Riding for beginners

Where to learn

Start at a riding school, with a coach and a horse used to beginners. The British Horse Society has Approved Riding Centres throughout the UK. They will match you to a horse to make sure your lessons suit your experience, and you can search for one on the BHS website.

Many Approved Centres run the BHS Horse Explorers awards. The first riding award, Introduction to Riding, covers:

• what to wear
• how to mount and dismount
• the correct riding position
• how to ask the horse to halt, walk and trot
• how to change direction.

The awards are open to anyone, and you don't need to be a BHS member. If you already have your own horse, a BHS Accredited Professional Coach can teach the courses at your livery yard.

All riding schools in the UK are licensed, and the BHS notes that their tack is inspected every year by a vet appointed by the local authority.

What to wear

• A riding hat, to a recognised safety standard, fitted and fastened every time you ride. The BHS recommends buying a new hat from a reputable shop and having it fitted by a British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) trained fitter. Don't buy second-hand: you can't see damage with the naked eye. Children's hats can be a different shape from adults' hats, even from the same brand.
• Boots. The Pony Club's rules for its rallies ask for jodhpur boots or long riding boots with a smooth sole and a small heel.
• Sensible clothing. The Pony Club also asks for no loose clothing (including hoods), no hanging jewellery, and long hair tied up and back.

Safety for riders covers hats, body protectors and hi-vis in more detail.

Your first lessons

The BHS's session plans for Introduction to Riding show what a coach will typically cover across the first few lessons. Every centre works a little differently, but you can expect something like this.

Meeting your horse

Your coach will check your clothing and introduce you to the horse. Don't go in with a horse unless you have permission, and stay supervised until you're confident. You'll learn how to say hello to the horse, and how your yard brings horses to the arena.

Getting on

Before you mount, your coach will show you the checks to make: that the girth is tight enough and the stirrups are about the right length. You'll use a mounting block, and the key thing is to land gently in the saddle. Once you're on, the girth is checked again.

Walk, halt and steering

In the first lessons, the coach leads the horse on a lead rein while you get used to the feel of it moving:

• Hold the reins, and hold the neckstrap or the front of the saddle for balance.
• Sit up tall, without curling forward.
• Use your legs and voice to ask the horse to walk on. Don't grip with your legs or tip forward.
• At first, you'll halt using your voice rather than the reins. Later you'll learn the rein aid for halt: a gentle increase in pressure down the rein, then relaxing the rein as soon as the horse stops.
• Changing the rein means changing direction. You'll learn to guide the horse round a turn with the inside rein, and cones help you practise steering. Try not to pull back or lean to the side to turn.

A balanced position means feeling equal weight on both seat bones, shoulders level, the widest part of your foot in the stirrup, and your legs relaxed.

Getting off

Halt somewhere safe, take both feet out of the stirrups, and swing down, bending your knees as you land. Then run the stirrups up and loosen the girth.

Rising trot

Rising trot, where you rise out of the saddle and sit again in rhythm with the trot, usually comes after a few lessons. The BHS session plans build up to it gradually:

1. In halt, holding the neckstrap, stand up in the stirrups to balance on your legs, then land gently back in the saddle. Your coach will watch that your lower leg doesn't swing forward or back.
2. Practise rising and sitting in halt, then in walk while the coach leads the horse.
3. The coach walks faster until the horse trots: because you're already rising, you carry on in the trot's rhythm.

Keep the trots short and on straight lines at first, because it's tiring. Aim to sit lightly and spend equal time sitting and rising, swinging from the hips rather than standing straight up.

Lunge lessons

In a lunge lesson, the coach controls the horse on a lunge line, so you can concentrate on your position. You may do some position exercises with your feet out of the stirrups.

What comes next

After the basics, the BHS awards move on to riding in a group and to canter. Canter is the third pace, with a three-beat rhythm. The BHS's Silver flatwork plans introduce it with plenty of sitting and standing trot first, so your seat is secure.

The right horse for you

The BHS points out that riding a horse that's the wrong size for you can cause welfare problems:

• Too big or too wide: extra strain on your hips makes it hard to absorb the horse's movement, and a less experienced rider may not have the strength to stay in control.
• Too small: you'll tip your upper body forward and lift your lower leg, which unbalances the horse.

Weight matters too, including the weight of the tack. Most BHS Approved Centres have weight, and sometimes height, limits for each horse. Give the centre accurate information, so it can choose the right horse for you. A beginner tends to be less balanced than an experienced rider, and an unbalanced load is harder for a horse to carry.

When the time comes to share, loan or buy a horse, the BHS's rule of thumb is that native breeds and cobs are more laid back and forgiving of a novice's mistakes, while Thoroughbreds, Arabs and warmbloods tend to need more experienced riders. Be honest about what you can do confidently, rather than calling yourself "novice" or "intermediate", and take your coach with you to try any horse. See Horse and pony breeds for breed profiles.

Get fit to ride

The BHS's advice is that a tired rider becomes an unbalanced rider, and that makes the horse keep adjusting its own balance to compensate. Between lessons:

• Cardio, such as walking, running, swimming or cycling, builds stamina.
• Core strength helps you hold your position and use the aids clearly.
• Flexibility matters on both sides of your body. Yoga and Pilates help with core strength and flexibility.
• Off-horse exercises from the BHS session plans: stand on the edge of a step and lower your heels, and stretch.

Start any new fitness routine slowly. Warm up before you get on (even walking your horse in hand helps), and stretch afterwards to reduce muscle soreness.