Horseback Riding, Sabah

During my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in April, I decided to try something I’ve never done before – Horseback riding. My travel partner and I found a place called Kindawan Horse Riding Centre, located on the Kinarut beach.

They provide horse rides along the beach, forest trail, to the waterfall and mountains. You can even ride to the nearby islands if the tide is low. We opted for a ride along the beach, costing us RM100 per person. Our instructor was Mrs. Dale Sinidol – an Australian who has been teaching horse riding in Sabah for over 20 years.

Before we began, we were given a form to sign. It basically states that Kindawan would not be held responsible should any injuries or death occur during the riding session. OMG. It was a standard procedure for these types of activities, but it made me uneasy.

Without a clue on horseback riding whatsoever, I mounted a brown horse. My horse then started following my instructor’s horse. I thought my horse was on auto pilot and could listen to my instructor’s voice and that all I need to do was to enjoy the ride. After a short distance, my horse stopped to eat grass! WTH!

I tried to get my horse to keep my horse moving but it did not barge. Mrs. Dale kept shouting instructions at me, asking me to give the horse a kick or something. Using my right leg, I started kicking the horse in the stomach. After gradually kicking from soft to hard many times, my horse reluctantly moved. All along my ride on the beach, I kept using my right leg to kick the horse, but somehow I couldn’t go as fast as the rest.

It was only on our way back to the riding centre, that I realized what was wrong. My instructor used both her heels to kick at the horse! True enough my horse moved and galloped even at the slightest nudge using BOTH LEGS. By then we had traveled a few kilometers and all along the way I was kicking my horse on the right of its stomach. Thankfully, the horse did not throw me off during the journey.

Here’s some tips that I Googled up.

3 Steps to Getting Forward Movement:

1. Bring your horse up to a medium trot (this should be done in all gaits, the trot is just used for purposes of this example).
2. Close your legs lightly on your horse's side for up to 3 seconds.
   * If the horse does not make a good effort to really pick up the pace, start bumping him gently and steadily with both legs (1-2 kicks per second - with both legs) until he does move forward with effort.
3. Once the horse speeds up (even if only slightly), relax for a couple seconds & praise him ALOT!