Horsey people- fitter than we think!?

Dogstar

Dogstar

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Spent the day with suburban Bro and family yesterday; nice day, went for a gentle afternoon stroll with the children and the parents-in-law around Virginia Waters for an hour or so. At least, I thought it was a gentle afternoon stroll, with lots of stops for the children falling off their bikes! Well, everyone else subsequently claimed to be totally exhausted/shattered when we got back, even bro and wife (30's!) Er.. I am definitely not super-fit, 40,do ride and walk dogs most days, muck out, short run occasionally; did not notice any slight tiring effects of said walk! So I guess even day to day equine/dog activities must keep up a certain level of fitness which we don't notice....
 
Have to agree. I dont do any other planned exercise apart for horse stuff. When I look at my non-horsey peer group (50+) they all seem to be falling apart. I feel just as fit as I did 25 years ago. :D
 
Yes, have to agree, horsey people are fitter than the average! I think someone worked out that to ride effectively it uses at least 200 calories an hour, and that wasn't something like event riding it was just an average sort of lesson-type environment.

Then there's the mucking out (good for the ab's!), lifting hay around, grooming, walking up to the field, etc etc. All good stuff!
 
I think we are, though my level of fitness is appalling... no, honestly!

However the other day when we were moving full size round hay bales around the yard (either one or two of us per bale) the farmer who delivered them to us commented he wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of us. And asked who made up the idea that riding was a wussy sport :P
 
I read that an hour schooling is roughly equivalent to a half hour jog......

Depends what you are doing really though, gentle hacking probably uses less energy than walking. But serious schooling or jumping can be pretty intensive. Even when I was marathon training an hours lesson could have me red in the face sweaty and aching if my instructor was working me hard!
 
I do think I am fitter as a horsey person, although i agree that we may not be as fit as we think we are....although I ride, muck out, walk dogs etc...I still cannot manage to go for a run without dying.

Finally finished my 3 years at uni without a horse (worked with horses every weekend but not the same) and I am shocked as to how unfit I am!!! Went for a plod and a trot around yesterday on someone else's horse...and had to have a 2 hour nap afterward!
 
I don't think we are.
I work full time get up 5.30am to muck out etc and back up stables 5.30pm after work. Get home 8pm than start dinner etc. I muck out 10 stables a day and ride 2 or 3 and yet when I do a hunter trial I'm knackered after the 5 th jump and could just fall off with exhaustion. Not good
 
I could be a lot fitter, but I struggle to fit any other exercise in to my daily routine. I hold my breath when I concentrate, so schooling my horse is quite knackering (I am trying to work on this), however I am fitter than I feel or think I am. I did a 3.5 mile run a little while ago (not that far I know, but far for me), having done no running for years and no pre-running preperation for it, and on the day I felt I was well within my comfort zone and recovered very quickly afterwards. Before I did it, I would never have thought I was capable of running that distance.
 
E_Lister said:
I think we are, though my level of fitness is appalling... no, honestly!

However the other day when we were moving full size round hay bales around the yard (either one or two of us per bale) the farmer who delivered them to us commented he wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of us. And asked who made up the idea that riding was a wussy sport :P
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Two of you to move one? You are a wuss lol. There is just me as I have the horses at home so I have to move them on my own :( And I'm only 5ft1 ;)
 
Well, I'm only riding about forty minutes to a couple of hours five or six days a week, and go for a twenty minute walk at lunchtime when I can. Noticed the other day when leading Little Lass round so wee child could have a trot, I managed to run two circuits of the school - couldn't have done that a few months ago :D

Hot choccy anyone....? :D
 
I think we definately are.

Elizabeth is a size 16 and a bit on the plump side( not as much as me though :p) And she took part in an experiment at college, all the class ran up and down the stairs for 10 minutes and then had pulse etc. measured and then again 10 minutes later to measure how quickly they recovered. She came 2nd after a lad in training with a big rugby team. She does no other sport, and really only other exercise is walking 2 mile there and back to college.

I believe it is a demanding sport, apparently a day doing stable chores and riding is the equivalent to 2 days in the gym.
 
I went skiing with army lads and it was our first time, they are all fit on the verge of going to sandhurst or already in the regs so you would think fit and I was scared I was properly going to be left behind...they are weak!
They had to keep stopping because of thigh burn. And their abs ached. Didn't get any of this. Same with Tough Guy 8mile run x-country and 2 mile assult course and was still standing at the end no preperation! Unlike the 'fit people'.
Horse riding was the only exercising I was doing so I think it a) perhaps tones and strengthens more than it improves aerobic fitness and b) hightens our pain threshold so we don't notice the pain.
But def think horsey people nails and fitter.
 
I think you're right Llewellyn - it probably tones & strengthens rather than gets us aerobically fit. I ride 2 horses 5 times a week, compete at a low level, hunt in the winter etc etc but as someone who has just attempted to take up running I know I am seriously UNFIT! I'm quite strong, definately not a wuss but can't manage to jog 2 miles without gasping for breath, stopping to walk when it all gets too much for me and returning bright red in the face.

if riding did keep me fit I wouldn't have to go through this torture on a regular basis just to get round a hunter trial without collapsing at the end!
 
I think some people who ride and have horses and dont do much else can be quite fit as when you are schooling you dont just do it for 5 mins and jobs use a good bit of energy, this being said i was browsing on Facebook and came across a woman who is friends with a lady i know and i dont think she should of been allowed on a horse the poor thing, her leg fat rolled over the edge of her saddle and was sat on the horses sides.. i wandered how somebody with horses could be so big! Im chunky to say the least but not so you would turn a stare lol!!
 
I am strong and can beaver away at jobs for hours, walk for miles but have V poor areobic fitness. I just ran the lenght of my feild at the weekend and thought my lungs were going to explode
 
heather_bambi said:
I do think I am fitter as a horsey person, although i agree that we may not be as fit as we think we are....although I ride, muck out, walk dogs etc...I still cannot manage to go for a run without dying.

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I agree with the above, when it comes to riding, mucking out, poo picking, wealking dogs etc yes i think i am fit and quite strong but i ran up the field the other day and was short of breath maybe because running is more of a cardio sport (i may have that wrong?) also with different sports you use muscles in different ways.
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it depends really on how you define fitness.

I can walk 30 miles in a day (and hope to do 41 this weekend, see the link in my sig) but I can't run for half an hour!

doing the training for our mega walk has certainly helped my overall fitness, but I can't say as it's helped my riding at all, and now my calf's have grown and my half chaps don't fit! :eek:
 
having taken up riding a year ago-i have noticed that ive definatly toned up especially thieghs and bum hehe. Found out that mucking out is also a work out out when u do 8 in a row!, so definatly agree it makes you toned although I am going to start some cardio exercise twice a week to get fitter.
;)
 
Well, I'm definitely a stayer, not a sprinter;)
having said that, I have noticed that I can set off in pursuit of errant heifer through a ploughed field without losing my breath or breaking sweat - that's what adrenaline does to you:D
 
I think there's definitely something to be gained from riding. Since I've had my loan horse I've got a lot stronger - used to be a total weakling who struggled to do up her girth tight enough! I run a bit usually, but over the last few weeks have been using the lighter evenings to ride rather than run and have lost 4 pounds!
 
I think I'm stronger than I am fitter, I can lift some pretty heavy things and can continually do lifting/mucking out for longer than I ever used to be able to.

But I am useless at running, but I always have been. I can walk for miles. I do a two week walk in the summer doing 18 miles a day generally and this isn't too straining unless the terrain is particularly difficult.

When I was at secondary school I was a decent sprinter, I'd come out once a year for sports day and win the 100m and I could probably run that now without dying but my legs would protest, they have become used to steady work rather than then and there.

I think if I were to try and improve fitness by riding I would need to do far more jumping as I find that quite hard work.
 
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