If you’re a horseback riding enthusiast, you know that balance is essential for staying on your mount. Whether you are a beginner or have been riding horses for many years, there are always ways you can improve your balance to make you a better rider. Use these three tips.

Practice Different Riding Positions

To master the sport of riding, you need to be able to balance in multiple positions while on your mount. If you ride English style, you must learn to post when your horse trots. While galloping, you need to balance over your horse’s withers. Similarly, you need to practice getting yourself in the jump position before you actually start jumping. You can invest in horse jump roll tops to use in your home arena while practicing your balance.

Try Yoga

Yoga is a form of exercise that is gentle and low-impact. It is easy on your body, but it is a good way to improve your balance. Start simple and use easy poses that help you stretch and relieve stress, then move up to more complex positions that challenge your balance. A single yoga session won’t yield instant results, but if you make it a habit to try yoga for a few minutes each day, you may be surprised by how much certain poses help your balance. Over time, you will start to see a big difference in your balance while you are riding.

Strengthen Your Core

You may not realize it, but your core strength plays a major role in balance. If your core is weak, you’ll have a hard time staying balanced while riding. The more time you spend riding, the more you will naturally strengthen your core, but you also need to incorporate other exercises into your daily workout routine. Add situps, crunches and planks into your daily workouts to tighten and tone your core. You’ll be surprised about how much these simple exercises can help improve your balance.

Every horseback rider knows that balance is important for staying in the saddle. While you will naturally strengthen your balance while you ride, it is also a good idea to improve it in other ways. Using these three simple tips can help you improve your balance so you can be a better rider and focus on mastering new disciplines. Start using them today in your daily workouts and riding time to see how your riding skills improve as you enhance your balance.