The Rider

We have covered the Horse, the Stable / Livery Yard, the Bedding and other areas but the most important attribute we want to impress on you is the rider.

This is the one major area that you are capable of changing. Whether you want to improve your riding, spend more time with your horse, compete at the highest level, or gain sponsorship for yourself. Becoming a seriously good horse rider takes long hours, dedication, perseverance and not just raw talent. Even the most skilled rider will be surpassed when there are others willing to put in the longer hours and work harder to achieve there dreams and goals.

I have found in my horse riding career that it all starts with preparation.

Preperation

Say next morning you are going for a ride with your coach, or just simply with some friends. You can prepare to excel at this activity by having your clothing and equipment ready to go, your horse clean and well fed for the days activities and your riding gear clean and suitable for the trek and the current weather conditions of the day you have decided to go out on. Therefore it is always key to check the weather.

Sponsorship

If you want sponsorship for you and your horse then there are a couple things you can already do to get exposure. You will need to get out there and make an effort to show yourself and show that you are in the public eye. When businesses and brands are giving you their clothes, horse gear, horse bedding or even funds then they will expect to have something in return. This is eyeballs on their product.

Let’s take for example some horse bedding, and say it is wood pellets. This is a product that your horse sleep on in the stable and also makes quite dirty before you muck out. Therefore they want people to be seeing how beautiful and clean it is, the bed should be white and clean looking very pure. If you are able to make and advertise the superior qualities of items like this and how the business or brand can be successful with you then you will be opening yourself up to another world of sponsors.

Events & Horse Trials

Without a doubt the most exhausting, exciting and stressful times are during competition. It is when things really get going and the most solid foundations are able to be rocked.

The best strategy I have found is to be supremely carefree about the outcome of the event. Yes, you want to win and you want to be number 1 but you will not let your nerves get the best of you and tell you anything different.

Summary

In summary how you approach being a rider is up to you, but if you do it right there is a world of opportunities out there for yourself and you will gain the support from your friends and family. We here at Harby Horse are fully committed to empowering young people to join the Equestrian world and celebrate our horsey friends.