Benefits of horse riding for body and soul

Benefits of horse riding, For many people riding is a sport or a hobby, for others it is a leisure activity or an opportunity to spend a great riding holiday. On horseback, we contemplate the landscapes and are at the same time right in the middle of it as part of the scenery, while we ride along lakes, past waterfalls or up the mountains. While we are riding, we relax and as a great side effect, we enjoy physical benefits.

But beyond that, the use of horses in the field of therapeutic riding also gives people with physical or mental-emotional problems an opportunity to develop further.

A horse makes no distinction between healthy, sick, mentally or physically handicapped people – for many this means a new definition of freedom and equality.

Nuria Gómez, therapist of the Society of Horse Support Therapy, described the benefits in the Spanish newspaper “El Pais”:

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Benefits of horse riding

Physical benefits of riding

1. Improving the vertical and horizontal balance.
2. The upper body is erect and straight, which controls and improves posture.
3. It regulates and improves muscle tone.
4. It favors the blood circulation due to the warmer basic temperature of the horse.
5. And It reduces muscle tension and spasms.
6. The constant movement of the horse’s body trains both fine and gross motor skills and improves our reflexes and attention.
7. It improves body awareness and trains both halves of the body equally.
8. It releases endorphins, which counteracts both the aging process and general stress.

So instead of tormenting yourself for hours in the gym … ride in nature as often as possible. Not only will you relax, but you will also feel the many benefits and positive effects on your body. And if you have the opportunity, travel to other countries, ride through other landscapes and enrich yourself with new cultures!

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Horses are highly sensitive creatures. The horse’s brain functions like the human in only a few aspects. It has evolved to be completely focused on survival. Horses sense fear and this allows them to react immediately to the unknown or danger with their flight instinct and to move away. When a horse is nervous it feels fear, it is not an expression of aggression.

Horses are social creatures, they need and enjoy contact with other horses or people.

Dealing with horses, and especially riding, benefits not only our body but also our mind and soul:

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Psychological benefits of riding

1. Being with horses strengthens our confidence, our control over our emotions, it strengthens our self-confidence and reduces our stress level.
2. It improves the ability to concentrate, increases the attention span and thereby our memory function.
3. Since the horse is subject to our responsibility, a sense of responsibility and respect for other living beings are promoted.
4. The horse demands constant willingness to learn from us – our knowledge is expanded.
5. It promotes our sense of direction as well as our sense of time and space.
6. It socializes us, promotes contact with other people and enables us to have positive group experiences.
7. And It promotes empathy and it helps us to overcome psychological difficulties.
8. By releasing endorphins, depression can be prevented or treated.

So by riding we can train our body and mind. It has a therapeutic effect, brings us joy and also the opportunity to be in contact with a wonderful animal and nature.

There is no doubt that horse riding is beneficial in physical development and in keeping the body in shape.

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