Explain how to ride a horse,in simple terms.?

Answers:
Sorry, Courtney doesn't know what she's talking about, so don't listen to her. You don't "flip the reins over" to turn the horse, and you don't "kick its back legs" to get it to move forward.

The best way to learn to ride is to go riding with a knowledgeable friend who has a gentle, reliable horse. When you meet the horse, don't just climb on it. Spend some time petting his neck and letting him breathe on you to say "hi, nice to meet you". To mount correctly, you will put stand on the left side of the horse, place your left foot in the stirrup, and your left hand on the withers of the horse or the pommel of the saddle. With an upward spring of your right leg which is on the ground, lift yourself into the saddle, moving your right leg carefully over the back of the horse and fitting your foot into the stirrup on the other side. You should be holding the reins as you mount, unless your friend is there holding the horse's head for you.

Once you are comfortable with your feet in the stirrups, you need to understand the reins. If the horse is trained to neck-rein, you will hold the reins together in one hand, and move the hand to the side you want to turn toward, pulling the rein against the side of the horse's neck to make him move his neck away from the rein pressure. If the horse is trained to direct rein (many English horses are, as well as newly-trained or snaffle-bit wearing horses, but the horse's owner should be able to tell you which), you will hold the reins with both hands directly in front of you. If they are looped reins (or roping reins, some call them--just one continuous line) you will slide one hand down the rein and take a shorter hold to gently pull directly in the direction you want to go. The other side should be completely loose, and it is called "direct" reining, because the pressure is in direct contact with the bit, pulling the horse's mouth to the side you want to turn towards.
If the reins are not looped, and there are two reins (called split reins), you should cross them over the horse's neck so that they go over the neck and the ends hang down on each side. Then your two hands hold directly in the middle, holding the reins together right in front of your saddle on the horse's neck. You will rein the same as with the looped reins, you're just holding the reins together so they feel the same way as the looped reins.

To cue your horse forward, some of it depends on the horse's training, but most horses respond to a slight leaning forward and slight squeeze with the insides of the calves of your legs and thighs. You should also slightly raise and loosen the reins to indicate you want the horse to move forward. The horse should move off in a walk, depending on the horse's training, it may take more of a bump with your heels to get them to move. Some horses also respond to a "ck-ck-ck" with your voice. To stop the horse, cue first by settling a little with your seat, and gently tighten the reins. Again, depending on the horse's training, a gentle pull or more direct pull may be necessary.

To advance to a trot, you should first be very practiced at walking and stopping. The trot is often bouncy and hard to ride for beginners. You will want to cue the horse by squeezing again with your legs, and standing a little in the stirrups. As the horse trots, you will want to stand-sit-stand-sit-stand-sit with each stride of the horse. This is called posting. Many beginners cannot "feel" the horse enough to know when to post, so just stand in your stirrups at the trot until you begin to get the rhythm of the horse's stride and learn to move up-down-up-down with his trot. This will also take practice.

To canter, you cue the horse ( I use a kissing sound with my lips) with your leg-squeeze again when he is trotting, and he should advance into a canter. The canter is smoother than the trot, and you can sit in the saddle rather than stand. But it is much faster, and you should be prepared. Don't be ashamed to hang on to the saddle horn or the horse's neck when you first start out. You need to ride a lot trotting to be comfortable at the canter.

This is pretty much all there is to simply "riding" to stay on. But there is a world of knowledge out there that you should get your hands on if you really want to be a good rider. Spend a lot of time watching other riders, spend a lot of time getting to know your horse before you ever climb on its back, and spend some time reading about horses. Horses are very powerful, and often react in fear to things they don't understand. A good rider is always ready to reassure a horse and stay safe while riding. Don't take chances around horses, and do a lot of watching and soaking in what you see around horses. Have fun! Horses are wonderful.

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Getty up!

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well i know how to make it turn, you take the reigns and if you want to go left you take the right side and flip it over the left and vise versa to going right, with stubborn horses you can just grab whichever side you want to go and pull gently. if you want it to trot/run (cant remember) you make the clicky sound with your mouth or you can tap the hind legs with your heels to get it going.

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Right- pull reins to right
Left- pull reins to left
Stop- pull reins straight back
Go- Squeese legs to sides of horse
^ didn't listen? try giving a firm kick (but not too hard!)

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assuming the sadle and tack are all on for you . then you just stand facing the horses face. walk to your right side . turn around when you pass the sterup. take the riens in your hand not tight slack but not too slack . with one foot in the sterup lift yourself gently on to the horses back . sit down gently .
adjust the stripups so that your feet are able to reach them and the lenght is just a little less then your leg lenght say 2 inchs less. keep both feet in the stirups but only part way
toes only or at most half the foot heels down all the time.
now to steer the horse that depends on if its western or english . if its western then you steer by holding the riens with one hand and if you want to go left you put the riens agaist the right side of the horses neck . you dont ever pull hard or kick or yell on any horse.
if its english then you use two hands the riens go in your hand gently skip the first finger . the riens go on to the 3 finger and then kind of come around so your using your first finger tigger finger to control the riens . they should be kept just at the sadle height. two hands apart.
you steer almost as if by magic . tiny pulls with the trigger finger and a gentle squeeze not kick with the legs foward both legs . backward leave that for now .
faster left foot back slightly very slightly and more squeeze . the riens should be just so the horses head is up level but the riens form a u shape that goes down almost to the sholders of the horse.
you should wear a helment all the time western or english .
hard sole shoes or boots but not work boots .
when moving at more then a walk in english as the horse goes you post that is you use the striups to stand up when the horses back is up and sit down when its down . you have to do this to understand .
in western its much less intellegent and you pretty much bonce around and your hands and feet are seen moving all over .
at any rate dont be mean to the horse.
remember that horse has the power to kill you any time it wants but it doesnt instead it lets you ride him so be nice.
when your at the back of the horse stay well back until your shown what to do . keep your horse about 2 horse lengths back of the one in front all the time never ever get the two horses in a row so close that one could kick the other one .
allways assume that horse will bolt that is start to run could be a deer a dog a gun whatever. if that happens stay calm stay on pull back on the riens no more leg say stop . but just stay calm and relax . just consider this can happen at any second to anyone new or old .

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I agree with the above answers and would like to add something. With the stubborn horses NEVER let them have their way and go in the direction they want. Also if you fall off and are not seriously hurt GET BACK ON. Otherwise you will have a horse that will cause problems next time you ride. If the horse is out of control and you try to get him to behave but he won't listen, don't be afraid to give a tiny slap or kick. Horses have tough skin.

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hmmm, i think you said simple didn't you? to make the horse move squeeze both legs into his sides and make a clicking noise with your mouth. if it doesn't move forward, tap it with your legs a little more. to get him to go faster, tap with your legs and click again.each time you want him to go faster just tap and click. to stop, lean back in the saddle a little bit, and pull back on both reins at the same time and say whoa. to back up, pull on both reins at the same time and say 'back' and as soon as the horse takes a step quit pulling, then pull back again to take another step and when it takes the step, quit pulling. you can learn to do that quickly so it looks smooth. to turn left, loosen up the right rein and pull back on the left rein. to turn right, loosen up the the left rein and pull back on the right rein. keep your elbows by your side, don't pull the reins out to the side, and don't be scared. just relax, the more you are relaxed the better the horse will listen.

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