Riders Fitness Question

[Nayumi1]

So a bit of background: So I'm an novice adult rider, been riding again for just over a year now. Prior to that I was sedentary for a year after sereral years of hiking and rock climbing. I wouldn't say I am unfit, I can still jog a good 6 or so kms however I am definitely not the fitness level I once was.

I am hacking out 3 to 4 times a week however decided to have an hour lesson on Sunday. I was on a very lazy horse that needed constant legs, my transitions were hard work and as the lesson went on I found my technique faltered as I tired. I must say it was quite the warm day as well, while I am very used to heat as I'm an Aussie, I've been in the UK 4 years now, exercise in heat is no longer common!

So I mentioned to my riding friend how my legs were sore today, not that I mind as it means my muscles have been worked. She came back saying I am really unfit and that it is going to take me a long time to build my riding fitness.

My question is what can I do to assist building my fitness? I ride regularly, use my exercise ball daily for crunches/planks for my core and walk/run my dogs.

 

[ruth83]

I have tried so many things and I have found that there is nothing which can create and maintain riding fitness in the same way as riding!!
The best alternatives IMHO are biking and rowing. Biking particularly helps with jumping muscles but do help all round (some jockeys cycle without a saddle to build leg muscle!) Rowing is an all over workout.

With the ball, quite often we do static exercises which work the muscles which need to move independently when riding, and movement exercises with muscles which need to be actively static. Something I have found which helps is balancing on the ball. Initially on all 4's, then move on to being able to raise one arm or leg without losing balance, then onto kneeling up, then being able to lift a small weight - centrally to begin with and then to one side or the other - then to being able to catch something thrown to you (eg a beanbag). Eventually you'll be able to stand on the ball (the flatter the ball, the easier this is!) Squats on a half ball can help too.

Please be careful when you try these though! Maybe try to find a PT to help to begin with?

 

[Shay]

Yuo can actually get something called an i-joy which is supposed to simulate riding. I'm not sure how effective it is for fitness but I've seen them used in the early stages of helping a rider acclimate to a side saddle. Might be worth a look?

 

[Surbie]

An hour lesson is a hell of a long time to focus muscles when you know you are coming into it slightly unfit. If it was a private one, even more so, as there aren't many/any breaks that you and the horse can relax for a few minutes or process what you arebeing asked to do or ask the horse to do. If the horse is a bit unwilling that will amp up the stress you put on your muscles to hold you.

As to how long it will take to gatting to riding fitness (and only you know what that means to you!), different bodies take differing times to get fitter.

I'd also say I am unfit (I can't run but I cycle a fair amount) and tbh I stick to 30-45 minutes (max!) for a lesson, with a good 10 mins cool down for the big sweaty cob I ride. He can't really focus on more than 30 minutes either, so by 45 mins of schooling he is flagging. It would be different on a hack with other sights and sounds to occupy him as well as what he is being asked to do.

The 3 things I do to increase my fitness away from riding are: poo-picking - using my core to hold me, ski stances against a wall to get leg muscles more in tune to where they need to go and anything that will loosen my stubborn left hip.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Skiing apparently! :lol: Other than that, more riding. Anything that improves core strength and flexibility will help.

On the other hand if a horse needs that much leg it might be best to address the horse's fitness for the job rather than your own! Whether that's his fitness, his training or a health problem. Understand if it's not possible if it's a lesson horse at a riding school though. I once got off after 20 mins of riding a very "lazy" horse in a lesson as I felt there was something wrong with it (I had something of a "hot seat" at the time and was well used to getting lazy horses sparked up on short order but this one just wasn't having it)... I got asked to leave the yard and not come back! Ooops. Think I hit a nerve there.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Yuo can actually get something called an i-joy which is supposed to simulate riding. I'm not sure how effective it is for fitness but I've seen them used in the early stages of helping a rider acclimate to a side saddle. Might be worth a look?

Hmm... Googling for i-joy did not find me anything to do with horse riding, but other products a-plenty.

Our lessons are one hour long, usually. They can be an hour and a half for something like jumping, but that will include some time just sitting on our horses in an arc around the instructor while she explains the exercise and the lines to take around the obstacles.

Trail rides are anything from an hour to three hours at a stretch, with a fair amount of fast trot and canter if the ground and the weather are suitable.


I find that riding works muscles that I don't much use the rest of the time, not even when cycling. But I've always had strong legs and a strong lower back, anyway. I'm a weird shape: legs like Schwartzenegger and arms like Seb Coe.

I don't practise any martial arts, these days, but I remember some of the aches as being what I got from some of the exercises in Shotokan karate, especially long sessions of punching while in horse stance (Kiba-dachi).

A couple of years ago, so not so long after I had taken up riding, we did "incurvation" ("bend", I think) exercises for an hour straight, and the following day I was really achy and stiff in my inner thighs.

Yesterdays prolonged trail ride, with a somewhat enthusiastic mare, long stretches of canter, have left me with slightly sore ankles and shoulders, but nothing that would stop me from getting on with normal life.

 

[Rumtytum]

:Nayumi it could be you are not totally unfit as your friend says, but rather you were using muscles you don't usually use. The first time I did an hour schooling on a 5 star energy saving riding school horse I could feel my legs the next day! And I'm fit. It's the same if I do different exercises in the gym, the first time is always the most painful. So if you have stamina which sounds like you have, it's just a matter of the more schooling, the more your muscles will remember and the stronger you will be

 

[Nayumi1]

I should say this particular lesson was with a riding school horse. I’ve requested a forward horse next time!

Sounds like more and more schooling for me is the best option. I’ve more recently been more hacking than schooling so starting up lessons again I’ll hopefully see a difference.

Bring on the muscles ��������

I’ll have to google I-joy, though I’m worried it might bring up other things ��

 

[ester]

for safetys sake please google ijoy ride.

 

[Nayumi1]

Hahaha ok I’ll try that!

 

[Keith_Beef]

Hahaha ok I’ll try that!

No, just click on this link.

 

[9tails]

You wouldn't catch me doing an hour lesson on a lazy horse, it's enough to put you off riding for good!

 

[Keith_Beef]

You wouldn't catch me doing an hour lesson on a lazy horse, it's enough to put you off riding for good!

Surely a good instructor wouldn't put you on a crazy horse for an hour, unless you were able to calm it and manage it well?

 

[9tails]

Surely a good instructor wouldn't put you on a crazy horse for an hour, unless you were able to calm it and manage it well?

Maybe you and I have a different idea of crazy. Something with a pulse isn't crazy to me.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Maybe you and I have a different idea of crazy. Something with a pulse isn't crazy to me.

HA ha! I just re-read and saw that it was a lazy horse, when I had read crazy horse. I must be thinking about something completely different.

 

[Mule]

I find pilates great for core strength and coordination, also for body awareness/ alignment and posture. If you're interested in trying it, I'd recommend reformer pilates. It works from your head to your toes. I've also started parking 15 minutes away from work so that gets me a walk 5 days a week. I find any little bit of cardio makes a big difference.