lose control and wind up taking an ugly

fall. It's all quite avoidable if we observe common courtesy on the trails.

Speaking of falls, we might as well face the fact that some time during your career as a rider you are likely to take a spill. At the start, get all sorts of adventurous ideas about broken bones out of your mind.

Pull up stirrups, lay girth across saddle before placing saddle pad and saddle, and fastening girth underneath

Rid­ing a horse is no more dangerous than riding a bicycle, and a serious accident with a horse happens even less often than a serious accident with a bicycle. The only difference is that fewer people ride horses, so that when an accident occurs people remember it more clearly and make more of it. There's always somebody with a rela­tive who was a victim of the classic equine tragedy—being dragged by a frightened horse, one foot caught in the stirrup. Granted, something like this does happen once in a while. However, many riders who have been riding for fifteen years or more and have seen a goodly number of spills, report never having seen anyone dragged or stepped on by a horse. Now, if nothing can convince you that fear of being dragged by a stir­rup is unwarranted, you will feel a good deal safer if you use special stirrups with a safety bar. When the toe catches on this bar, the stirrup unhinges and releases the foot. These stirrups are never used in horse shows, however, and any rider who keeps his heels down firmly has no need of this type of stirrup iron.

But such incidents are truly freak. They never happen to a good rider or to a beginner on a suitable horse taking suitable precautions—and they happen only very rarely to other riders, even the most careless of them.

If you are still worried about falls, there are a few precautions you can take—and which every rider should know how to take—to make your rides as safe as possible. The most obvious of these is, if you are a begin­ner, to ride only nice quiet mounts thoroughly suited to your riding ability. If you own your own horse and you feel that he may be too frisky, lounge him before you ride him, or turn him out in the paddock and let him exercise until some of the freshness goes out of him.

A very good rule to follow for safe­ty's sake is always to tell someone approximately where you intend to ride and how long you'll be gone. In that way, if you don't return in a reasonable length of time, there will be somebody aware of the fact that you may be in danger and that person can have some idea of where to look for you.

Another wise safety measure is always to wear a hard hunt cap, or derby, when riding or working around your horse. This gives vital protection and is most likely to eliminate the danger of serious injury to your head.

If you do fall from the horse, be sure you don't try to hang on to the animal. You will be safer if you fall clear of him, so let go of the reins and let yourself roll away from the horse. Chances are he'll either stop and wait for you or run back to the barn, so there's little possibility of his really running away.

Also, if you fall, remember to bring your hands and legs in close to your body. If you sprawl all over the place when you hit the ground, the horse may not be able to avoid stepping on you. Curl yourself into a ball, then relax, and lie perfectly still until you know the horse is away from you. Only then can you find out how badly you're hurt. Just lie quiet and rest a moment, then pull yourself together and walk around a bit. If your mount is nearby, get back on the horse and think of how many scraped elbows and knees you got learning to ride a bike. Remember all the swallows of water you got when you were learn­ing to swim, and the 'baseball fingers' you acquired learning to play ball. Taken in its proper perspective, riding produces very few aches and pains.

Mounting, dismounting, starting, stopping, and steering the horse, as well as a few other ground rules we've discussed, are the elementary steps of riding. Whether you ride your own horse or rent one, you can master these points on the very first or sec­ond time out. They are easy steps which you can practice on your own and which you can teach yourself without the aid of an instructor or friend. These basics at least allow you to get right up on your own horse and move about. However, any­thing beyond these fundamentals re­quires on-the-spot help, and no matter how much you read on learning how to ride, it's all pretty academic unless you take lessons. Telling someone how to post at the trot is like trying to instruct an infant on the problem of walking. It's easy to say "you simply put one foot in front of the other and move." But does that really teach the infant to walk? Of course not.

Along bridle trails you'll feel thrill of being on the move, peace of being close to nature

Such a thing takes regular supervi­sion, constant practice and effort.

The same goes for your riding. You should have a lesson at least once a week. If you take it from a profes­sional instructor, it will cost any­where from three to five dollars. But you don't need to take lessons from a professional if you have a friend who rides well. Get your friend to teach you as often as possible and practice as much as you can. Be critical of yourself and check to see if your feet and hands are in the right posi­tion, if your knees are in tight. Prac­tice making circles and figure eights to increase your control over the horse. Let your body move right with the horse's movement. Never flop about in the saddle. Keep your hands steady and gentle yet strong, so that you could ride with reins of silk on a well-trained horse and still control a fresh, tough-mouthed animal.

One more point concerning instruc­tion—you should be forewarned about professional riding instructors. The best of them have "artistic tempera­ment" and, if they discover you have marked talent, they will take you as seriously as you should. Don't be too surprised or distressed if once in a while you get yelled at.

Real skill will come before you know it, and it will not be long before you feel complete ease in the saddle on any horse. You will be ready for the big event—your first horse show.

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