Benefits Of Horse Riding

Fascinated by the leaps you can take while sitting on the horse? Are you planning to take up horse riding as a hobby, but in a dilemma of whether or not it is worth the deal? Well, it definitely is. Horse riding as a sport is worth experiencing. Along with the thrill it provides, there are many health benefits that one can grasp out of the sport. It offers a great workout for both the mind and the body of a person. It boosts the cardiovascular system and distresses a person’s mind. Horse riding is both a recreational and therapeutic activity, and can be enjoyed by individuals of all ages and abilities. It improves concentration, reflexes, muscular strength and ability to control and coordinate in a person. This article provides you with health and fitness benefits of horse riding.

Health And Fitness Benefits Of Horse Riding

Physical Benefits

Horse riding is one of the best forms of exercises, which provides both cardiovascular and muscle conditioning benefits. It may seem like the rider is not indulging in much movement, but an hour of horse ride burns equal amount of calorie as a 30 min jog or a cycle ride does. Therefore, all the health benefits associated with cardiovascular exercises can be gained by horse riding.
After a horse ride, you might be able to feel muscles that you never knew existed. This type of a feeling is because of the movement of the horse and its affect on the rider. The rider counter-reacts to the movement of the horse to avoid getting off balance. During this process of the reaction, the deep postural muscles of the trunk and pelvis and the adductor muscles of the thighs gets conditioned continuously. This helps in improved balance sense and strengthened muscle of the rider.
Horse ride practice will also help in improving the coordination power of the rider, especially the eye and hand coordination. It not only sharpens the senses, but also fastens the reflexes and increases the motor planning ability of the rider. Horse riding makes a person alert of his/her surroundings and helps in developing the alertness required, during emergency situations.
Regular horse riding not only improves the concentration of a person, but also helps in exercising and proper stretching of the thigh muscles. This leads to decreased spasticity in a person, removing all the sprains and tensions in the muscles.
Regular horse riding also helps in increasing the range of the motion of the joints. It stretches the muscles and increases their ability of motion. After few days of horse riding you will experience your joints moving more freely and easily in a way you never thought you can move them.
Horse riding helps in improving the integration and collaboration of the various sensory organs. It also helps in improving the respiratory process of the body. It helps in proper respiration and circulation in the body.
Horse riding also helps in improving the visual-spatial perception. It improves the grasping power of an individual. Horse riding fastens the process of visual grasping and signal sending to the brain.

Socio-Emotional Benefits

Horse riding is also said to have excellent therapeutic qualities. The psychological benefits and the social benefits of horse riding are as important as the physical benefits of horse riding. Horse riding helps in improving the self-confidence of a person.
Horse riding is a sport that involves a lot of attention and a bit of risk taking. Hence, a person learning or practicing horse riding also learns to take up risks and survive in difficult situations. The sport makes a person tough and prepares a person to overcome all hurdles.
Horse riding as a sport also helps in making a person disciplined. It is a sport that teaches self-discipline. It increases the patience level of a person. It improves the locus of control of the person. The person’s increased self-discipline helps in improving his/her focus.
Horse riding helps a person become social, as one gets to meet different people, get to learn new things and gets to improve once skills as a rider. The sport also helps in developing your relationship and understanding with animals. You develop respect for your horse and you are able to relate to it closely.

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