So Just How Fit Do You Have to be to Ride?

MrsMozartletoe

MrsMozartletoe

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Another thread has raised this question in my mind :)

I think back to when I was younger, when I was fit and strong and built along the lines of a twig; I worked with horses six days a week riding x number of horses a day.

But now, well now things are different... I'm working on the fitness and the flab reduction, but I'm never going to be the stick insect of my younger years, I'm also very unlikely to be as fit as I was. I'm lucky in that my core muscles have stayed pretty strong despite everything, though my legs really could do with a lot more 'oomph' to them and everything needs toning up :).

However, lardy unfit lump that I am, I have managed, before breaking my back, to ride nearly every day, for about an hour a time, sometimes more. The rides were quite hard work at times as the Dizz likes to keep me on my toes :). I also went for a walk for an hour at lunchtime (can't run to save my life, never have really, other than a bit of a go at training to run the London Marathon a few years ago).

So, given that most people have to work, and a lot run homes and have families to take care of, et al, just how fit are we? And how fit should we be? Is it a case of if we aren't fit, or if we aren't devoting x amount of time and energy to a fitness programme, should we not be allowed to ride?

Late night musings of the bored, but interested, kind :D
 
Interesting question :) I spent the weekend on a riding holiday with four friends, who all have their own horses, the other people at the centre that weekend were people who rode at riding schools. The differences were fairly obviouse, including the one friend who only occasionaly rides her daughters horses. Those of us who were 'long term' owner riders coped with 6 hours in the saddle with very few problems, the others were suffering after the first day. The only conclusion I came to was that those of us who ride a fair bit were fitter for riding than the others were, although cannot coment on fitness for anything else :)
 
I know what you mean YG :). I surprised myself a few weeks ago (hm, probably a couple of months ago now!). With one thing and another going on, the Dizz and I were bobbling round together, including a lesson, for over three hours - at the end of it we were both still ready for more, though I thought it better that we call it a day :). We were both fine and able to go again the next day.

An interesting thing, fitness. I wonder how long it takes to 'get' and how long to 'lose'.

I really should go to sleep lol :rolleyes::D

ETA: forgot to say (see, I really should be asleep :rolleyes:), did you have a nice time? :)
 
I think it depends on what you're doing and also how submissive the horse is. I can have a 40 min lesson on my friends dressage schoolmaster and find it quite easy, but if I have the same lesson on my boy I end up gasping for breath, and usually by the end of the lesson I have stripped off down to my vest. LOL Trying to hold him together coupled with keeping the impulsion takes a lot more effort!
 
Lovely thank you :) 3rd year running that we've been. Riding in the Brecon Beacons, most off road, met about 6 vehicles in 12 hours riding! A bit different from home. Mind you my liver may take a while to recover :eek: The evening were spent drinking wine and we were very good at that too :D
 
How fit you need to be to ride depends on how good you want to be at it!

I ride most days and are active at work. But I haven't had a lesson for ages and had on the other day - I really struggled because I wasn't fit enough or strong enough to ride effectively :o

Most people are probably fit enought to ride, but many would benfit from being fitter!

It's not just about just fittness though - you need strength, co-ordination and balance, which are all linked together.
 
Kallibear said:
How fit you need to be to ride depends on how good you want to be at it!

I ride most days and are active at work. But I haven't had a lesson for ages and had on the other day - I really struggled because I wasn't fit enough or strong enough to ride effectively :o

Most people are probably fit enought to ride, but many would benfit from being fitter!

It's not just about just fittness though - you need strength, co-ordination and balance, which are all linked together.
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Good point. Maybe I should have asked for peoples definition of 'fitness'. To me it encompasses the points you mention, and flexibility.

(someone tell me why I am not yet asleep! barking mad :D).
 
I read 'fit' as cardiovascualrly 'fit'. Which i'm not. I'm very flexible (well, not right now after I fell off on friday :o) with good core strength and excellent balance and co-ordination but I lack the cardiovascular fitness needed for sustained work during lessons, because I don't do it enough. Must go remedy that..........

They are all, of course, linked, and they are also very affected by your weight - being overweight reduces all the above. It makes life that little bit harder! Sure, you might have good flexibilty and balance as 3st overweight but it WOULD be better if you lost the excess weight.

However, lardy unfit lump that I am, I have managed, before breaking my back, to ride nearly every day, for about an hour a time, sometimes more. The rides were quite hard work at times as the Dizz likes to keep me on my toes
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You managed to ride every day for an hour a time whilst in ......less than perfect condition ;) But how much better and EASIER was your riding when you were fit, slimmer and toned? Not the techinical knowledge you will have gained over the years, but the physical application of it?
 
Depends-how well do you want to do and at what level?
A rider who only wants to toddle around the lanes for relaxation does not need to be very fit,someone who wants to be competative in any horse sport needs to be every bit as fit as their horse.
Being very fit and more to the point,the effort required to maintain it does damage to your body over time as does being very unfit-as with most things,the happy medium is best for most people :)

To me,a fit person is someone who can do the activity they wish without going too far out of their comfort zone,has a low resting pulse/respiration rate that return to resting rates fairly fast after excertion,has good core strength and is flexable.
 
KB - good point :) But, given that I was out of breath on only a few occasions, does that mean I was fit enough?

I definately find it easier to ride the lighter I get, but am I any fitter? Always makes me think of a chap at college - going by appearances I should have been able to wipe the floor with him fitness wise, but he could outrun me any day of the week and not break a sweat :)

I am trying to maintain/regain some fitness now by going for walks. It's amazing just how quickly I have lost what I had! Even a half hour round trip with a gentle hill in it is making my heart rate rise :o
 
Interesting thread Mrs M.

Had this discussion with my trainers daughter who is in the process of finishing her professional examinations to allow her to be qualifed to teach riding. She is also near to finsihing her qualifications to teach Yoga and Pilates and she is already an instructor in Thai Boxing.

Her feeling is that we expect our horses to be athletes to enable them to work at the right levels but we tend not to think that we as riders also need to be fit with a strong core to help them out.

She is intending to offer an all round service, training the rider and horse in ground and ridden work but also offering the riders a fitness programme written for them and their current level of fitness, and giving Yoga, Pilates, Thai Boxing Classes for riders which concentrate on getting the correct muscles for riding.

She is finished in December and has written a test programme and I am going to be her crash test Dummy.

I personally think it is a great idea wonder what you all think?
 
Interesting post - my niece has been to see a physio about poorly ankle and while she was there the physio commentated on her lack of core strength! She is 15 and rides and does a lot of sport ( for schools these days) so my sister was surprised. Physio said it was a common problem these days as children in general do not have the activity levs of previous generations and whilst older generations maybe unfitted and be more well covered our underlying core muscles are better than theirs.

Modern lifestyles are affecting all of us in ways we don't even realise.:(
 
I think it's all been said, but I'll throw in my tuppenyworth anyway.

I have just got back from a holiday on Exmoor. We took the horses with us and on average we rode between four and six hours, every day. It did not cause me any aches or pains (can't speak for my poor pony though).

If I take myself and H to the school this weekend, with my OH instructing, I can guarantee that after 10 minutes of schooling I will be sweating and after a further 10 or 20 minutes jumping I will be puffing and blowing like a train. But, my muscles will still not be aching the following day. This is because I have plenty of muscle strength, but my cardiovascular fitness is poor.

So, am I unfit? For hacking, no. For competition, yes.

Now that the weather is cooling (I'm not a hot weather person) I will start riding my bike again, in order to improve my cardiovascular fitness, as this is my weakness.

I would say I am strong, but not very fit.
 
NeilM said:
...This is because I have plenty of muscle strength, but my cardiovascular fitness is poor.
...
I would say I am strong, but not very fit.
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I have found this^ has become more and more true for me as summer goes on. My legs no longer ache after riding, I can just about reach the higher up saddle racks, I am overall fairly muscular (for me!). However, I do get puffed out leading the smalls in lessons, running etc. I'll be walking EVERYWHERE once school starts!
 
In order to work a horse properly, I'd say quite fit. You need to sustain balance (core work which is strenuous without being obviously so) and you need strong legs for holding the horse together, maintaining impulsion (and your own stickability) combined with your balanced seat. Little arm strength is necessary except for moving jumps about.

You can be as fit as you like but if you haven't got the talent/ability, fitness levels are purely academic.

If you mean is size and weight an issue - only if these impinge on the fitness level. A larger, disproportioned body on an essentially normal frame will not be as easy to manoeuvre and keep positioned in line with the laws of physics, meaning a higher level of fitness may well be needed. Also, some body positions will be impossible to achieve - Harry Secombe famously noted after his phenomenal weight loss - 'I can even cross my legs now!'

I'd say it's easier and less strain on the body to get fit and maintain fitness if you are not carrying excess weight. And that to ride effectively and correctly you need to be very fit.

To be an fairly ineffective passenger with little to no control over anything, couch-potato level is all which is required - and that goes for twigs and blobs alike.

Plus, staying fit is more difficult with increasing age. A certain level of dedication and will power is required to get off one's arse and do, and leave the cakes, biscuits and hot chocolate alone.

Mucking out gives you biceps, a bad back and a funny smell. That's all.
 
When I was competing properly with my big dressage horse, I was fit. I used to run 5k 4 times a week and do 3 aerobics classes with weights and ride (and I mean RIDE) 6 days a week after doing 3 horses... I still was out of puff after a Grand Prix test! Now I'm definitely not that fit (with children and 3 horses don't have time to do the gym thing) but I think it keeps you at a certain level of fitness so you could get fitter but you're not a couch potato...

Blitz
 
I think I am flexible, strong and supple from riding/having a horse but I don't think I'm fit...I don't think I get enough or do enough of the stuff that is aerobic exercise. I have stamina and can keep going through things but I get breathless hurtling around sometimes. My main problem is lack of energy...does being fit give you energy?...or is it just good healthy diet that produces the energy you need to get fit/stay fit?

The one time in my life when I knew I was most fit was many years ago having got ready for and went on a week of mountain walking in the Lake District - 15 miles a day of uphill and down dale. I came back feeling I could take on the world! Loved every minute of it as my body felt like it was working at its peak but comfortably. Sigh...

So don't think I've answered your question MrsM just thrown in a tuppence worth :)
 
Just so you know, I'm 22 and couldn't run from here to the door unless I was being chased. ;)

(I'm not overweight and am quite healthy and strong, I just can't run for toffee and I'd rather poke myself in the eye than try). :D
 
I was surprised at how different 'riding fitness' was compared to CV fitness.

I'm fitter than average, do a fair amount of swimming, cycling and running (ultra marathons) and started riding again 4 months ago after a 6 year break. I expected to find it relatively easy to get back into it, but my riding fitness was non-existent.

I'd have half hour lessons where by the end of them my legs would hardly move, and for the first few times my legs were pretty ineffective as the muscles were't used to doing what I was asking. That said, I did probably get 'riding fit' a lot quicker than most due to my general fitness.

So yes, have a good level of general fitness, but to be able to do what you want comfortably, whether it's running, swimming, riding, you need to do that a lot - fitness doesn't necessarily transfer!
 
Some very interesting replies :D

I sit here, having had a yoghurt and ham for breakfast (my norm), and drinking a cup of weak black tea (also my norm - hot chocolate is for high days and holidays ;):cool:)l, before I go for my walk, which is increased each day by about one hundred metres (I do the walk twice a day now, aiming for three times if I can get up early enough!).

I wonder what exercise is good for getting riding fit.....

I'm obviously restricted as a broken back doesn't allow much in the way of exercise, but walking I know, for me, gets weight off and improves my cv level.

Thinking about it, I was fit enough before the accident to work with the horses all day, including a long ride (a few hours), but a really good schooling session/lesson would leave me in a smelly steaming heap :rolleyes:

I think, therefore, that my core muscles aren't bad (though there's always room for improvement ;)), my stamina and general fitness are okay (again, room for improvement), but my legs really do need to improve in terms of ability to help hold the horse together and drive forward.

I strive for the day when riding the Dizz is light and effortless :cool::D
 
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Personally I find rowing a great all-rounder to help with my riding: it improves cardiovascular fitness (well, if you do it hard enough it does). It also develops muscles in the arms, the lats (long muscles running down eitherside of the back) as well as the inner-leg muscles. My 'emergency brakes' have become a long stronger on one of the school's rogue horses, and my lats are less tight after jump work now I've swapped onto rowing and cut down on my running (harsh on the knees - not good for riding at all).

Horse riding needs more muscular endurance than it does CV fitness by and large. Resistance training is the best way to do that (high reps with low weights if you want to be toned and strong without bulky muscle); lunges I find particularly good for my calves, squats for my thighs. There's some muscles though that nothing seem to work like horse riding does though - nothing but hours in the saddle will help them!
 
Fitness *sigh* I remember that. I used to be physically strong (did weights competitvely in my early 20's) and fairly CV fit (used to go jive dancing up to 3 times a week, could be 3 hours at a time) as well as riding fit (not competitvely, but rode my own horse several times a week). I was always out riding, at the yard, down the gym, dancing, doing something.

Then a lot of thing happened in my life and it all changed. I met a partner, moved area, got breast cancer. Spent 9 months not doing much at all. Horse was back in old area looked after by sharer, then he had leg problems and had to be semi-retired.

So now I struggle, lack of fitness means lack of energy, it is very difficult to make the time/effort to do things. Also with the 2/2.5 st I put on going through treatment (although I have lost some now). I'm having to travel more for work, which doesn't help. I don't have the network of friends to go and do things with here.

So now I have my horse back, and just potter, on steady hacks, on a horse that can only manage about as much as I can. He's lost muscle on his top-line, but I can't do any more with him. So neither of us are fit!! But happy with each other. I would like to do more, so now the nights are getting darker, I'll be joining the gym and trying to get a bit fitter for next year.
 
Chavhorse said:
Interesting thread Mrs M.

Had this discussion with my trainers daughter who is in the process of finishing her professional examinations to allow her to be qualifed to teach riding. She is also near to finsihing her qualifications to teach Yoga and Pilates and she is already an instructor in Thai Boxing.

Her feeling is that we expect our horses to be athletes to enable them to work at the right levels but we tend not to think that we as riders also need to be fit with a strong core to help them out.

She is intending to offer an all round service, training the rider and horse in ground and ridden work but also offering the riders a fitness programme written for them and their current level of fitness, and giving Yoga, Pilates, Thai Boxing Classes for riders which concentrate on getting the correct muscles for riding.

She is finished in December and has written a test programme and I am going to be her crash test Dummy.

I personally think it is a great idea wonder what you all think?
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Sounds awesome, can she move to wales? :)

I`m fit depending what i`m doing, I can hacks for 4+ hours easy, 30 mins of jumping on a green horse or a stubborn CB kills me:D
10 minutes of schooling Ayla kills me, she falls out through the shoulder and getting her in a straight line takes everything out of me!:o
 
MrsMozart said:
Interesting EE :)

We have a couple of rowing machines, and ski machine, and a sit up thingy..., but I can't use any of them at the moment.

Would steps ups using the bottom stair do any good?
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For CV fitness,anything will help just make sur you do it every day(or at elast most) and step it up a bit(no pun intended :p ) when it starts getting easy.
Good overall muscle strenght and flexability is a cracking starting point,but IMO th eonly way to get the muscles you need to ride well into shape is to ride....lots.
 
Chavhorse said:
Interesting thread Mrs M.

Had this discussion with my trainers daughter who is in the process of finishing her professional examinations to allow her to be qualifed to teach riding. She is also near to finsihing her qualifications to teach Yoga and Pilates and she is already an instructor in Thai Boxing.

Her feeling is that we expect our horses to be athletes to enable them to work at the right levels but we tend not to think that we as riders also need to be fit with a strong core to help them out.

She is intending to offer an all round service, training the rider and horse in ground and ridden work but also offering the riders a fitness programme written for them and their current level of fitness, and giving Yoga, Pilates, Thai Boxing Classes for riders which concentrate on getting the correct muscles for riding.

She is finished in December and has written a test programme and I am going to be her crash test Dummy.

I personally think it is a great idea wonder what you all think?
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That is a wonderfull idea and I wish your friend all the luck in the world getting ti off the ground!
Gym trainers here are pretty clueless,they can advise very well on what will help you for football/tennis ect,but ask for a programe to help with riding and they don't know where to start LOL!
 
I don't think you need to be mega fit to enjoy riding. But being fitter makes it, imho more enjoyable and far easier! I only starting a running prog 6 weeks ago, and when I did an ODE one month in, getting round the xc was just so much easier, I really wasn't tired at all - which made a nice change so my usual puffed out self! :)
 
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