Resources to Help With Your Riding
Over the years, I’ve scoured the internet for help in learning to ride. Even though I took weekly lessons (and then twice weekly), my horse love knows no bounds and I spend every free moment trying to learn how to be better.
Not to mention, riding as a newbie adult has its challenges that only those of us who have been there can understand, so even though there are so many resources to learn how to ride between our own coaches, books, and videos, it’s still a whole other kettle of fish when you’re dealing with all the adult fears and insecurities, never mind body limitations.
Here I’m going to share some of my favourite resources I’ve come across that have helped me on my riding journey, not only for skill development and horse knowledge but also ones that have helped me deal with my fear and limiting beliefs, which is probably that which has been the biggest hurdle on my personal riding journey.
By the end of this article, you’ll have discovered some resources you maybe didn’t know about that will help you be the rider you’ve always dreamed of being!
Ready? In no particular order, let’s dive in!
HorseClass
I’ve been following Callie King on YouTube for years, pretty much since I started my riding journey, and have found her to be an invaluable resource to adult riders in particular. She has an excellent way of explaining things, those things that sometimes your coach doesn’t even realize need explaining, which is so helpful when you’re an adult learning to ride.
Her site offers a wide range of free videos and paid courses covering an array of topics from beginner riders learning to stay balanced in the saddle to those more advanced, and from liberty work to rider fitness to jumping and much more. She also has a number of courses in collaboration with other experts in the field like Wendy Murdoch, Patrick King, and Jim Masterson to name just a few.
I’ve talked to Callie personally and one thing I really love about her approach is that it’s practical and accessible even if you don’t have your own horses. So many resources online I find focus on people who either have horses on their property and/or their own horse. She not only has online courses with a very engaged community, she and her crew also have an equestrian facility where they work with students day in and day out, so they know well the trials and tribulations of those of us who learn on lesson horses. Callie herself also has a really interesting background, including riding in the Mongol Derby last year (2022)!
So, no matter where you’re at in your riding journey, I highly recommend checking out horseclass.com.
Horse Rookie
This website is a fantastic resource for all things riding – from riding apparel, riding gear, online courses, and riding tips – pretty much everything. It’s filled to the brim with affiliate links through its articles and resources though, but the good thing about that is that they’ve done the research for you.
For example, if you’re looking for a new pair of breeches, they’ve got this article, 10 Best Brands: No Regrets Riding Breeches, where they list their favorites and the pros and cons of each.
And for us nervous riders, they’ve got this great article with tons of tips that I’ve never thought of.
Again though, the site is full of affiliate links and is a bit overwhelming in that regard, so if that’s not your cup of tea, it may not be your favorite hangout.
It really is a goldmine of a resource though, and if you are into buying things online, you’ll easily find advice on what you need and links directly to buy it.
Check out the Horse Rookie here.
Equestrian Masterclass
I’ve been a member of Equestrian Masterclass for the last year and love it. It features in-depth online masterclasses taught by pros in the industry – show jumping pros like Ian Miller, Anne Kursinski, and Karl Cook; hunter experts Archie Cox and Missy Clark; behaviour training expert (horses not people! lol) with Tik Maynard; clinical sports psychologists for mindset; plus world-renowned veterinarians and Olympic grooms for horse care.
The goal of Equestrian Masterclass is to bring the knowledge of these masters of the sport to us mere mortals (mere mortals is my perspective, not theirs, lol) in our own homes via videos and a PDF manual. The pros give their lessons directly to the camera and there is also video of them either teaching someone or doing it themselves.
New courses are released regularly so it’s worth it to keep the subscription going. My favorites so far have been the riding one by Karl Cook, and mindset ones by Dr. Jenny Susser, but honestly, I just love watching them all.
That said, and speaking of being a mere mortal, while I absolutely love it and soak up all the information, truth be told, a lot of is well beyond my pay grade. Because they’re pros and have been in the horse world their entire lives, they don’t all quite get what it’s like to learn to ride as an adult, or what it’s like to have to share your horse with others, but I don’t really care. I love watching and soaking up all I can. I just do my best to incorporate what I can into my riding. Knowledge is never a bad thing!
And really, even if I don’t use any of it in my actual riding, what true horse-crazy person doesn’t just love watching horse clinics?! I could spend all day doing that (and have, lol)!
So, if you’re on the same page and love to learn from the experts, Equestrian Masterclass is a super affordable way to do it.
Learn more about Equestrian Masterclass here!
Edit to add: They have now added free masterclasses to their YouTube channel with really excellent informative content. Check it out here!
Fearless Riding Success
This is a course I took that really helped me take my riding from terrified newbie beginner to competently showing at 2’6, and schooling 2’9 to 3′ – something I could hardly even imagine in the beginning. As a now 48-year-old mom of two, overly cautious, overly analytical, never having ridden before age 35 (unless you count the occasional guided trail ride), that’s not too shabby if you ask me!
When I first began the program, I’d been riding for about five years and was frustrated because I still couldn’t jump a cross-rail without fear. I could go through the motions and do it relatively competently, but the fear would not leave me. I questioned myself constantly about why I was putting myself through that (why not take up dressage, for example), but I just knew in my heart that it was something I wanted to do, and I didn’t want to let fear decide for me what I was capable of.
Despite taking weekly lessons the whole time though and having a very empathetic coach who never pushed me too far out of my comfort zone (but far enough to make some progress), and while I was progressing in my riding skills, I just COULD NOT get over my fear of jumping.
Enter the Fearless Riding Mastery course.
This program has 12 models that take you from identifying your fear and what it’s costing you, to teaching strategies to not only deal with fear in the moment (NLP) but also ways to change your beliefs about who you are and what you’re capable of. When I took it, the modules were released monthly, or you could speed it up by paying early for the next module. It was a tad expensive for me at the time (I had two little kids at home and money was tight), but it was worth it to me as, besides my family, riding was (and is) everything to me.
The program consists of coaching instruction by Natasha Althoff, video of her live coaching, audio-only versions of the same, her Fearless Riding Success ebook and audiobook, workshop videos, and training plan. There is also a private Facebook group that I am still active in which is an amazing resource all by itself with people who really understand what you’re going through.
All in all, it’s a great resource if fear is something that is stopping you from achieving your riding goals despite other things you may have tried.
Learn more about Fearless Riding Success here.
Beth Lauren Parrish at Inspired Riding
Beth Lauren Parrish is the epitome of heart-centered riding. Not only that, but she has been through a ton, broken many bones, and been through the gamut, but still lives her passion, rides on and teaches others how to face their fears and ride their horses with love and compassion.
What I appreciate most about Beth is that she is probably the best cheerleader you could ask for – I know, because I have been a member of her virtual group coaching and she was always just a DM away for support.
In addition to the online group coaching, she offers private coaching, has online courses, guided meditations, a riding journal, as well as a very active free private Facebook group that she is an active participant in. If you want help, Beth will absolutely deliver.
What’s probably the most unique about Beth and her courses is how she teaches you to connect with both your own intuition, as well as with your horse. The horse as an equal partner is integral in Beth’s teachings, and if that is part of your journey as well, you will have found your match with Beth.
But while I absolutely adore that about Beth, that is also what I struggled with in her program. I also want to put the horse front and center, but as someone who didn’t own my own horse and didn’t have access to it every day, I found some of what she taught difficult to incorporate. I don’t have the time luxury to listen as much as I’d like to, which may sound terrible but is the nature of riding a school horse. I can only ride on certain days a week and at certain times of the day… Beth endorses the horse having a say in when and how they’re ridden, which I love, but I was never sure how to incorporate that into my situation. I am as respectful and empathetic as I can be, but that’s about the best I can do right now. I’d love for it to be different, to have my own horse on my own property, but that’s not where I’m at right now.
That said, Beth has so much to offer in both addressing fears and mindset, as well as helping learn to hear your intuition and trust yourself, as well as your horse. She also is constantly evolving what she offers. As of this writing, she even had an app in the works that would include meditations, provide exercises to do, and track your progress. She even has a fiction book about horses that I just loved!
To learn more about Beth and Inspired Riding, visit inspiredriding.com.
The Timid Rider
I’ve only recently come across Heather Wallace of The Timid Rider, but her site is definitely one to take a look at as she gets the whole fear aspect and makes the whole being a “nervous rider” okay – not that we need permission for that, but the more the merrier! 😉 She has many blog posts and a book about her experience as a timid rider.
This article, The Tenets of Timidity, really encapsulates a lot of what I have gone through over the years as a “timid rider” myself.
She’s a returning to riding adult, so isn’t quite on the same page as those of us who started as adults, but I personally am all for those in the horse world that admit their fear and don’t pretend it’s not as scary as it really can be! If we’re really honest with ourselves (and those of us who are prone to being the more “what if” type are all too honest about this fact!), riding is not for the faint of heart so it’s kind of ridiculous to pretend otherwise!
The one downside I found with this website is that it doesn’t focus on solutions as much as I like to. I have big dreams for riding, not competition-wise or anything like that, but just skills I want to develop further, as well as a mindset of confidence and ability. I find that if I embrace being a timid rider too much, then it becomes an excuse I use that holds me back from being the rider (and person) I want to be. Accepting being a more timid rider is great if that’s what you want to do, but only if it’s not holding you back from your riding dreams.
You can learn more about Heather Wallace and The Timid Rider here.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is so much help online no matter where we are in our riding journey, from websites that provide info on everything under the sun about riding, to the various courses we can take, to camaraderie in our struggles.
Often, though, the challenges beginner adult riders (and not-so-beginners!) have are not addressed that well, if at all. It takes a lot of courage to learn to ride as an adult. We deal with fears, limiting beliefs, and body issues that our younger counterparts often don’t have. We also may not have our own horses and/or limited time or finances which further makes our riding dreams feel like wishful thinking. Should we even begin the discussion about finding breeches or tall boots that fit?! Ack!
So while I’ve found that the above resources have been very helpful and I’m miles ahead of where I was, there’s still a need for another perspective on learning to ride as an adult – that of someone who has been there.
On that note, I will continue to seek new resources, as well as develop my own, for all of us who started as adult newbies, and will keep updating as I learn more.
Please let me know any resources that have helped you in a comment below, and any issues that you’re finding yet to be addressed as an adult rider. I’d love to know what you’ve struggled with and what’s helped you!
Until next time!
Canter (or walk, trot, or gallop – wherever you’re at on your journey!) on! ❤️🐴❤️
