Get in the saddle of fitness and unleash your inner rider with targeted exercises to improve strength, balance, and flexibility.
How To Improve Your Fitness To Improve Your Riding We, equestrians, are athletes just like in any other sport and whichever discipline we ride, our fitness is as important as the fitness and performance of our horses. When both the horse and the rider are equally fit, this enables them to achieve their goals easier as the rider will have more stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility in the saddle to be the perfect partner for the horse. It is known that many professional riders have professional fitness programs besides riding programs to improve their riding by improving their general performance. Furthermore, having a regular fitness program helps riders to stay always in show shape even when they cannot practice enough on a horse. Where to start and how to get in great shape? We will answer these in this blog! 1. Identify Your Needs Before starting to make a fitness plan, identifying your needs will help you the most. Depending on the discipline you ride and the current performance of your body, you should define your weaker points are focus on them to have a balanced shape. To ride better any rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility besides suppleness and stability. Starting from your posture, you should focus on your core, hips mobility, back muscles, legs, and arms. If you have a professional trainer, you can discuss your deficiencies with them or consult an equestrian fitness tutor and identify what you need to improve. In addition, you should consider your future riding goals when identifying your needs for the best improvement. 2. Make Plans and Make Time After deciding what you need to improve specifically, you can make your workout plans. If you have the opportunity, finding a fitness tutor is always the best choice. If not, you can try to set your own plans according to your needs. Daily, weekly, monthly online workout plans can help you to have a regular schedule. Don’t ever forget that you should do your workout on a regular basis. Therefore, if you think you don’t have enough time, you should reconsider your daily life and try to make some extra time for your fitness workouts. Doing a basic workout regularly is always better than working harder all at once. 3. How to Improve Your Fitness Whether dressage, or jumping, or eventing, or just pleasure riding, a rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, flexibility, and stability. To improve these, you should start with improving your back, core, hips, arms, and legs. Remember that the human body works as an entire unit and everything is connected to each other. Improving only one part won’t be helpful if you don’t improve the other parts as well. Here is how you can improve each part: improve your back: Improving the condition of your spine and back muscles helps you to have a better seat and a better balance in the saddle. It is also vital for the correct posture of “ear-shoulder-hip-heel” that we all are taught at first. To have a better back and spine condition, you should learn to neutralize your spine and strengthen the muscles around the spine. We have some simple exercises that you can try: - Lie on your back with your head on the floor, pull one knee back to chest and hold for several seconds then repeat with the other knee. - Start on all fours, stretch out your right arm and left leg concurrently, keep back and neck straight. Hold for several seconds and repeat with opposite limbs. - Lie back on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep the shoulders firmly on the floor, gently roll both bent knees over to one side. Hold the position for 5–10 seconds. improve your core: You may have already heard many riders and trainers talking about “core strength” for better riding. A strong core is important in all the disciplines but it is more important for dressage riders as they must ride sitting trot and canter. Combined with a strong back, the core helps you absorb the shock that horse creates when trotting or cantering and helps you sit well-balanced in the saddle. You can try these exercises to improve your core: - Start with knees bent up and feet flat on the floor like you are about to do a sit-up. Lift head and shoulders off the floor, bring knees in. Put feet back on the floor as you lower head to the floor again. - Raise your legs to about 45 degrees from the floor. Bend one knee while keeping the other straight. At the same time, lift your shoulders and head off the ground while twisting to touch your opposite elbow to your knee. - Hold legs at about 45 degrees to the floor and lift arms and upper body off the floor. The more directly above shoulders you place arms, the heavier they will be and the harder the exercise will be. improve your hip mobility: Having an independent seat is quite helpful for both the rider and the horse in many ways. Strong and mobilized hips in the saddle help the horse to move more freely and the rider to use their aids in a well-balanced way. You can try the following exercises to improve the mobility of your hips. - Take a seat on the ground, bring one knee out in front bent with the other leg bent in behind you. Tuck in the front heel to groan and lengthen the back leg. Fall forward over right shin and rest hands or forehead on the ground. - Spread feet wider than hips and turn toes out slightly. Lower towards the ground, keeping knees apart and aligned with toes. Use elbows against inner knees to push knees apart and help balance. The feet should remain flat on the floor. Breathe into the lower belly and with each out-breath, let go in the thighs, spine, and shoulders. - With feet more than hip-width apart, fold forward by pushing hips back, allowing knees to bend, but keep tailbone lifted. Arms reach forward, keep equal weight on both feet and ribs connected in the front. Breathe into the back of ribs then allow the body to hang with arms and head relaxed down. improve your legs: Our legs are the communication lines between our brain and our horse’s brain. Having strong and flexible leg muscles means having better communication with the horse. Also, the better you use your legs, the better you use the aids and leg pressure. To improve your leg strength you can try these exercises: - Lie on your side feet flat on the ground, press into heels and have your feet parallel. Begin by lifting the top leg off the bottom and lowering it if back down again. Repeat with the other leg. - Stand on the edge of a step with your heels hanging over the edge. Lightly rest one hand on the wall or railing if necessary to maintain your balance. Then, keeping your back straight, flex your ankles to allow your heels to drop below the level of the step. - Start with heels underneath knees and simply lift hips up by squeezing bottom and lower back down again. Bring in more stability by crossing hands over the chest. improve your arms and posture: Hands, elbows, and shoulders create the right posture you need on a horse. Having the correct posture ensures your balance and communication with the horse. To have a better posture and improve the strength of your arms, you can try these exercises: - Standing on the ground lift some weights (can be any weight, doesn’t have to be too heavy) up to elbow height and externally rotate them out. Don’t let your back move. picture from RYDERWEAR - You can also do a push-up. Brace the core and push straight up and down. Aim for full range and keep elbows in by your ribs. - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bend right elbow to hip and hinge over to left from waist. Extend right arm overhead and to left, keeping shoulder down. Lower elbow to hip. Don’t forget that these are the example exercises that you can try anywhere to make a start. If you think these are not enough, you can get professional help and create a personalized fitness plan. As we mentioned above, you should define your needs and weaknesses to create a plan that uniquely targets your needs.
3 Rules to Maximize Time Off - Periods of downtime come as realistic parts of horse ownership, although how a rider uses these stretches of poor weather or busy schedules contributes profoundly to a horse’s long-term soundness and performance. Recent data from biomechanics researchers and veterinary schools shows that large vacillations in fitness can be detrimental to overall health, particularly for horses past their mid-teen years. Most notably, periods of lesser activity lasting over a month can weaken deep postural muscles and supporting soft tissue.
Back pain is an issue that can plague horse and human alike. Though back problems in the horse can be difficult to assess and get a handle on at times, new and ongoing research is lending itself to a better understanding of equine back pain and what we might be able to do to help prevent it.
How To Improve Your Fitness To Improve Your Riding We, equestrians, are athletes just like in any other sport and whichever discipline we ride, our fitness is as important as the fitness and performance of our horses. When both the horse and the rider are equally fit, this enables them to achieve their goals easier as the rider will have more stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility in the saddle to be the perfect partner for the horse. It is known that many professional riders have professional fitness programs besides riding programs to improve their riding by improving their general performance. Furthermore, having a regular fitness program helps riders to stay always in show shape even when they cannot practice enough on a horse. Where to start and how to get in great shape? We will answer these in this blog! 1. Identify Your Needs Before starting to make a fitness plan, identifying your needs will help you the most. Depending on the discipline you ride and the current performance of your body, you should define your weaker points are focus on them to have a balanced shape. To ride better any rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility besides suppleness and stability. Starting from your posture, you should focus on your core, hips mobility, back muscles, legs, and arms. If you have a professional trainer, you can discuss your deficiencies with them or consult an equestrian fitness tutor and identify what you need to improve. In addition, you should consider your future riding goals when identifying your needs for the best improvement. 2. Make Plans and Make Time After deciding what you need to improve specifically, you can make your workout plans. If you have the opportunity, finding a fitness tutor is always the best choice. If not, you can try to set your own plans according to your needs. Daily, weekly, monthly online workout plans can help you to have a regular schedule. Don’t ever forget that you should do your workout on a regular basis. Therefore, if you think you don’t have enough time, you should reconsider your daily life and try to make some extra time for your fitness workouts. Doing a basic workout regularly is always better than working harder all at once. 3. How to Improve Your Fitness Whether dressage, or jumping, or eventing, or just pleasure riding, a rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, flexibility, and stability. To improve these, you should start with improving your back, core, hips, arms, and legs. Remember that the human body works as an entire unit and everything is connected to each other. Improving only one part won’t be helpful if you don’t improve the other parts as well. Here is how you can improve each part: improve your back: Improving the condition of your spine and back muscles helps you to have a better seat and a better balance in the saddle. It is also vital for the correct posture of “ear-shoulder-hip-heel” that we all are taught at first. To have a better back and spine condition, you should learn to neutralize your spine and strengthen the muscles around the spine. We have some simple exercises that you can try: - Lie on your back with your head on the floor, pull one knee back to chest and hold for several seconds then repeat with the other knee. - Start on all fours, stretch out your right arm and left leg concurrently, keep back and neck straight. Hold for several seconds and repeat with opposite limbs. - Lie back on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep the shoulders firmly on the floor, gently roll both bent knees over to one side. Hold the position for 5–10 seconds. improve your core: You may have already heard many riders and trainers talking about “core strength” for better riding. A strong core is important in all the disciplines but it is more important for dressage riders as they must ride sitting trot and canter. Combined with a strong back, the core helps you absorb the shock that horse creates when trotting or cantering and helps you sit well-balanced in the saddle. You can try these exercises to improve your core: - Start with knees bent up and feet flat on the floor like you are about to do a sit-up. Lift head and shoulders off the floor, bring knees in. Put feet back on the floor as you lower head to the floor again. - Raise your legs to about 45 degrees from the floor. Bend one knee while keeping the other straight. At the same time, lift your shoulders and head off the ground while twisting to touch your opposite elbow to your knee. - Hold legs at about 45 degrees to the floor and lift arms and upper body off the floor. The more directly above shoulders you place arms, the heavier they will be and the harder the exercise will be. improve your hip mobility: Having an independent seat is quite helpful for both the rider and the horse in many ways. Strong and mobilized hips in the saddle help the horse to move more freely and the rider to use their aids in a well-balanced way. You can try the following exercises to improve the mobility of your hips. - Take a seat on the ground, bring one knee out in front bent with the other leg bent in behind you. Tuck in the front heel to groan and lengthen the back leg. Fall forward over right shin and rest hands or forehead on the ground. - Spread feet wider than hips and turn toes out slightly. Lower towards the ground, keeping knees apart and aligned with toes. Use elbows against inner knees to push knees apart and help balance. The feet should remain flat on the floor. Breathe into the lower belly and with each out-breath, let go in the thighs, spine, and shoulders. - With feet more than hip-width apart, fold forward by pushing hips back, allowing knees to bend, but keep tailbone lifted. Arms reach forward, keep equal weight on both feet and ribs connected in the front. Breathe into the back of ribs then allow the body to hang with arms and head relaxed down. improve your legs: Our legs are the communication lines between our brain and our horse’s brain. Having strong and flexible leg muscles means having better communication with the horse. Also, the better you use your legs, the better you use the aids and leg pressure. To improve your leg strength you can try these exercises: - Lie on your side feet flat on the ground, press into heels and have your feet parallel. Begin by lifting the top leg off the bottom and lowering it if back down again. Repeat with the other leg. - Stand on the edge of a step with your heels hanging over the edge. Lightly rest one hand on the wall or railing if necessary to maintain your balance. Then, keeping your back straight, flex your ankles to allow your heels to drop below the level of the step. - Start with heels underneath knees and simply lift hips up by squeezing bottom and lower back down again. Bring in more stability by crossing hands over the chest. improve your arms and posture: Hands, elbows, and shoulders create the right posture you need on a horse. Having the correct posture ensures your balance and communication with the horse. To have a better posture and improve the strength of your arms, you can try these exercises: - Standing on the ground lift some weights (can be any weight, doesn’t have to be too heavy) up to elbow height and externally rotate them out. Don’t let your back move. picture from RYDERWEAR - You can also do a push-up. Brace the core and push straight up and down. Aim for full range and keep elbows in by your ribs. - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bend right elbow to hip and hinge over to left from waist. Extend right arm overhead and to left, keeping shoulder down. Lower elbow to hip. Don’t forget that these are the example exercises that you can try anywhere to make a start. If you think these are not enough, you can get professional help and create a personalized fitness plan. As we mentioned above, you should define your needs and weaknesses to create a plan that uniquely targets your needs.
At some point, most riders have wished for something like a magic pill, a solution that will instantly alleviate nagging training issues. Since that is impossible, the next best thing is an arsenal of arena routines whose execution will improve your horse. The exercises in this article will give you a looser, more balanced horse, and will create engagement without excessive effort.
How To Improve Your Fitness To Improve Your Riding We, equestrians, are athletes just like in any other sport and whichever discipline we ride, our fitness is as important as the fitness and performance of our horses. When both the horse and the rider are equally fit, this enables them to achieve their goals easier as the rider will have more stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility in the saddle to be the perfect partner for the horse. It is known that many professional riders have professional fitness programs besides riding programs to improve their riding by improving their general performance. Furthermore, having a regular fitness program helps riders to stay always in show shape even when they cannot practice enough on a horse. Where to start and how to get in great shape? We will answer these in this blog! 1. Identify Your Needs Before starting to make a fitness plan, identifying your needs will help you the most. Depending on the discipline you ride and the current performance of your body, you should define your weaker points are focus on them to have a balanced shape. To ride better any rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility besides suppleness and stability. Starting from your posture, you should focus on your core, hips mobility, back muscles, legs, and arms. If you have a professional trainer, you can discuss your deficiencies with them or consult an equestrian fitness tutor and identify what you need to improve. In addition, you should consider your future riding goals when identifying your needs for the best improvement. 2. Make Plans and Make Time After deciding what you need to improve specifically, you can make your workout plans. If you have the opportunity, finding a fitness tutor is always the best choice. If not, you can try to set your own plans according to your needs. Daily, weekly, monthly online workout plans can help you to have a regular schedule. Don’t ever forget that you should do your workout on a regular basis. Therefore, if you think you don’t have enough time, you should reconsider your daily life and try to make some extra time for your fitness workouts. Doing a basic workout regularly is always better than working harder all at once. 3. How to Improve Your Fitness Whether dressage, or jumping, or eventing, or just pleasure riding, a rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, flexibility, and stability. To improve these, you should start with improving your back, core, hips, arms, and legs. Remember that the human body works as an entire unit and everything is connected to each other. Improving only one part won’t be helpful if you don’t improve the other parts as well. Here is how you can improve each part: improve your back: Improving the condition of your spine and back muscles helps you to have a better seat and a better balance in the saddle. It is also vital for the correct posture of “ear-shoulder-hip-heel” that we all are taught at first. To have a better back and spine condition, you should learn to neutralize your spine and strengthen the muscles around the spine. We have some simple exercises that you can try: - Lie on your back with your head on the floor, pull one knee back to chest and hold for several seconds then repeat with the other knee. - Start on all fours, stretch out your right arm and left leg concurrently, keep back and neck straight. Hold for several seconds and repeat with opposite limbs. - Lie back on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep the shoulders firmly on the floor, gently roll both bent knees over to one side. Hold the position for 5–10 seconds. improve your core: You may have already heard many riders and trainers talking about “core strength” for better riding. A strong core is important in all the disciplines but it is more important for dressage riders as they must ride sitting trot and canter. Combined with a strong back, the core helps you absorb the shock that horse creates when trotting or cantering and helps you sit well-balanced in the saddle. You can try these exercises to improve your core: - Start with knees bent up and feet flat on the floor like you are about to do a sit-up. Lift head and shoulders off the floor, bring knees in. Put feet back on the floor as you lower head to the floor again. - Raise your legs to about 45 degrees from the floor. Bend one knee while keeping the other straight. At the same time, lift your shoulders and head off the ground while twisting to touch your opposite elbow to your knee. - Hold legs at about 45 degrees to the floor and lift arms and upper body off the floor. The more directly above shoulders you place arms, the heavier they will be and the harder the exercise will be. improve your hip mobility: Having an independent seat is quite helpful for both the rider and the horse in many ways. Strong and mobilized hips in the saddle help the horse to move more freely and the rider to use their aids in a well-balanced way. You can try the following exercises to improve the mobility of your hips. - Take a seat on the ground, bring one knee out in front bent with the other leg bent in behind you. Tuck in the front heel to groan and lengthen the back leg. Fall forward over right shin and rest hands or forehead on the ground. - Spread feet wider than hips and turn toes out slightly. Lower towards the ground, keeping knees apart and aligned with toes. Use elbows against inner knees to push knees apart and help balance. The feet should remain flat on the floor. Breathe into the lower belly and with each out-breath, let go in the thighs, spine, and shoulders. - With feet more than hip-width apart, fold forward by pushing hips back, allowing knees to bend, but keep tailbone lifted. Arms reach forward, keep equal weight on both feet and ribs connected in the front. Breathe into the back of ribs then allow the body to hang with arms and head relaxed down. improve your legs: Our legs are the communication lines between our brain and our horse’s brain. Having strong and flexible leg muscles means having better communication with the horse. Also, the better you use your legs, the better you use the aids and leg pressure. To improve your leg strength you can try these exercises: - Lie on your side feet flat on the ground, press into heels and have your feet parallel. Begin by lifting the top leg off the bottom and lowering it if back down again. Repeat with the other leg. - Stand on the edge of a step with your heels hanging over the edge. Lightly rest one hand on the wall or railing if necessary to maintain your balance. Then, keeping your back straight, flex your ankles to allow your heels to drop below the level of the step. - Start with heels underneath knees and simply lift hips up by squeezing bottom and lower back down again. Bring in more stability by crossing hands over the chest. improve your arms and posture: Hands, elbows, and shoulders create the right posture you need on a horse. Having the correct posture ensures your balance and communication with the horse. To have a better posture and improve the strength of your arms, you can try these exercises: - Standing on the ground lift some weights (can be any weight, doesn’t have to be too heavy) up to elbow height and externally rotate them out. Don’t let your back move. picture from RYDERWEAR - You can also do a push-up. Brace the core and push straight up and down. Aim for full range and keep elbows in by your ribs. - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bend right elbow to hip and hinge over to left from waist. Extend right arm overhead and to left, keeping shoulder down. Lower elbow to hip. Don’t forget that these are the example exercises that you can try anywhere to make a start. If you think these are not enough, you can get professional help and create a personalized fitness plan. As we mentioned above, you should define your needs and weaknesses to create a plan that uniquely targets your needs.
Developing your "feel" and oneness with your horse means improving your balance. Here are the 4 tips to improve your balance on horseback.
“The abdominal muscles keep the upper and lower body connected,” explains Brant. “If there is a weak link, it will be harder to keep the chest and shoulders steady and the legs from moving incorrectly and potentially miscuing the horse.”
Core strengthening and rounding exercices can benefit your horse both following injury and as a regular part of his conditioning program. Here, London,
Who needs a fancy horse-riding simulator when you have an exercise ball? Our detailed guide provides essential exercises to develop your riding posture, balance, flexibility, and stability. Master unbeatable skills without even stepping into a stable!
By Izzy Feinstein Just as you perform exercises with your horse such as grid exercises and trot poles to help them build up their strength, it is just as important to build up your own strength and stamina by exercising in and out of the saddle! Here are some exercises that will help you get […]
Whether it's an art or a science, determining proper saddle fit it a learned skill, and it's extremely important for the horse and the rider.
Improve your horse riding fitness, no matter what equestrain discipline you do. Here are specific equestrian workouts & stretches.
Why is my horse lame? Why does he keep stumbling? Why does he seem to trip over his own feet? The horse suffering from back pain or injuries can exhibit symptomatic lameness, which can also manifest as behaviour issues including stubbornness or resistance. When the horse is displaying symptoms of lameness and logical treatments are not working, the horse’s owner may turn to injections, anti-inflammatory creams, or chiropractic adjustments at the sacroiliac joint.
A horse is only as good as the rider who pilots him. If you aren’t physically prepared to be the best pilot you can be, your horse can’t reach his full potential. Learn how to be equestrian fit.
7 Exercises To Make Your Horse Fit and Strong Whichever discipline you ride, the fitness of the horse and the rider are equally important. If you want your horse to be athletic and perform better, you need to make sure that he is well exercised focusing on all the parts of his body. Focusing on only certain muscles is a wrong approach as the horse needs all his muscles to work in perfect harmony in any equestrian discipline. As Equestroom Team, we have compiled some exercises that you can try to improve the fitness of your horse and make him really athletic: Lunging When the horse is really out of shape, starting with the lunge can be a good idea. Lunging improves the back muscles that go under the saddle. If the horse has been in a bad condition, taking things easy and giving him walk breaks in the lunge will help him relax and continue better. To get a higher benefit from lunging, you can add some poles and obstacles in different combinations. Also, adding an elastane band tied behind his hind legs can help him improve the topline. However, you shouldn’t lunge your horse every day. Experts advise lunging only 2-3 times a week and keeping it less than 30 minutes. Stretching The Neck A study carried out by N.C. Stubbs, L.J. Kaiser, J. Hauptman, and H.M. Clayton in 2011 showed that it is important to exercise and stretch different muscles of the horse while unmounted. All you need to stretch your horse’s stiff muscles is a treat that he likes. The aim is basic: make him follow the treat in different directions with his nose. If the horse tends to follow the treat by moving his whole body, you can get help from someone to block his movement. Here are some directions that you can try to stretch the neck: muzzle to the chest, muzzle to the front legs (knees), muzzle between the front legs… Riding Uphill & Downhill Riding uphill is a great way to exercise your horse’s back and hind end. The hind legs provide a great amount of power especially when you are jumping or riding several dressage movements like canter pirouette. When you make your horse walk uphill, he has to use the hind legs to push himself up. Riding downhill, on the other hand, helps the horse build a stronger front end. When you walk your horse downhill, he has to carry most of his weight on the front legs and balance himself. Make sure to sit in a stable position in the saddle and start with mildly steep hills. Try to ride both up and down and see if your horse can walk both easily. When you think that your horse can handle steep hills, you can gradually change the level. (Don’t forget that you should pick a hill with the proper firm footing.) Interval Training Also known as gallop sets, interval training is based on short rides that work the horse harder. The interval training intersperses short bursts of high-intensity work in canter followed by a period of rest in trot and walk. This exercise is preferred by eventers as it brings the heartbeat to a peak and brings it down slowly but it can be beneficial for any horse. If your horse is fit, you can try 10 minutes of walk - 10 minutes of trot - 10 minutes of canter. Then slow down by following the pattern vice versa. If the horse isn’t fit enough and hasn’t been getting regular exercise, you can shorten the trot and canter. Don’t forget that you don’t need to push your horse to run faster in the canter. Just make sure that his canter is in a good rhythm. Pole Work Doing pole work with different patterns forces the horse to pay closer attention to his strides. Adjusting and re-adjusting the stride length will make him both mentally and physically stronger. You can create your own pole work pattern where the poles are closer and further from each other. Besides, you can add trot poles into the pattern to make the work a bit harder. There are many examples of pole work exercises that you can find online and try with your horse. As you get through the simple patterns, you can try complicated ones. Trail Rides and Hacking Taking your horse to a long trail ride is the best and boredom-free way to improve his fitness. The variety of the terrain and endurance aspects of the trail will require him to use more muscles. Starting with a walk and trying some trot and canter in different parts of the trail and doing it on a regular basis will make a great difference on the condition of your horse. Depending on his fitness level you can make him canter and even gallop faster in the fresh air to get his blood pumped. Try Different Grounds Riding your horse on different grounds is a good way to work his muscles. Depending on the solidity of the ground, the horse needs to use more or fewer muscles to carry his weight. Walking on sand, different terrains, grass, on a road (if safe enough), and in water will make your horse fitter on each ground. Especially walking, trotting, and even cantering in the water can be added to the regular exercise routine as it helps build stronger leg muscles and tendons. If your horse had an injury or another health problem, you should consult your veterinarian about the way you pick the exercises. Don't forget that each horse is unique and not all of them respond the same way to the same exercising methods. We advise trying different ways and finding the one that works the best for your horse.
Knowing how to get your horse fit is key if you want to enjoy the forthcoming season as you'll then be confident your horse is fit for competition
Photography: @marylineverstraetenphotography 5 Tips To Improve Your Horse’s Fitness Regardless of the discipline you ride, your horse’s fitness is the essential element for success. Besides improving the under-saddle performance, fitness can provide a healthy and long life for our four-legged friends. If your horse has experienced an injury or hasn’t been exercising enough for some reason, you should start making plans to help him regain his fitness and stamina. Improving an equine’s fitness is like improving a human’s fitness and requires time, patience, and consistency. Once you are determined to make your horse stronger, you should take a look at the following tips! Modeling: @girlwiththebayandthegrey - Photography: @jbrogdon_equine_photo 1.) Before you start Before you start making any detailed fitness plan for your horse, there are several factors you should take into consideration: Age: The age of your horse has a massive impact on his performance. As a horse gets older, the peak of performance he can reach will surely go down. Make sure to make the fitness programs and set your expectations according to your horse’s age. Injury: Horses that have experienced an injury and had to be put back for some time can have a hard time regaining their power, especially in the injured area. When making the fitness program, pay attention to the previous injury your horse had and don’t push him too hard. Previous condition: If you know the previous condition of your horse before losing his stamina and fitness, you should consider that. Horses with a better shape in the past can improve faster. If you have hesitations about your horse’s current condition, please take your time to consult a veterinarian and get their opinion. 2.) Feeding Starting from the moment you take your horse out of his stall to make him workout, his body will need more nutrients for the working muscles. Overfeeding a horse without enough exercise will only cause gaining weight as fat, and you might mistake it with muscle development. A balanced diet prepared according to the fitness program will affect the performance and help the horse build stronger muscles. However, every horse is unique and requires a different food that will provide them the correct balance of nutrients. Make sure to talk with your veterinarian about the feeding and learn if you need to make changes with the changing condition of your horse. Modeling: @horse_glam - Photography: @shannensmythphotography 3.) Start with small sessions Any fitness program for a horse should start slowly with small sessions of walk and trot. Then, the distance or the speed of the sessions can be increased gradually, but increasing both at the same time is not recommended. Starting with longer walks and short trots, you can gradually increase the duration every week. After getting more power in the walk and trot, you can begin to canter in a short distance and increase the canter distance and speed at different sessions. Once your horse gets more confidence in the canter, you can move onto adding gallop into your workout. The speed and duration of each exercise should be specified for the horse’s condition. Modeling: @lieveberndsen_dressage - Photography: @susan_elbert_photography 4.) Track the workouts We highly recommend making a detailed fitness plan and tracking every detail to stay consistent, to be well-organized, and to see how much progress you make. You can keep a fitness journal and plan each session before you start. You can wear a watch and track the duration of the walk, trot, gallop. After each workout, you can also check your horse’s condition and heart rate by checking his pulse and note everything down in your fitness journal. Keeping notes of the fitness program will make everything easier to track, and you can check your horse’s previous condition when you plan the future. Modeling: @amber_steenackers - Photography: @paardenfotografie_helena_massa 5.) Learn the structure of riding With our busy lives, we rush to get into the saddle, and we want to start working our horses immediately. However, a proper session of workout for a horse should include different steps: Pre-riding: After grooming the horse, you should consider making him stretch his muscle and gain more flexibility before the workout. This can be viewed as a pre-warmup. Once you are done with the grooming and saddling up, you can take a carrot or an apple and make your horse stretch his neck towards the treat in different directions. Modeling: @eliseedeceuninck - Photography: @marylineverstraetenphotography Warmup: A good warmup is proven to be beneficial for any sport. After stretching the muscles and mounting, you should warm up your horse in 10-15 minutes. The warmup can be walking and trotting your horse in an open area by starting slowly and increasing the speed. Warming up before the real workout increases the heart rate, and with the changing blood distribution, the muscles can start working in a better condition. Modeling: @the_little_equestrian Workout: The warmup will merge with the main exercise after 10-15 minutes, where you will be doing the main fitness exercises to improve the strength and stamina. Depending on your horse’s current fitness level, the discipline you ride, and the lessons you have, the workout can vary from a hill work to a jumping session or a dressage training. If you are planning to improve the fitness of your horse but not sure of which exercise you can try, we recommend taking a look at our blog about Exercises To Make Your Horse Stronger. Modeling: @lieveberndsen_dressage - Photography: @susan_elbert_photography Cooldown: During the warmup and the workout, the body heat and the heart rate increases gradually and should be progressively reduced again. When you complete the daily exercise, you can let your horse slowly cool down by decreasing the intensity and the speed of the activity. This way, the heart rate will slowly go to normal, and the body heat will decrease gradually. The cooldown can be regarded as a reverse of the warmup. Modeling: @astrid_rombaut - Photography: @paardenfotografie_helena_massa After riding: After all the workout, the horse needs to lose the body heat and relax the muscles before he can return to the stall or the pasture. Practicing cooldown helps to lose the body heat quickly and gradually, but in hot weather, it is harder for the horse to cool down all his muscles. When you dismount, check your horse’s breathe and pulse if possible. If he is panting, you can apply cold water to help him cool down and relax faster. Also, you can consider re-doing the pre-ride stretches. Remember that every horse is unique; they need a different amount of time and effort from their riders to stay fit and progress. If you are willing to make your horse stronger and to spend more years with him on the tracks, you should pay close attention to his health and condition. Losing the condition once will cause you more time and effort to bring him back to shape. Make sure to exercise your horse on a regular basis and enjoy each workout together! Modeling: @girlwiththebayandthegrey - Photography: @jbrogdon_equine_photo
How To Improve Your Fitness To Improve Your Riding We, equestrians, are athletes just like in any other sport and whichever discipline we ride, our fitness is as important as the fitness and performance of our horses. When both the horse and the rider are equally fit, this enables them to achieve their goals easier as the rider will have more stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility in the saddle to be the perfect partner for the horse. It is known that many professional riders have professional fitness programs besides riding programs to improve their riding by improving their general performance. Furthermore, having a regular fitness program helps riders to stay always in show shape even when they cannot practice enough on a horse. Where to start and how to get in great shape? We will answer these in this blog! 1. Identify Your Needs Before starting to make a fitness plan, identifying your needs will help you the most. Depending on the discipline you ride and the current performance of your body, you should define your weaker points are focus on them to have a balanced shape. To ride better any rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility besides suppleness and stability. Starting from your posture, you should focus on your core, hips mobility, back muscles, legs, and arms. If you have a professional trainer, you can discuss your deficiencies with them or consult an equestrian fitness tutor and identify what you need to improve. In addition, you should consider your future riding goals when identifying your needs for the best improvement. 2. Make Plans and Make Time After deciding what you need to improve specifically, you can make your workout plans. If you have the opportunity, finding a fitness tutor is always the best choice. If not, you can try to set your own plans according to your needs. Daily, weekly, monthly online workout plans can help you to have a regular schedule. Don’t ever forget that you should do your workout on a regular basis. Therefore, if you think you don’t have enough time, you should reconsider your daily life and try to make some extra time for your fitness workouts. Doing a basic workout regularly is always better than working harder all at once. 3. How to Improve Your Fitness Whether dressage, or jumping, or eventing, or just pleasure riding, a rider needs stamina, endurance, strength, flexibility, and stability. To improve these, you should start with improving your back, core, hips, arms, and legs. Remember that the human body works as an entire unit and everything is connected to each other. Improving only one part won’t be helpful if you don’t improve the other parts as well. Here is how you can improve each part: improve your back: Improving the condition of your spine and back muscles helps you to have a better seat and a better balance in the saddle. It is also vital for the correct posture of “ear-shoulder-hip-heel” that we all are taught at first. To have a better back and spine condition, you should learn to neutralize your spine and strengthen the muscles around the spine. We have some simple exercises that you can try: - Lie on your back with your head on the floor, pull one knee back to chest and hold for several seconds then repeat with the other knee. - Start on all fours, stretch out your right arm and left leg concurrently, keep back and neck straight. Hold for several seconds and repeat with opposite limbs. - Lie back on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep the shoulders firmly on the floor, gently roll both bent knees over to one side. Hold the position for 5–10 seconds. improve your core: You may have already heard many riders and trainers talking about “core strength” for better riding. A strong core is important in all the disciplines but it is more important for dressage riders as they must ride sitting trot and canter. Combined with a strong back, the core helps you absorb the shock that horse creates when trotting or cantering and helps you sit well-balanced in the saddle. You can try these exercises to improve your core: - Start with knees bent up and feet flat on the floor like you are about to do a sit-up. Lift head and shoulders off the floor, bring knees in. Put feet back on the floor as you lower head to the floor again. - Raise your legs to about 45 degrees from the floor. Bend one knee while keeping the other straight. At the same time, lift your shoulders and head off the ground while twisting to touch your opposite elbow to your knee. - Hold legs at about 45 degrees to the floor and lift arms and upper body off the floor. The more directly above shoulders you place arms, the heavier they will be and the harder the exercise will be. improve your hip mobility: Having an independent seat is quite helpful for both the rider and the horse in many ways. Strong and mobilized hips in the saddle help the horse to move more freely and the rider to use their aids in a well-balanced way. You can try the following exercises to improve the mobility of your hips. - Take a seat on the ground, bring one knee out in front bent with the other leg bent in behind you. Tuck in the front heel to groan and lengthen the back leg. Fall forward over right shin and rest hands or forehead on the ground. - Spread feet wider than hips and turn toes out slightly. Lower towards the ground, keeping knees apart and aligned with toes. Use elbows against inner knees to push knees apart and help balance. The feet should remain flat on the floor. Breathe into the lower belly and with each out-breath, let go in the thighs, spine, and shoulders. - With feet more than hip-width apart, fold forward by pushing hips back, allowing knees to bend, but keep tailbone lifted. Arms reach forward, keep equal weight on both feet and ribs connected in the front. Breathe into the back of ribs then allow the body to hang with arms and head relaxed down. improve your legs: Our legs are the communication lines between our brain and our horse’s brain. Having strong and flexible leg muscles means having better communication with the horse. Also, the better you use your legs, the better you use the aids and leg pressure. To improve your leg strength you can try these exercises: - Lie on your side feet flat on the ground, press into heels and have your feet parallel. Begin by lifting the top leg off the bottom and lowering it if back down again. Repeat with the other leg. - Stand on the edge of a step with your heels hanging over the edge. Lightly rest one hand on the wall or railing if necessary to maintain your balance. Then, keeping your back straight, flex your ankles to allow your heels to drop below the level of the step. - Start with heels underneath knees and simply lift hips up by squeezing bottom and lower back down again. Bring in more stability by crossing hands over the chest. improve your arms and posture: Hands, elbows, and shoulders create the right posture you need on a horse. Having the correct posture ensures your balance and communication with the horse. To have a better posture and improve the strength of your arms, you can try these exercises: - Standing on the ground lift some weights (can be any weight, doesn’t have to be too heavy) up to elbow height and externally rotate them out. Don’t let your back move. picture from RYDERWEAR - You can also do a push-up. Brace the core and push straight up and down. Aim for full range and keep elbows in by your ribs. - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bend right elbow to hip and hinge over to left from waist. Extend right arm overhead and to left, keeping shoulder down. Lower elbow to hip. Don’t forget that these are the example exercises that you can try anywhere to make a start. If you think these are not enough, you can get professional help and create a personalized fitness plan. As we mentioned above, you should define your needs and weaknesses to create a plan that uniquely targets your needs.
Horse blog all about horses, horseback riding, horse care, horse ownership & more!
“How do I know when my horse’s feet need to be trimmed?” This question has been posed to everyone who trims the feet of horses. As a service provider, I can attest that there are a number of answers to that question – and all of them are correct.
Therapy horses are heroes, having the gift to improve lives physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively. Part of my job at Equest, a 40-year-old therapeutic riding center in Dallas, is to assess horses and see if…
Game changing books that will level-up your riding, transform how you communicate with your horse, and change your view your role in the equine world.
Horse blog all about horses, horseback riding, horse care, horse ownership & more!
Belly lifts are beneficial for strengthening your horse's back. Here's an alternate way to upward finger pressure at the girth area to help your horse do this exercise.
7 Exercises To Make Your Horse Fit and Strong Whichever discipline you ride, the fitness of the horse and the rider are equally important. If you want your horse to be athletic and perform better, you need to make sure that he is well exercised focusing on all the parts of his body. Focusing on only certain muscles is a wrong approach as the horse needs all his muscles to work in perfect harmony in any equestrian discipline. As Equestroom Team, we have compiled some exercises that you can try to improve the fitness of your horse and make him really athletic: Lunging When the horse is really out of shape, starting with the lunge can be a good idea. Lunging improves the back muscles that go under the saddle. If the horse has been in a bad condition, taking things easy and giving him walk breaks in the lunge will help him relax and continue better. To get a higher benefit from lunging, you can add some poles and obstacles in different combinations. Also, adding an elastane band tied behind his hind legs can help him improve the topline. However, you shouldn’t lunge your horse every day. Experts advise lunging only 2-3 times a week and keeping it less than 30 minutes. Stretching The Neck A study carried out by N.C. Stubbs, L.J. Kaiser, J. Hauptman, and H.M. Clayton in 2011 showed that it is important to exercise and stretch different muscles of the horse while unmounted. All you need to stretch your horse’s stiff muscles is a treat that he likes. The aim is basic: make him follow the treat in different directions with his nose. If the horse tends to follow the treat by moving his whole body, you can get help from someone to block his movement. Here are some directions that you can try to stretch the neck: muzzle to the chest, muzzle to the front legs (knees), muzzle between the front legs… Riding Uphill & Downhill Riding uphill is a great way to exercise your horse’s back and hind end. The hind legs provide a great amount of power especially when you are jumping or riding several dressage movements like canter pirouette. When you make your horse walk uphill, he has to use the hind legs to push himself up. Riding downhill, on the other hand, helps the horse build a stronger front end. When you walk your horse downhill, he has to carry most of his weight on the front legs and balance himself. Make sure to sit in a stable position in the saddle and start with mildly steep hills. Try to ride both up and down and see if your horse can walk both easily. When you think that your horse can handle steep hills, you can gradually change the level. (Don’t forget that you should pick a hill with the proper firm footing.) Interval Training Also known as gallop sets, interval training is based on short rides that work the horse harder. The interval training intersperses short bursts of high-intensity work in canter followed by a period of rest in trot and walk. This exercise is preferred by eventers as it brings the heartbeat to a peak and brings it down slowly but it can be beneficial for any horse. If your horse is fit, you can try 10 minutes of walk - 10 minutes of trot - 10 minutes of canter. Then slow down by following the pattern vice versa. If the horse isn’t fit enough and hasn’t been getting regular exercise, you can shorten the trot and canter. Don’t forget that you don’t need to push your horse to run faster in the canter. Just make sure that his canter is in a good rhythm. Pole Work Doing pole work with different patterns forces the horse to pay closer attention to his strides. Adjusting and re-adjusting the stride length will make him both mentally and physically stronger. You can create your own pole work pattern where the poles are closer and further from each other. Besides, you can add trot poles into the pattern to make the work a bit harder. There are many examples of pole work exercises that you can find online and try with your horse. As you get through the simple patterns, you can try complicated ones. Trail Rides and Hacking Taking your horse to a long trail ride is the best and boredom-free way to improve his fitness. The variety of the terrain and endurance aspects of the trail will require him to use more muscles. Starting with a walk and trying some trot and canter in different parts of the trail and doing it on a regular basis will make a great difference on the condition of your horse. Depending on his fitness level you can make him canter and even gallop faster in the fresh air to get his blood pumped. Try Different Grounds Riding your horse on different grounds is a good way to work his muscles. Depending on the solidity of the ground, the horse needs to use more or fewer muscles to carry his weight. Walking on sand, different terrains, grass, on a road (if safe enough), and in water will make your horse fitter on each ground. Especially walking, trotting, and even cantering in the water can be added to the regular exercise routine as it helps build stronger leg muscles and tendons. If your horse had an injury or another health problem, you should consult your veterinarian about the way you pick the exercises. Don't forget that each horse is unique and not all of them respond the same way to the same exercising methods. We advise trying different ways and finding the one that works the best for your horse.
No matter who you are, life can and often is, stressful. I am currently in the middle of a series of rather painful anaesthetic exams, which have been anything but relaxing. Day to day I exist at a…
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Improve your strength for riding with these 7 key lower body dressage exercises for riders. Create better posture and balance for dressage .
There are a number of different ways to assess and evaluate a horse’s conformation. One of these ways is by their topline. If you are new to the equestrian world, you may be wondering exactly what a topline is?
Get in the saddle of fitness and unleash your inner rider with targeted exercises to improve strength, balance, and flexibility.
Lassen Sie sich nicht von spektakulären, exaltierten Gängen täuschen. Mit diesem Poster zeigen wir Ihnen drei Beispiele, die den Unterschied zwischen einem – für das Pferd – guten Reiten und einem schlechten Reiten darstellen.Das Richtige zeigt einen sogenannten „Rückengänger“, der … Weiter lesen
