Deciding If Your and Your Horse Are for Trail Riding or the Arena

Should you trail ride your horse or show it in an arena setting? When you are wondering this you have to think of yourself and your horse. You have to ask yourself questions like how much you plan to ride, what you would rather do, and what you and your horse are ready for. If you are not ready to do what you would like to do you have to think of whether you can work to do it or not.

First, you have to think of yourself. Can you ride for long miles and hours or even for a short mileage? If you can't then you have to admit that it would probably take a lot of work to be able to trail ride because when you go on trail rides you could be riding anywhere from just two or three miles to forty or so miles in a day! How you ride affects whether your horse can do this and whether you can do this. If this is going to tire you out quickly then you will definitely have to work hard to be able to ride for more than just a couple of miles at a time. Another question to ask yourself is whether you can ride would rather ride with large or small groups. If you are going to show in an arena setting then you must be able to ride in large groups, and although you can ride in a large group on a trail many people choose to ride in medium to small groups as a trail allows those best.

You must also think of your horse and what it would be more comfortable with. Although you can train a horse to do pretty much what you tell it, your horse will definitely ride better where it is more comfortable. A horse that does not deal well with odd things seemingly jumping out at it from around corners may overcome it's fear in time, but it would have much more trouble dealing with it on the trail. This same horse when put in the arena setting may have to go around a few times and get used to the surroundings and children, but very little of the settings other than the audience will change. Whether your horse will be able to easily handle long days of riding without getting overly sore and pained is another important issue. If it is very hard for your horse then it will take months to get your horse in shape. This could put you having to do long, tedious rides of up and down hills or just long rides before you could even go on a trail ride. Although your horse must be in decent shape for arena riding, unless you are doing speed events or jumping then your horses endurance won't be tested nearly as harshly. Your horse's mindset is very important to whether you will be able to ride in either setting very easily.

Whether you are riding in the arena or out on the trail you will have to work with your horse, but once you have decide what your and your horse's weak points are you will have to decide how much time you have and what will take more for your horse. If you have to condition your horse for trail riding then you will be looking at long hours in the saddle every single week. If you are looking to show your horse then you are not looking at conditioning as much, but you have to be sure that your horse can deal with new surroundings with only a little work and looks nice at all of the shows you go to. Overall, whichever decision you come to you will have to work hard to seriously ride well.