Rider Fitness is All About the Horse

January 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment
TCH_Horse_Rider_Sunset_We are horse riders.
Call us what you will. We are passionate, persistent, perceptive, obsessed, perhaps a bit mad… We think about our horses first thing when we wake up in the morning, and last thing before we fall asleep.
 
We spend thousands of dollars on boarding, care and vet bills, hundreds on shoes that have to be replaced every 5-6 weeks, thousands on riding lessons and training, and we find hundreds of details to think and worry about in ensuring our horses’ comfort and safety. We work ourselves to exhaustion sometimes to master the skills needed to work with these amazing creatures. In the end what we have paid for in money, time and energy boils down to the emotional experience we have when we watch, ride, and interact with our horses. We certainly aren’t in it for the money, or glamour, or fame (most of us, anyway).
 
Yet, often times as we progress in our chosen riding discipline, what starts out as a pure and joyous wonder and delight in this amazing creature gets twisted and warped into something far less joyous – for both us and the horse. Lessons may become a struggle against the horse instead of a partnership with the horse. We may struggle against our own physical inadequacies, asking our horses to carry us around against tension and crookedness in our own bodies. Our horses may become sore, sour, or even develop injuries from compensating for the physical constraints we riders are asking them to work through.
 
What if we could turn that around? What if, instead of feeling hopeless that we will never quite “get it” when we ride, we could actually start to change our bodies off the horse in a way that makes them work more harmoniously on the horse? What if we could make our horse’s job more comfortable and enjoyable, and get back the sense of joy we once had?
 
Unfortunately for us, there are three realities that work against us:
  • First, just riding does not make us the best riders we can be. Regular riding certainly makes us better riders, but eventually our bodies develop ingrained patterns and habits that we become unaware of, and our innate crookedness becomes habitual if we aren’t actively addressing it off the horse.
  • Second, there is no other sport that has the same physical requirements as riding, so even if we do exercise regularly – whether on our own or with a fitness coach – we may be over-strengthening muscles that actually prevent us from riding our best. Or, we may be unaware of tension building up in the joints that must move freely for a safe and comfortable ride – for both rider and horse!
  • Third, at the end of the day many of us have a choice: go to the gym, or go see the horse? For we horse riders, that choice is more often than not a “no-brainer”!

Most riders struggle with similar issues:

  • Difficulty staying with the horse (getting left behind or leaning forward)
  • Sitting the trot (and/or riding bigger gaits)
  • Natural crookedness and one-sidedness
  • Tension in neck, shoulders, back, hips or legs
  • Back or neck pain
  • Old injuries leaving joints less flexible
  • Loss of confidence

Even professional riders who ride many horses a day and “natural” riders whose bodies just seem to naturally move with the horse in the right way may experience injuries over time that leave lasting impacts on their ability to move fully with the horse.  Age and injuries become insurmountable challenges, and can result in loss of riding time, loss of income and potentially end riding careers.

A regular and consistent rider-specific fitness program can address and improve all of these challenges by increasing range of motion, reducing riding-related pain, and improving stability on the horse, which will translate to greater confidence and relaxation while mounted. All of these things will also translate into more relaxed and confident horses. And, a fitness program we can do at the barn in our riding clothes takes away the choice between caring for our bodies or caring for our horses’ – we can do both at once!

Because in the end, it all comes back to the horse. Are you doing everything you can with your own body to help keep your horse’s body healthy and sound into old age? If not, consider giving the Ridefit program a try. Your horse deserves it, and so do you!

Filed Under: Better Riding, Fitness for Riders, Riding Philosophy

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