How do you riders get event fit?

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enjimmy1

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So I've spent all of 2014 so far working on my horses fitness but a full-on lesson yesterday has successfully shown me that I've definitely been neglecting my own! Time to take my pilates to a new level!
How do you all get fit for the eventing season?
 
As box driver I am in training by randomly setting the alarm clock for 4 in the morning , Having the radio on at full volume (to simulate rider tantrums) oh and sticking pins in myselffor the pleasure of pulling them out!
 
I ride out racehorses every morning.... don't get out of breath going round a xc course, no need for anything else!

(I do actually do quite a bit of cycling and pilates..... but the racehorses do much more for my riding fitness than either of those do...)
 
it is not!! but slowing getting back into it...telling myself it will have other benefits bar the fact the locals enjoying me face planting!
 
Agree with the Pilates. I've taken it up and only done three weeks so far but definitely feeling the benefits already. I'm also going to start yoga this week.
I walk 7 miles a day on my delivery carry weight (postie) and that's 6 days a week. Walking through all this flipping mud is a good work out I'm finding :wink3:
I don't do any other exercise as such but I do watch what I eat as well.

Im just a 'hobby rider' and event at a low level :smile3:
 
Carefreegirl, I would suggest that two evenings a week you do a little interval training (Ihave always hated it but it is good for the cardiovascular system) You are as fit as the proverbial butchers dog with regard to stamina, you just need to work on oxygen uptake. PS There is no such thing as a "low level".
 
OMG. I don't do anything. Should I be? I thought riding two horses a day and walking my dog was enough. I must admit I was a bit out of breath on the gallops yesterday. I thought it was because I had a stinking cold.
Maybe if I made a bit of an effort I might win
 
WE spend so much time and effort on perfecting our four legged partners performance that often we forget that rider performance is an equaly valid part of the equation. If a rider is strugghling for breath at fence 16 then they are letting the partnership down.
 
I dont event...but I do ride 2 horses and I also keep fit by running 3 times a week, currently working towards my first 10k run, The Mighty Deerstalker, with obstacles :D and I gym 3 times a week where I do weights and work on my core on the mat with a gym ball for 30 mins doing a variety of exercises. Also doing a 30 day abs challenge at the moment comprising of sit ups, planks and leg lifts - it hurts lol
 
just trying to wade/slide through mud twice a day uphill with a couple of barrowfulls of s*** seems to keep me pretty fit!
 
star said:
I've got a rowing machine and I do some squats and dips etc a few times a week pluson my feet all day at work.
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Star ,you only know me as a sad old sack ,but seriously at your age I could run a marathon in about two and a half hours.So please dont entirely disregard my advice. THER IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PAVEMENT POUNDING! You have a flair for dressage and a way with horses but you need to do some pavem,ent pounding . PS Love to LLewy
 
I didn't find regular riding, even multiple horses, kept me fit enough to event properly after about 100 level. When it mattered ;) I skipped (running is out for my joints) and swam. I also did a fair amount of riding without stirrups and a lot of my horse's fitness work with super short stirrups and/or in half seat.

I would agree, Pilates helps riding a lot and being stronger makes things easier, but also agree you need to make sure you put in some stamina training, too.
 
Mike007 said:
As box driver I am in training by randomly setting the alarm clock for 4 in the morning , Having the radio on at full volume (to simulate rider tantrums) oh and sticking pins in myselffor the pleasure of pulling them out!
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Hehe :). I drive myself which is one thing, but pretty sure my unpaid 'grooms' aren't looking forward to the start of the eventing season.
 
I'm 48 in two weeks and competed all season at 100 and Novice. Had a good set of results and never out of breath XC with no other training.
I wonder then if we are all different and that some people are naturally fit
 
Madali said:
I'm 48 in two weeks and competed all season at 100 and Novice. Had a good set of results and never out of breath XC with no other training.
I wonder then if we are all different and that some people are naturally fit
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Of course, just like anything else, there are individual factors. A big one is the horse - some are just much less effort than others, especially if they are fit themselves but not too fit. It's about margins, as well. Lots of people are fit enough to get around comfortably but might not be able to keep their edge right to the least fence.
 
I don't event any more but BD at Elementary, with my medium debut on Wednesday. I only ride 5 times a week but I also have 4 personal training sessions at school during the week as part of the sports scholarship programme. I play hockey in the winter seasons too as well as making sure I run 5-8km in my lunch hour, except on Tuesday's when I'm forced to go to chapel. Don't know what I'm going to do at Uni, wouldn't do it unless I had to!
 
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I run (26 miles a week at the moment), do circuit training and have a PT once a week. I do something pretty much every day. I ride two a day too and hunt through the winter. I'm fitter than average, but I know that for my first competitive XC course of the year, I will be out of breath at the end. It's the adrenaline that does it to you. By the end of the season, I will be breathing normally at the end of a course - it's just something I've learned about myself... Not really anything to do with fitness. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of other people.
 
This is something that has really caught my interest recently. I've been struggling with my nerves, but the stronger I get, the more capable I feel and the nerves are less.
I have an old leg injury that affects my balance, so I'm working on the Wii fit in the evenings to help strengthen the bad leg, and now when I take my kids swimming, rather than just sitting in the water getting cold, I am trying to do some swimming too.
Not a lot, but got to start somewhere. My husband has an interest in horse fitness, and says it is amazing how unfit the riders are in comparison. And it doesn't matter how fit the horse is, how much harder does it have to work when the rider stops carrying themselves? Surely having a tired, slumping weight on your back is more likely to make you stumble and trip than a weight that is fit and balanced and helping out?
 
Mike007 said:
As box driver I am in training by randomly setting the alarm clock for 4 in the morning , Having the radio on at full volume (to simulate rider tantrums) oh and sticking pins in myselffor the pleasure of pulling them out!
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ha ha ha....love this! :)) But you forgot eating food that is really really bad for you??
 
Ali16 said:
I run (26 miles a week at the moment), do circuit training and have a PT once a week. I do something pretty much every day. I ride two a day too and hunt through the winter. I'm fitter than average, but I know that for my first competitive XC course of the year, I will be out of breath at the end. It's the adrenaline that does it to you. By the end of the season, I will be breathing normally at the end of a course - it's just something I've learned about myself... Not really anything to do with fitness. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of other people.
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Same for me. Whether I hold my breath to a degree XC or do something else odd I'm not sure but I am often out of breath at the end of a course when I know I'm fit enough to have run it on my own two feet whilst holding a conversation.

I'm another runner. I started running for something to do (!) then took up a sport which involves longer XC courses than eventing and ridden at a faster pace. I realised than eventing fitness wasn't going to be enough so I stepped up the running. I've done a couple of 10ks now and do parkrun most weeks (THE best invention ever: very good for motivation and competitively minded people: I am obsessed with improving my PB which makes me put the hours in training during the week www.parkrun.org.uk ). I think the trick with running is not to just go out and jog your way round 4 miles a couple of times a week. Vary the speed and intensity. So if you run 4 times a week make one run your Long Slow Run (pretty much what it says on the tin - the longest run of the week done at a speed that enables you to have a conversation), make another run shorter but slightly faster, do one easy run (not too long, not too fast) and do one 'quality' session - either interval sprints (lamposts are good for markers) or hillwork, something which realy makes your lungs burn! I don't think you need to run far necessarily, but you'll get much more benefit from varying the type of running you do than from going out at the same distance and pace every time. It's more interesting too!

As far as riding goes you need to strengthen your leg muscles. The easiest way is to shorten your stirrups 3-4 holes above your XC length when you do your canter work. If you can build up the strength to stay out the saddle like this for canterwork then you should find riding a XC course comparatively easy.
 
Ali16 said:
Imy first competitive XC course of the year, I will be out of breath at the end. It's the adrenaline that does it to you. By the end of the season, I will be breathing normally at the end of a course - it's just something I've learned about myself... Not really anything to do with fitness. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of other people.
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This. I'm a nightmare for it. I swear I hold my breath through the XC, or at least when we're jumping fences...so get over the finish line and collapse, but not through lack of fitness. I also bite my tongue and hold it in my teeth during my dressage test (it's a concentration thing, I do it at work too!) and sing in the SJ. LOL.
 
Mike007 said:
Carefreegirl, I would suggest that two evenings a week you do a little interval training (Ihave always hated it but it is good for the cardiovascular system) You are as fit as the proverbial butchers dog with regard to stamina, you just need to work on oxygen uptake. PS There is no such thing as a "low level".
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Can't do any more than I already do lol. I forgot to add that I'm also walking 3 dogs a day. My knees are shot from xc running for the school and county when I was younger. I'm out 3 times a weeks as of this week with Pilates and yoga.
 
Does anyone else find that general fitness doesn't necessarily translate to riding fitness though? I maintain a pretty decent level of overall fitness all year (nothing spectacular but can run 10km and swim 3km without too much pain) and do a lot of pilates, spinning and weights classes, but unless I'm riding very frequently, my riding fitness is next to nothing.
I have only ridden twice in the last month due to Buzz's hospital stay, and a 5 minute fast canter out hacking on Saturday had me out of breath, let alone jumping.
My yard owner is the opposite, can ride all day but struggles with any cardio fitness, so there's obviously something in it!
 
I have just started my fitness regime. I am a member of a local running club - we run twice a week average 5 miles. On my days off running club I do core work on a swiss ball. I am hoping as my running fitness increases I can introduce another run/interval training in the week.
i dont ride during the week due to light and facilities - however horse has stayed fit with long rides at the weekend and competing.
I found last year getting fit really improved my riding and this showed in my results.
 
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