Only for the horse. It's a sport when you let the horse on your back and you run around a track.
English
-
So you're saying that only the horse does work?
-
You're sitting on its back. What is the rider doing?
-
A lot more than you think. There's this common misconception that all you do is kick the horse and steer with your reigns, but that's just what it is. A misconception. I'll skip straight to the riding. We won't focus on tack, training or anything else. When you get on your horse, even if it's the perfect horse, it's still a living, breathing, sentient being. And all are different from others. Some are nice and cooperative. Others are rude. Sat you're riding, the horse hasn't had his hocks injected (this means his muscles aren't moving right on a certain lead (a lead is basically the direction your moving on comparison to a wall, which makes the horses legs move different. You need to move with the legs)) so you need to literally push the horse along. Squeeze with your calves, keep your heels down, keep your hands off the horses neck and keep contact (be able to feel his mouth with the reigns) while letting him go. Otherwise, the horse will stop. The horse moving isn't the only thing to riding. You need to move with the horse. You can't just pull a reign, aim at a jump and say "go!". That's just one of a million examples. Horseback riding is hard work