Before heading out on the trail it is important to check your horse's equipment for safety. Check your equipment with the help of an equestrian trainer in this video.
Hi, my name is Kimberly Dobin. I'm a Trainer here at the Classic Equestrian Center, and my business is Kimberly Dobin Dressage. I am here to talk with you about properly checking your equipment before going out on a trail ride. It is very important that you safely check your equipment before going on a trail ride, not only for your safety, but for the comfort of your horse. There are various different riding styles, and each riding style has different saddles, bridles and tack equipment that you would need to go riding. To properly fit these items, it will depend on which riding style you choose. And today, I'm going to go over a few basic riding samples for you. For the rider you will need: boots with a heel, riding pants or jeans. Please, be sure to check your inseam on your jeans. If it is not smooth inseam, you may be riding for a few hours and realize you're getting rubbed funny. So, be sure to check. Also, you're going to need gloves and a riding helmet most importantly. Don't go riding without your riding helmet. Bring a cellphone if you're going trail riding. It's important that you have a way to communicate with someone if there's an accident. For the horse, you will need your saddle, a girth or cinch, a bridle, saddle blanket, protective boots, a rope and a halter and your saddle bags when you go on a trail ride. For the horse, to make sure that he is comfortable for his trail ride, you're going to want to make sure that your tact fits properly. For his bridle, make sure that the bit is not hanging in his mouth. Make sure that it's comfortably sitting on the sides of his mouth. for your saddle, for you as a rider as well, not just the horse, make sure that your saddle fits level across your horse's back. You do not want your saddle tilting forward or tilting backwards. You want a perfectly level. Your girth should always be tight; not overly tight to where it is squeezing your horse and making him uncomfortable, but snug so that it doesn't wiggle from side to side. Your boots on your horse should fit properly. They should fit snugly around your horse so that they don't slide while you're riding on the trail ride. Your halter and lead rope, make sure your halter and lead rope you use on a daily basis, you bring it with you on the trail ride. And your saddle bags, those easily just go on. There's no fitting necessary for those. Now for the rider, your helmet, you should make sure your helmet is snug. Do not go riding with a helmet that's too loose. My name is Kimberly Dobin and I'm a Trainer at Kimberly Dobin Dressage, and I'm located here at the Classic Equestrian Center in Moorpark, California. I just discussed with you about how to properly check your equipment before going out on a trail ride. Have a safe ride.
