Horse back riding can be dangerous, but you can reduce your chance of injury by taking a few precautions. Some of them involve having the right equipment, while other things you should do are related to training. Here are 10 tips for horse riding safety.

1. Establish leadership on the ground

Before you even get on a horse, you need to be his leader. Its safer to do this on the ground first. Practice round-pen training, leading your horse properly, and teaching basic yields.

2. Make sure your horse pays attention

If you have two eyes, you’ve got the whole horse. If you’ve got one eye, he’s distracted. When riding a distracted horse is a dangerous horse. He’s more likely to spook or run off. So attention is key to horse riding safety. Teach your horse to pay attention on the ground first. When doing your groundwork, if he’s not focusing both eyes on you, bump the rope to encourage him to keep his attention pointed in your direction. Ears toward you is also another attention cue

3. Do groundwork immediately before riding

If you’ve got a horse you’ve been riding for years and know well, you don’t have to spend as much time with it, but its always good to run through your groundwork routine for 5-10 minutes prior to every ride, to reinforce in your horse’s mind who’s the leader.

4. Drop that head

A horse with his head up high and with a tense neck is a worried horse. Get him in a relaxed and submissive state of mind by asking him to drop his head. Also be aware for other horse body language signs like a tense tail. If your horse is feeling tense and nervous, its probably not a good idea to ride.

5. Have good equipment

Don’t cut corners when it comes to your reins, saddle and other riding equipment. Equipment failure can lead to trouble.

6. Do an equipment check before riding

Check your cinch and other gear before getting on.

7. Practice mounting

Train your horse to be relaxed when mounting, instead of having the inclination to just take off. In this video clip, Eric talks about mounting a horse:

8. Flex, flex, and flex

Your horse should be nice and light, and should flex. The one-rein stop not only makes for better riding, but can help you shut down a horse in an emergency. In this sample clip, Eric talks about the one rein stop.

9. Wear good riding boots

You wouldn’t want to get your feet stuck in the stirrups and get dragged by a runaway horse. So wear good riding boots with a heel.

10. Wear a helmet

Horse back riding is one of the most dangerous outdoor activities there is, and a large share of the injuries are head injuries. One study even found on an hours ridden basis, horse back riding was more dangerous than motorcycle riding. Wear a helmet to reduce the risk of death or serious injury.

Learn more about horse riding safety from Eric Bravo’s horse training video