Shadowing Practice: HOW TO RIDE A HORSE (EASY BEGINNERS GUIDE) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

117 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Hey everyone, so I'm getting ready to go out to the barn

and I thought that today what I would cover is how to ride a horse.

So let's get ready to go.

Bye Traco.

Bye Traco. So I haven't seen

Tucker in two weeks because I've been on vacation, so I'm excited to see him today.

Oh, it's cold and muddy.

Hi, buddy.

Hi.

Hi, buddy.

I've missed you.

So before I get on my horse, I'm going to first brush them, just to remove any dirt and also make sure they're not sore anywhere,

and to scratch the scratchies.

I'm also going to just pick out the feet to make sure there's no rocks

that can cause him discomfort when he's being ridden.

Well, now I'm going to tack up.

I'm going to put on my saddle and everything I need to ride, and I'm going to use this lovely new saddle pad I just got.

Yeah, so I got my saddle on and now I'm gonna tighten my girth.

So the girth holds your saddle in place and it kind of is like a belt that it wraps around your horse.

All right, and now I'm just gonna put the bridle on

and the bridle is basically to give you some control and help you steer your horse.

So Tucker is all groomed and tacked up and ready to go.

So if you need a more in -depth look at those things before you hop on your horse,

you can check out the links in the descriptions below.

So before you go to get on your horse,

you want to make sure you unroll your stirrups and also check your girth to make sure it's tight enough.

You want to be able to fit four fingers in your girth.

So now it's time to actually get on your horse

and you can do this the same way either from a mounting block or from the ground.

I use a mounting block because it's easier on their backs.

So I'm up on my mounting block now and I'm gonna make sure I'm mounting from the left side of my horse.

So when you go to get on your horse, you want to make sure that you gather your reins up

so you still have control so I'm gonna hold my reins

and if you're mounting from the left you're gonna put your left foot in the stirrup.

So now I can push off with my left foot

and use my hands on the saddle

and the horse's neck to help lift myself up and then swing my right leg over and sit down lightly.

And then I can reach down and put my right foot in the stirrup.

So now that I'm on my horse let me show you how you would control this thing.

So I'm going to be sharing how to ride your horse in the most simplest terms.

As if this is your first riding lesson ever, this is what you would be told.

First things first is you're going to need to know how to hold your reins correctly.

So to hold your reins correctly, what you're going to do is put your rein in between your pinky and your ring finger.

and then you can shut your hands around it and then put your thumb on top.

So now let's cover riding position.

You want to turn your thumbs up towards the sky and you want to look forward and in front of your horse.

Next I'm going to make sure

that I'm rolling my shoulders back to help me set up straight

and I'm going to bend my elbows to be at my side.

I want to make sure that I'm loose through my thigh and my knee so I'm not gripping.

I want to make sure the stirrup is on the ball of my foot, my heels are down, and my foot is right under my hip.

So that was a lot we just covered

but most importantly you just want to make sure

you can draw a straight line through your head down through your hip

and to your heel and that way you're sitting up tall

and you have this linear line through you

so now let's talk about how to move your horse forward

so once again this is in the most simplest terms

and what i'm going to do is first of all

i want to make sure i'm not pulling on my horse's mouth with the rein

so i can give with my hands a little bit

and get their mouth

and then I'm going to just squeeze with my lower leg to ask my horse to move forward and there it goes.

So if you're pulling on your horse's reins and squeezing this is what's going to happen.

They're going to back up instead of going forward

so I want to make sure I'm giving with my hands to get my horse to go forward.

So you can use the same concept to go faster on your horse

so I'll get out my horse's mouth and squeeze with my lower leg and we can pick up a trot.

So you may be wondering how you stop your horse once you've gotten going.

So what you can do is sit up nice and tall, put your weight down into your heels,

and then close your fingers around your reins and your horse will come to a stop.

So I'm going to actually show you what to do at a standstill

when it comes to stopping your horse just because it's very small little nuances.

So what you're going to do first is sit up nice

and tall and you can even kind of sit back on your pockets and so you're closing your hips.

And then you also just want to stretch down into your stirrups.

So forcing your weight down.

So once I've done those things, the next thing I'm going to do is just kind of close my hand around my reins.

So as I'm riding, my hands may be a little bit more loose.

So I can close my fingers.

And if that doesn't stop the horse, I can slightly.. pull back until they halt.

So one thing I find super helpful, especially if you're new to horseback riding, is knowing how to do the one rein stop.

So the one rein stop is basically the emergency break for your horse.

So if maybe you feel like you're out of control or your horse has taken off, you can do this to get them to stop quickly.

So to do the one rein stop, what you're going to do is reach your hand down one rein

and then you're going to bring that rein back towards your hip, asking the horse to turn its head towards your knee.

So what this does is it keeps the horse from moving forward

and instead the only thing the horse can do is turn in a tight circle.

So let's talk about steering your horse.

So there's basically two types of stearings you'll come across.

One is plow reining and that's when you have two hands on the reins and this is done mostly by English riders.

Or you're going to come across neck reining

which is where you hold the reins with one hand

and you'll see this more with western riding or if you go on a trail ride or something like that.

So when it comes to using plow reins like an English rider would,

how you're going to steer your horse is you're just going to open your hand in the direction you want to go.

So if I want to steer towards you guys, I'm just going to open this hand and you'll see that his nose tips towards you.

And so from there, what I can do is squeeze with my legs to get him to move towards you

and even help him out some more.

100

I can use my opposite leg over here and I can squeeze my lower leg and he'll turn right towards you guys.

101

So if you guys see I can open my hand and he'll turn this way

102

Then I can open this other hand and he'll go back this way

103

And so this is how you're going to use your reins if you're learning English or learning

104

How to do the plow rein

105

So the other way you're going to steer your horse is through neck reining

106

So when it comes to neck reining what I'm going to do is I'll have both reins in one hand

107

And if I want to steer towards you guys I'm going to lay my opposite rein against his neck

108

and also use my opposite leg and squeeze with my lower leg to get him to turn towards you.

109

So I'll lay that rein, squeeze my leg, and see how he turns.

110

So with neck reining, I can lay my rein, use my leg, and he'll go in that direction.

111

And likewise, I'll change my direction here.

112

And so you're just going back and forth.

113

Good pony.

114

So there's a lot more to caring for your horse than just riding it.

115

And I made a video about everything you need to know about caring for your horse.

116

So I'll put the link in the description down below so you can check that out.

117

If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our channel and give us a thumbs up.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

94 sentences

Easy German Learning Vlog for Beginners | Feierabend in Germany (Comprehensible Input)

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

67 sentences

How to Handle the Reins- Beginner Horseback Riding

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

318 sentences

How to Knit The Knit Stitch for Beginners | The Garter Stitch | PassioKnit Kelsie

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

164 sentences

Beginner's Guide to the Gym | DO's and DON'Ts

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

365 sentences

02 Extra English_Hector Goes Shopping- سریال اکسترا قسمت 2

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults

343 sentences

How to Practice English by Yourself

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

39 sentences

3 tips to make drawing horses easy(er) 🐴

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

74 sentences

English Reading Practice - A Short Beginner ESL Conversation

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “HOW TO RIDE A HORSE”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: horse, rein, leg, towards, squeeze. This video has 117 sentences and 1601 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:10. The speaker talks fast, about 224 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
squeeze verb	/skwiːz/	To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once.
steer verb	/stɪɹ/	To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).
mount verb	/maʊnt/	To get upon; to ascend; to climb.
saddle noun	/ˈsæd(ə)l/	A seat for a rider, typically made of leather and raised in the front and rear, placed on the back of a horse or other animal, and secured by a strap around…
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
thumb noun	/ˈθʌm/	The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
heel noun	/hil/	The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
buddy	/ˈbʌdi/	A person far removed from the conversation.
knee noun	/ni/	In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.
correctly adverb	/kəˈɹɛk(t).li/	In a correct manner.
rider noun	/ˈɹaɪ̯.dəː/	An old Dutch gold coin with the figure of a man on horseback stamped upon it.
pocket noun	/ˈpɑ.kɪt/	A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
hip noun	/hɪp/	The outward-projecting parts of the pelvis and top of the femur and the overlying tissue.
hungry adjective	/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/	Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
sit up verb	To assume a sitting position from a position lying down.
come across verb	To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.
go back verb	To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
hand around verb	To distribute something by having one person hand it to another so it spreads through the group.
move forward verb	To cause to make progress.
back up verb	To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so.
check out verb	To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
get out verb	To leave or escape.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	haven't seen · I've been · I've missed
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	being ridden · would be told · is put
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain	may be
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the most simplest

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 74 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thumb /ˈθʌm/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, thigh /θaɪ/, girth /ɡɝθ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, brush /bɹʌʃ/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like squeeze, steer, mount.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: HOW TO RIDE A HORSE (EASY BEGINNERS GUIDE) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

Horse Terms Explained

13. Starting Out | English for Everyday Activities

Shuffling for Beginners: Your First 5 Moves to Master

Learn English on the Farm | English Video with Subtitles

Easy German Learning Vlog for Beginners | Feierabend in Germany (Comprehensible Input)

How to Handle the Reins- Beginner Horseback Riding

How to Knit The Knit Stitch for Beginners | The Garter Stitch | PassioKnit Kelsie

Beginner's Guide to the Gym | DO's and DON'Ts

02 Extra English_Hector Goes Shopping- سریال اکسترا قسمت 2

How to Practice English by Yourself

3 tips to make drawing horses easy(er) 🐴

English Reading Practice - A Short Beginner ESL Conversation

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?