Horse Racing Singapore and Malaysia

Your instructor will be a key part of your life as a horse owner. He or she will teach you the basics and will influence the way you interact with horses forever. You will learn your teacher’s habits, biases, strengths, and weaknesses.

You will adopt his or her best traits and will inadvertently mimic his or her worst weaknesses.

You can, and may, involve yourself with multiple instructors as you learn more about horses and riding. However, your first teacher will always have an impact on you.

Choosing the right instructor is, thus, very important.

Making a wise choice isn’t just important in that sense, though. It is also a big part of determining how enjoyable your horse ownership experience will be.

You will be spending a great deal of time with your teacher, and if you don’t match well with him or her, it can only serve to lengthen your learning curve and to make your time with your horse less enjoyable.

If you can find a tremendous instructor, you will learn more than you ever imagined you could in a short period. You won’t become an Olympic equestrian event qualifier overnight, but you will make great strides quickly. In addition, you will do it with a smile on your face.

Let’s look at some considerations in finding the best possible instructor.

Once you’ve selected a stable, it will be time to start learning. That will involve spending time in the barns watching and paying close attention to how the horses are treated and what goes into the care of a horse.

It’s also an opportunity to ask questions of experts and to “pick their brains” to increase your own knowledge base.

This kind of real-world study is irreplaceable. Even the best texts on horse ownership or riding can’t give you the same feel and understanding, as will personal observation and involvement.

In addition to spending time in the barns, you will need to learn how to ride a horse. You will want to master basic techniques like walking, cantering and trotting. You will want to develop a strong sense of comfort while in the saddle.

Some experts will tell you to spend at least a year attending the stables and learning the basics before even considering the purchase of your own horse. That’s sound advice.

Here are a few of the reasons why it makes sense to transition into actual horse ownership slowly.

Making a wise investment. The notion that you might learn that you don’t really care for horses or riding may seem downright silly, but it is a possibility.

Many horse owners have jumped in with both feet, certain they would forever be interested and attracted to ownership, only to find that their interest waned as the novelty wore off.

Many of us have romantic ideas about what horse ownership is all about and, occasionally, the nitty-gritty of dealing with the animals changes our thinking. Spending time learning and frequenting the stable before purchasing a horse can prevent you from making a bad decision.

Directing your purchase. By spending time at the stable without a horse of your own, you will have the opportunity to observe and assess a variety of different horses. Chances are that you will develop and understanding of what type of horse will best meet your needs.

Buying “blindly” right from the beginning may result in a poor decision.

Avoiding surprises. Those who buy a horse right after selecting a stable may be ill equipped to deal with the long list of subsequent decisions.

By spending time learning, you will know what kind of tack and additional equipment you will need in order to make the ownership experience work.

You’ll have a stronger idea of time commitments and necessary scheduling, too. Put simply, you’ll be much better informed, and that will make owning a horse of your very own far more rewarding and a lot less stressful.

Stable assessment. After spending time seeking out advice and recommendations from others and then visiting a series of stables, you will probably make an outstanding decision.

However, you are new to the horse world and it is possible that your judgment wasn’t quite perfect.

Taking it slow gives you a chance to take the stable for a “test drive.” If it turns out that the situation isn’t matching your needs, you will have the chance to try a different operation without all of the hassles of doing so while in the process of working with your new horse.

Instruction assessment. By spending time at the stables before purchasing your horse, you will have the opportunity to assess instructors and their techniques.

You will also be able to look for a different instructor if the one at the stable you have chosen just doesn’t work for you.
You will be spending a great deal of time, energy and money on learning about your horse and how to care for it.

Having the right teaching makes all of the difference in the world. It’s so important, in fact, that we will be looking at the topic in depth in the next chapter of this guide.

As you tour stables, don’t be nervous about making inquiries. There is no such thing as a stupid question, and even if your queries do sound as though they are coming from a real greenhorn, you can still learn a great deal about the nature of a stable and its staff by the kinds of answers you receive.

Remember, you are interviewing these stables. You want to make the best possible decision. That means you will need to understand what it done there and why.

You will also want to spend your time with instructors and stable personnel who are friendly and competent. Asking questions is a great way to establish whether those two important traits are present.