5 Reasons to Watch someone else ride your horse

I recently saw a video of myself riding one of my horses and then got to watch A. (initals to protect the innocent) ride Zapa and remembered HOW GOOD it is to watch someone else ride your horses.

1. You can look for signs of lameness. If you have a horse who has had any lameness problems, sometimes you can get lulled into a false sense of soundness when you ride him/her all the time. Watching your horse being riding can really help you identify when there might be a problem.

2. It can stretch the potential of your horse. As riders, we are all limited by our own flaws either being too strong/soft, to patient/impatient and the full potential of our horse is thereby limited by those flaws as well. By watching A. ride Zapa, I realized he can be asked to go a certain direction, he can relax and boy is he a dream to watch.

3. You can find flaws in your riding. Many times I have watched a trainer ride my horse and they ride the horse SO MUCH BETTER, than I do. So, I know it isn't the capibility of the horse that is in question, it is the capibility of the rider that is the issue. The skill to properly engage the hind end of a Paso Fino while still limiting the forward impulsion is a balaning act of brilliance often poorly executed by those still learning.

4. You can find the flaws in your training. I watched two of my horses go through an obsticle course once and saw that neither of them would back through the poles. That is not a horse issue my friends, that is a training issue.

5. It can bring a rider great joy to ride your horse. Enough said.

It is important to make sure that you pair the horse and rider properly to make the experience positive for everyone, but every once in a while, get off your horse and watch someone else ride!