Anybody who has ever ridden a horse will appreciate the powerful feeling of closeness and oneness with an exquisite animal, especially as applied to mental health. This powerful connection becomes even more potency when considered within context of mental wellbeing.
Riding requires concentration, teaching us how to be present in each moment – an integral component of mindfulness. Spending time with horses also reduces our stress levels significantly.
Improved Balance and Coordination
Rider must maintain balance and coordinate movements to stay balanced on their horse, helping strengthen core muscles and improve posture while increasing body control strength in legs and arms alike.
Mentally, horseback riding offers people an effective way to unwind from everyday stressors in a natural setting. This relaxation comes from bonding with horses and experiencing their rhythmic movement while simultaneously decreasing cortisol levels in your system.
Horses also teach their riders responsibility and patience. Each daily care and feeding requires patience on both parts, with riders learning that just like humans their horse has good and bad days just like them – building self-respect and work ethic while building self-respect and an ideal work ethic in both themselves and the horse! Problem-solving skills become important tools when riding horses as obstacles arise while providing motivation when overcome!
Strengthened Muscles
Riding provides an incomparable sense of power and accomplishment for those who have ever experience its thrills and joy. Bonding with such a magnificent creature strengthens minds while strengthening memory, assertiveness and speech abilities that translate directly to everyday life.
Riding horses is an effective way to strengthen muscles in your legs, back, and shoulders, keeping the rider healthy and reducing injuries from falls or muscle strain. Strengthening these muscles also aids with daily barn chores such as feeding, bedding, and mucking out stalls.
Horseback riding provides more than just strengthening benefits; it is also a fantastic cardio exercise which can burn calories and lower blood pressure, which in turn may reduce risk of heart conditions or other health problems in future, helping riders maintain a healthy weight and maintaining an active lifestyle.
Increased Self-Confidence
Riding and working with horses builds confidence. Learning new skills, earning your horse’s trust, and progressing to riding independently all serve to boost this feeling of empowerment. Many riders describe their horse as their go-to confidante whom they can confide in without judgement or criticism.
Horses have an incredible ability to sense human emotions. If a rider is feeling angry or frustrated, their horse may respond by acting obstinately; conversely if they appear skittish or anxious, their mount may behave nervously or shy.
Recent research demonstrated the positive influence of activities with horses on adolescents’ perceptions of social support. For participants with lower levels of social support before participating, lower levels led to greater confidence that they could master relational and task-specific skills during intervention with horses; the unique nature of this interaction included both supportive peers as well as an instructor, potentially explaining greater levels of self-efficacy beliefs.
Reduced Stress
As one rides their horse, they must remain mindful of their posture and ensure their body remains in an appropriate position. Doing this engages core muscles while strengthening inner thighs and arms – providing an ideal workout for those hoping to increase fitness levels.
Horseback riding provides riders with both physical and mental exercises; riders must quickly think on their feet, communicate with the animal to ensure their safety, and develop problem solving skills while getting their horse to follow cues and avoid obstacles.
People suffering from anxiety can find solace in horses. Equine-assisted therapy does not always involve riding; grooming, feeding and leading are also often part of an effective therapy session to relieve their symptoms of stress and depression. By distracting a person’s thoughts away from anxiety-inducing thoughts, horse therapy sessions have proven an effective means of relieving anxiety symptoms.
