My horse is ready but what about me?

 

My horse is ready but what about me?

So you have a horse and most of the equipment that you need to ride but are you ready?  So what you wear depends on where you are riding.  If you are trail riding then you need blue jeans, a shirt, and boots.  Jeans are thick so they protect the rider from getting saddle sore.  Riding in a saddle can cause your legs to chafe from rubbing on the saddle. It is important that you are protected when you ride.  Boots are important to protect your feet not only while riding but while on the ground.  Speaking from personal experience, boots are very important.  One year at the fair, I was giving my horse a bath and he stepped on my foot.  After fair was almost over, my mom took me to the doctor and my foot was broke in three places.  She thought that it was just sore because it was stepped on, but it was worse that sore.  I had survived the entire fair riding my horse and showing my hog with a broken foot.  Could this have been prevented?  Who knows but I was just wearing regular rubber boots, not Muck boots when I was washing my horse.  There was another horse that spooked him and he stepped over onto my foot.  If my boots had provided my foot more protection, maybe my foot would have been only sore.  I did learn the importance of boots and that the boots need to be appropriate for the job you are doing.  Inexpensive rubber boots might be okay for washing chickens but are definitely not the best choice for washing a horse.  Another thing that might be needed for your horse is spurs.  As with the rest of the equipment, there are different types of spurs and finding what works with your horse is important.  There are bumper spurs and spurs with rowels.  Some are more severe than others.  Horses react differently to spurs, so it is important to find what works best for your horse.  Some horse’s may not need spurs at all.  For my horse, I use bumper spurs with a blunt rowel.  My horse responds well to just a little bump, so it is not necessary for me to use more severe spurs and run the risk of hurting my horse.  Test spurs on your horse to determine if any are needed and to determine how reactive the horse is to spurs.  I would start with bumper spurs and build up from there.  No reason to use more force than necessary.

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