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Horse safari, horse riding in Cappadocia

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Horse Safari
The ancient Turkish societies were making wove on horse, woman and gun therefore there is no need to discuss the importance of horse in the society. At the begining Turkish societies were nomadic therefore horse was important for them. Horses were raised as herds in hovels during winters and freely in the nature during summers. Raising horses and the place of horse in social life caused this animal’s becoming a culture among Turkish. It is possible to chase the trace of this culture from sayings to poems. Feeding, dressing down, care, saddle and snaffles can be accepted among the sources created horse culture.
Today’s modern city life does not include horses. Today, horse is a detail being usedin the races with sportive aims. The relation between horse and human is as old as the history of human being. It is thought that horse is a species domesticated after dog, cat and goat. The half horse half man creatures in Greek mythology can also be given as a good example of the relation and defragment of human being with horse.

History written with horse
It is assumed gthat horse was one of the species which was domesticated in 4000 – 3000 BC after dog and cattle. We might say that the history of horse was written togother with the history of man kind. During 3000 years between 2000 BC and 1000 AC. horse had an important place in the history of man kind. The conflict between civilized world and uncivilized world is very much linked to the usage of horses in daily lives rather than the emty field. During the very important historical turning points, such as migration period and demolishing of Rome there were horse carts. The 1000s were the years when cavalier period has started with the usage of stirrup.Cavalier period continued until 18th century when the steam power was realized. However, the power of horse so much in human being’s life that to measure the capacity of machines, “horse power” was being used as unit. This unit is being used even today.

Horse Riding in Cappadocia
Horse Riding in Cappadocia

Do we know horse?
If we exemine horse a bit, we might see that it has a special biology. It feeds with grass but not ruminate and the muscle concentration in its body is remarkable. Its heart is big compare to its body. The heart’s being big simplified the carriage of oxygen to its muscles. Because of this very special form, the horse can run fast and it is enduring.
The other important features of horse are its learning fast and never forgetting. It’s easly finding its house can make everyone think about using a direction mechanism special to animals. As it gets to know its owner, it learns which roads he/she uses, where he/she slows down , accelerate and stops; later on it behaves according to this information. Its warm relation between its owners is a result of its learning capacity and this capacity turns it into an emotional animal. The horse is a real friend; it has the tendecy of behaving you as you behave it. It can easly understand the love towards itself and gives reaction. As you really meet with a horse, that means you also from the basis of a real friendship.

What is horse safari?
Horse safari, also named as horse nature trip or horse nature walk, is becoming popular day by day in Turkey as an outdoor activity. Generally the clubs created by the horse owners draw the image of elite society’s being behind the horse riding and sports done by horse but during the last years, the number of stud farms are increasing and by teaching how to ride a horse with normal prices, the stud farms are succesful to make the horse riding a hobby for everyone.
In addition the studies of Ministry of Tourism to create alternative tourism fields and promotion of them made horse safari to be accepted as a type of tourism and increased the number of investors in this field. At the end of these developments the sud farms become widespread around the country to give service to local and foreign tourists.

Horse safari as an outdoor activity.
Horse safari stands on the concept of the harmony between the human being and horse in the nature. In order to participate in horse safari a daily sports clothes will be enough. The trips are being done with an experienced guide; of course sometimes it is possible to begin to trot or gallop. All of them are evaluated due to the skills of the rider.
In order to do horse safari you do not nedd to have your own horse. Also you dont need to be an experienced horse rider. In order to be a master rider you need to long lasting trainings but for horse safari your need is only one hour training. The experienced riders receive sweet natured horses in order to prevent the possible problems. After having such training, you can join the groups and ride around the fields whenever you want. Some of the equitation centers provide services with accommodation. In these kinds of centers it is possible to spend couple of days in the nature, learn riding horse, train yourself and participate in horse safari activities. The budget that you need to arrange is not higher than the budget that you will need for same lenght holiday.

The style of horse walking.
As we say horse walking we mean all other actions except its being stopped. In another word, galloping or begin to trot are other kinds of horse walking. As the other quadruped, the horses take force from their hind legs. The force is delivered from back to the front. The order of movements of the legs and the relation between the movements define the names of horse walking. The names gather under five groups and called ordinary walking (simply), trot, ambling, gallop and jumping. Except ambling all of them are the spontaneous walking style of the horse. Ambling is taught to the horse. Jumping is a natural movement of the horse but in order to enable it to jump in a different style; the horse should be trained in a longer period.

The needs of the horse.
In order to participte in the horse safari you do not need to know horse caring. However, although you are short term rider, it is important for you to be familier to the needs of the horse in order to have a relation with the horse. Every horse needs daily care and after the care they feel themselves really happy and fresh. The horse care is as enjoyable and instructive as horse riding.
The daily care called as grooming and during there are side equipments such as various comb, brush, sponge and hoof pin, called grooming tools. During the grooming different parts of the horse are being brushed by different brushes and cleaned with water. After the cleaning, the water left on the horse is slip off with a shoehorn. The mane is combed; its eyes, nose and bottom are cleaned by a sponge. Its hooves are cleaned by hoof pin.
Beside the daily care, there are periodical cares to be done. Besides, the general health control vy veterinarian and tooth cleaning every six months should be considered. Also the hooves should be shaped regularly because like human being, the nails of the horse get longer. Beside the general care, the hygiene of the horse is important. Except the walking and trainings, the horse spends its whole time in the barn. Therefore the manure in the barn should be cleaned regularly. The horses generally sleep standing. If they feel enough comfortable and safe, the lay down. Therefore it is important to prepare a space for the horse to lie down. For the feeding, beside the straw and grass, oat and barley is important. The amount of the bait differs from the kind of the horse and work expected from the horse. For feeding, the fresh water is also important. It is assumed that the horse, eating its bait with appetite, is a healthy horse. After feeding you must not ride the horse, you have to wait at least two hours. Also you can not give water right after the riding; you have to wait the horse to be cold.

Riding equipment
During riding for the safety and comfort of the rider and the horse, some equipment are needed. The two most important sets should be known by each rider, are the saddle and heading sets. The saddle team is the one out over the back of the horse and where the rider sits down. By the help of the colons, over its belly, the saddle is tied. There are stirrups which are used as a stair to get over the horse. The stirrups are also used during the riding for keeping our balance and for preventing us to fall down.
The heading set is the one put over the head of the animaal and has leather set called leash at the end. The leash is the most important part of the set. It is used to give direction to and to arrange the speed of the horse with the help of snaffle and bridles. There are different types of leash. Some of them are without snaffle usually made of stainless steel and has different types. This part is put into the mouth of the horse therefore leaning over the snaffle discomfort the horse. In addition the belief of the more leaning over the snaffle the more control over the horse is wrong. Everything depends on the communication that the rider established with the horse. If you can manage to have communication, you will be able to control easily.

Horse riding techniques
In order to participate in horse safari, minimum level training will be enough for you. Since during the horse safari, the horse walks ordinarily, there is no need to have riding technique. The first rule is not to be afraid of horse. If the rider behaves fearful, the horse will feel it and it becames anxious. Therefore in horse safari, the principle of “adept horse for the inexpert” and”inexpert horse fr the adept”is valid.
Mountaning horse: There re different techniques used while mounting horse but the most common one is to stand on the left side of the horse, to hold the bridle by your left hand, to turn your face towords the back of the horse and to step your left foot on the stirrup. And then while you lay on your left foot, you hold saddle with your right hand and jump over the saddle. As your gently sit on the saddle, you fit your right foot on the stirrup.
Ideal sit: You sit on the deepest cavity of the saddle. You transfer your weight to the back and you sit tight. Your shoulders, hips and heels should be on the line. Therefore your tip of feet and knees are on the line. You push the stirrup and push your heels down. Your calves should be on the line with colons and your knees should be placed one span higher on the front of the saddle. You should hold the bridle tight but smoothly.
Mounting off horse: The first thing is to stop the horse and take off your both feet from stirrup. And then you hold the bridle with your left hand and put your left hand on the nape of the horse and hold the front part of the saddle with your right and then you bend a little to front and pass your right leg over the saddle. You complete mounting off as you step with double feet and your knees are humble. While you step down the horse you should be careful about not dismissing the bridle. This will bind horse moving forward.
Natural and artificial help: The rider establishes the communication with the horse by his calves, hands, sitting and voice. These are called natural help. The instruction given by the calves called calf help, by hands called bridle help, bu sitting called weight help and by voice called voice help. In addition to these there are helps given by spurs and campers and these are called artificial help.
While you ride the horse you feel power and control at the same time. The power of the horse is directed by the control of the rider. The horse must move forward as you tight your calf and as you pull the bridle the horse must slow down and stop. The first thing that the rider should learn is the calf help. The calves enable the horse to move and the bridle directs the horse to the right direction. While riding the horse the bridle should be tight but elbows and arms should be flexible and be in harmony with the head and neck movoment of the horse.

Horse races.
Today, around the world 350 different horse races are breed. Ten years ago this number was around 200. The increase during the last years depends on the studies done by every country to expose the local horse species. The horse species (race) have 3 different groups. These are cold blooded, warm blooded and pony. The cold blooded horses are the ones used in carrying burden because they are huge size horses. The warm blooded horses are the ones trained for speed and agility. The horses trained for any sportive aim are classified under this group. The ponies are the small size horses.

Horse Riding in Cappadocia
Horse Riding in Cappadocia

Horse safari in Cappadocia

It is believed that in Persian Cappadocia means “the land of the beautiful horses”. The relief of kingdom palace of Persian Empire in Persepois, the capital of the Empire, illustrates 23 country representatives bringing presents to the king and among them it is possible to see Cappadocian representative bringing horse. Perhaps the name of “land of beautiful horses” came from this illustration. It is understood that in the past, Cappadocia was famous for its horses and today it is an excellent choice for horse safari with its magical nature.
In order participate in horse safari, first you can visit a stud farm and receive information from the experts. There are several stud farms in Avanos, Göreme and Ortahisar of Cappadocia. The travel agencies in the region can help you in finding the stud farms. Anatolian local horses are the most common ones for horse safari in Cappadocia. Of course it is possible to find other races. Beside the Arab and British horse races, it is possible to find Turcoman hores in the region. The tours generally organized in groups. The number of participants of a group verifies between 5 and 15. Each group has experienced guides know the region very well. During the horse safari, the horse is not galloping but walking. Generally the activities consist of 1 – 2 hours or daily trips. However, 3 days or 1 week tours are being organized for the experienced riders with under tent and hotel accommodation.



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