Keith & Kate take a horse back riding lesson

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - This week on Keith and Kate Do Things, they took a trip to Blacktail Riding Academy for a beginner’s horseback riding lesson. Although both have a little bit of prior horseback riding experience, the lesson was able to take them back to the basics.

Barbara Jean Atchison, the owner of the academy, says that when it comes to horses, knowing every part of the horse will allow the ride to be safer for both the person and the horse. At the beginning of the lesson, you start with picking out a helmet and learning the body parts of the horse, and this is all before you even begin to saddle them up.

As the lesson continues, they learn more about the way your body and mind feel in the saddle, making sure that you and the horse are comfortable with each other before taking off. Once they were in the saddle, they were taken through a series of physical and mental exercises that allow the rider to ease into the activity. Each lesson is catered to the skill level of every rider.

Atchison says that just being around horses can increase both your physical and mental health, “The horses themselves are very calming. They have an electromagnetic field 5 feet around them from their heart. Their heartbeat actually decreases your blood pressure and decreases your heart rate, so you get very chill from riding horses.”

Just a reminder that not all horses are as safe as the ones at the riding academy and to always be careful around the animals, as you never know what can spook them.

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