The Equestrian Culture - Essay Example

Personal Subculture (The Equestrian Culture) Equestrianism, also known as horse riding, is one of the most enjoyable activities that involves human interaction with animals. Horses are normally trained and ridden for purposes of practical work like controlling animals in a ranch or police work. However, people also ride horses for various other reasons for example for transport, artistic, recreational activities, competitive sport and cultural exercises. There are many types of competitive sports that involve the riding of horses. Examples of these include polo show jumping, horse racing, reining, dressage, endurance riding, vaulting, rodeo, driving among others. Horse riding is a dual sex game. The equestrian championships cater for the competitive desires of both men and women and thus there are championships for both sexes. In horse riding, the horse and its riders are equally treated as competitors in the game and thus winning or loosing is for both of them. In most parts of the world, the public is always able to access horses through ranches, horse parks and public stables that give guided and independent horse riding. People pay for them to use such horses either for training or for competitions. However, there are some people who own their own horses. This is more common in places like Middle East where a significant percentage of people love horse riding. Personally, I engage in horse riding mainly for recreational purposes. I am deeply in love with the equestrian culture and riding has been a massive part of my life since I was a little girl. I come from the Middle East where the equestrian culture is very popular. In my country, Saudi Arabia, the equestrian culture receives a lot of attention and it is highly respected. Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative Muslim nations in the world. Women are not allowed to drive cars hence they have to be driven around by their husbands, fathers, sons or other appropriate male persons. Amazingly, they are allowed to ride horses. Although some of the Saudi Arabian people believe that women participation in horse riding is against its culture, many husbands and parents, including mine, are very supportive to their wives or daughter who develop interest in horse riding. Having lived in such an environment in my childhood, I developed a natural affinity for horse riding from a tender age. My father was such a good horse rider and participated on many equestrian championships. During these horse riding competitions, mother would take me along just to cheer him. My father also owned a horse and thus the horse was part of my life as I grew up and all these factors made me to develop a strong attachment to the equestrian culture. At that tender age, my parents also realized that I loved watching horses more than any other types of animals both in reality, in books or through various types of media. Over the weekend, we could visit my uncle who owned a range but the cattle there never caught my attention as such. I would constantly nag my father about wanting to ride the horses I saw and this motivated him to buy me a horse whom I would always feed him and love to stroke his body. As soon as I reached 7 years of age, my parents introduced me officially to horse riding by enrolling me in a professional horse riding training. I gained the skills and the confidence faster and begun participating in horse riding championship. I would go to the common equestrian clubs or private equestrian clubs where women riders mostly went. My parents always encouraged me and my father longed to see a replication of his equestrian championship in me. Benefits from horse riding Ever since I became part of this culture, there are several things that have improved in my life because of the benefits of equestrian culture. My parents keep reminding me that when I was a young child, I was so cowardly that I would rarely stand in front of people and say my name or simply greet them. rarely would I go out of the house alone or play alone at the verandah. I was never sure of my actions as a child and would always wait to be directed even in the most obvious things. General, I lacked confidence. Cowardice limited my participation in class and consequently, my performance. All these changed when I begun horse riding. I developed great self-confidence partly due to being able to control my horse from wandering off yet it is bigger than myself. I never fell off during my training or early days of independent riding and this triggered self-confidence in me. I always wanted to be a champion and thus I would not hesitate to ask my tutor any question and was always ready to try out in any new experience. These improved my classroom participation and I have maintained these qualities to date. I no longer have a problem expressing myself before people and my public speaking skills are not badly off. Generally, I am no longer a coward. My mother says that apart from being a coward, I also used to show signs of withdrawal when I was a child. She revealed to me that there were times when I would just want to be alone in my room and at such times, I would be irritated by the slightest provocation. Generally, my temperament was not very good. This too disappeared when begun horse riding. It taught me love fun, love to cheer others and appreciate every moment of happiness. Most of the times, I have good moods. Without being a part of the equestrian culture, I do not think I would have a very happy life as I have now. Horse riding has also taught me to be very sociable and control my tempers. I begun meeting with different people whom I required to build positive relationships with. These included my trainer and other horse riders. Owning and forming a relationship with my horse has a great part to play in this. I had to learn to be gentle so that I could care for him and avoid making it wild. I rarely get stressed up with small things. This is because regular horse riding exposes me to fresh air and this relaxes my mind. Spending time with horses and simply patting them helps me to relax my mind and forget any unpleasant experiences. Because of the risky nature of the activity, horse riding requires a lot of concentration and this has always improved my concentration span. I can take long times in doing a given job or reading unlike when I was young. I used to get bored easily. I always attribute my general physical well-being and health to regular horse riding. According to Kalmus (1) horse, riding is one of the activities that provides muscle conditioning and cardiovascular benefits. He states that one hour of horse ride burns the same amount of calorie that would be burned by a 30 min cycle ride or jog. When riding, I constantly get swayed and this requires that I make every attempt to re-balance. This has improved the contraction and relaxation of my muscles. Now, I am able to perform the type of games I used to avoid when I was young and many more. My parents normally commend on the strength and posture I have gained ever since I begun horse riding. Generally, I have a strong attachment to the equestrian culture and has really gained a lot from it both mentally and physically. Works Cited. Kalmus Sage. (2007). “How horseback riding can benefit your health.” Online: http://www.helium.com/items/564765-how-horseback-riding-can-benefit-your-health. Retrieved on 27th October, 2011. Read More