Common Beginner Horse Riding Mistakes

The Fix: When you sit in the saddle, let your leg hang from the hip. Allow your weight to fall down on your heel. If you're jamming your heel down, you may also be pinching with your knees or clenching with your legs. Keep your foot under you, rather than allowing your leg to swing to the front or back. There should be an imaginary straight line from your ear, shoulder, hip to your heel.

Standing Tippy Toe

This often happens when riders first learn to post the trot. Trying to lift yourself out of the saddle by rocking up (usually hunching the shoulders and trying to 'hop' out of the saddle) and standing on your tip toes will likely have you behind the rhythm of the trot and double bouncing heavily in the saddle. Your hands may go up as you try to counterbalance yourself. This leads to a grumpy horse and an unbalanced, uncomfortable rider.

The Fix: Work on your leg position. Keep your lower leg still, with your feet under you as if you were standing on the ground with your knees slightly bent. Learn to use your core muscles to help you post the trot and not your feet.

Ramming Your Feet Into the Stirrups

Having your feet rammed too far into the stirrups is uncomfortable, and can be dangerous if you're not using safety stirrups or wearing proper boots.

The Fix: Make sure your stirrups are the proper length. The stirrup should just hit your ankle bone when your legs are hanging free with your feet out of the stirrups. Place your foot in the stirrup so the ball (widest) part of your foot is resting on the stirrup. Work on proper leg position.

Slouching

Whether we're embarrassed about our height, apprehensive about riding or trying to imitate hunched over cowboys we see in movies, slouching is a common mistake. Some nervous riders appear to want to curl into the fetal position as they ride. However, it's hard to control a horse while hunched, and your balance will be affected. Anything that affects our balance also affects our horse's ability to do its job well.