We never forget that first horse—or those first few horses. The ones that were so patient, putting up with our mistakes, bad cues, poor rhythm, and terrible balance. We shifted sideways in the saddle, nearly fell off (no, wait … we did fall off!) dozens of times, flew our hands and legs up in the air, and that trusty steed just kept right on packing us around.

While horses can be incredibly forgiving, it doesn’t mean we need to test that patience and lenient nature. In fact, one French research group believes we can improve equine welfare and rider performance by starting riders out on a simulator rather than on the back of a patient pony.

“The results of our study suggest that it would be interesting to develop and train proprioception (awareness of body and limb placement) in order to improve the performance ad interaction with the horse, such as by using an equestrian simulator,” said Agnès Olivier, PhD, of University of South Paris Saclay, in Orsay.

“This factor should be taken into account when considering horse welfare,” Olivier continued. She presented her team’s work at the 12th Conference of the International Society for Equitation Science, held June 23-26 in Saumur, France