Cathy's Monthly Article from Texas Horse Talk Magazine

Riding Fitness

By Cathy Strobel

Tools of the trade are used in every profession, sport or activity. Riding is no different. When you ride horses, good functional equipment is essential to your success. Every piece of tack, clothing or equipment has to be in good condition or an accident could happen. If you use leather that is worn or cracked it could break causing injury to you or your horse.

While tools and equipment are critical to your success in controlling a horse, the most important tool of all is your body. Any equestrian sport is exactly that; a sport. The fitness level of both the horse and rider plays a major factor in the quality of work that is done. Horses need to be conditioned to race, jump or excel in any type of competitive sport. It takes time, effort and commitment to reach a level of fitness required to succeed. Often people forget that the rider needs to be equally as fit as the horse.

I have heard many people say that they wanted to learn to ride because it would be fun and it would get them into shape or help them lose weight. My standard answer is “get in shape and then learn to ride”. Horses are animals that can react quickly in ways that can’t always be anticipated. If the rider has weak muscles, a poor sense of balance or slow reflexes, it’s quite easy to fall. Consider the horse, too, who can suffer significantly from an overweight or poorly balanced rider. If you are overweight, it would benefit you both to reduce your weight before you start riding.

The level of riding that you intend to do has a lot to do with the level of fitness that you will need to achieve. If you intend to simply go on a trail ride at a walk with a placid horse, you can get away with a fairly sedentary lifestyle. However, if are planning on trotting or cantering for long distances, or training for a specific equestrian sport such as dressage, jumping, eventing, reining or any rodeo sport, you would be well advised to obtain a fairly high level of fitness first.

If you haven’t led a very active lifestyle and you are serious about riding, start with a little cardiovascular work. It isn’t necessary to join a gym or find an hour a day for working out. Depending on your level of fitness, you might only be able to start by walking. Walk as briskly as you can for as long and often as you can. Take the stairs whenever possible or park at the far end of the parking lot instead of by the door. If you are able to do more, go jogging, swimming or jump rope.

Lunges, mini-squats and leg raises will tone your leg muscles. Your legs need to be strong to provide a base when you ride. Since you drop weight into your heels when you ride, stretch your Achilles tendons and your calves by standing with the balls of your feet on a step and gently drop your heels as deep as you can for several seconds. Then raise up on your toes, hold it for a few seconds and repeat the stretch down again several times.

Work your core muscles to develop stability and leverage from the saddle. Sit-ups or crunches can be done in small increments several times a day if you can’t do many at a time. A repeated punching motion with your arms can work your midsection. Start punching the air straight in front of you slowly to loosen up and then gradually punch at a faster pace. Add a slight twisting motion from the waist and then slowly raise your punches up to the sky and then lower them towards the ground. Punching with bigger and faster arm movements will raise the intensity of the workout for you heart, lungs and muscles.

Your arms are a direct line to the horse’s mouth. The triceps or backs of the arms are used for pulling. Your shoulders and back muscles need to be toned and strong for moments when a horse resists gentle restraint from the reins. Fear or excitement can cause horses to react out of instinct and they can forget about the rider momentarily, breaking into a faster pace than you want. If your arms and shoulders are weak, you can get yanked forward or simply lose control of your mount.

Pull-ups, weight lifting and pushups are all good ways to work your upper body. Try doing pushups on the kitchen or bathroom counter tops a few times a day. You can even push and pull on the steering wheel when sitting at a stop light in your car. Get creative and do something like putting your car seat back at a light and do a few crunches while you’re waiting in traffic.

A fun way to exercise that doesn’t require much space or expense is to use an exercise ball. They come in a few sizes and you’ll find them sold in most stores that carry sporting goods. Read the label to determine which size is best for your height. When you read the instructions you will find a variety of exercises to work different parts of your body. My favorite is to balance on the ball in a sitting position with your feet off the ground. It’s very useful for improving your balance, building sensitivity and strengthening your core muscles.

You can find little ways to work your muscles all day long. If you don’t know a lot about exercising correctly, it might be a good idea to hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to help you understand how to align your body and pace your workouts so you don’t injure yourself. If you start slowly, you should be able to work up to a better level of fitness within a few weeks. If you get too ambitious and start with too heavy of a workout, you could become very sore and lose your desire to continue.

Whatever your approach to fitness, take Nike's advice and "Just do it"!

Cathy Strobel has over 30 years of experience as a trainer, judge and clinician. Contact us if you have a topic that you would like addressed or need help with a particular problem.