I have rode horses for a long time, and even though I do not
ride as much now, as I might like to, I still think that rider fitness is very
important. I am not currently in shape
for riding, but it is something that I am working on. Of my two horses, neither one of them are in
shape either. But for me to get them in
shape, I have to get myself taken care of first. I think the rider’s fitness is just as
important, if not more so, than the horse’s fitness. I cannot get my horses in shape, if I myself
cannot handle the exertion that is required to do so. If I go out to work with one of my horses,
and become too tired to continue before it is over, what have I done? I have successfully taught the horse that if
it can out last me by being hard headed or starting a fight, the work is
over. Is that what I wanted to teach the
horse? No, and my fitness level directly
affects my ability to train, handle, ride and condition my horses. I have to be able to maintain enough energy
to finish what I start, and to keep my wits about doing it. If I am winded and tired, my mind will not
work as efficiently at solving problems, that if I were at a greater fitness
level I would not have a problem with.
Let me give a good example of when your fitness level
directly affects your ability to train.
Let us say that your conditioning is at the lower level, and you just
got a two year old colt to work with. He
is too young for riding just yet, but you are going to start with some ground
work to lay the foundation for him to be backed as an early three year
old. We’ll assume that for the most
part, he is willing to learn, and eager to please, but every once in a while
the stallion comes out in him, and he decides that no matter what he is not
going to do something that you know that he knows how to do. He’s just being a young colt and being a
little defiant. You are asking him
something simple, like stopping to face you, something that he has done several
times. But, this time he decided that he
is going to stop with his rear end pointed directly at you. You are already a little tired, and he just
slapped you in the face with a challenge, “Make me turn to face you!” So, you pull up your big boy or girl
britches, and take up the task of “making” him face you, but just a few minutes
into the work you are starting to wear out.
You know that you shouldn’t stop, but you just can’t keep going, your
heart rate is through the roof, you can barely breathe, and you can’t even hear
yourself think because all you can hear is your heart beating in your ears. You watch the colt for a minute, and figure
that he is not exactly in the “you win” mood, because his head is up in the
air, and he’s trotting around like he just walked in the round pen. This is where you have to make a decision,
stop and lose or keep going and risk falling out. Which one do you do? The answer to that question depends greatly
on your determination to train your horse.
This is just one of several ways that your fitness level can affect your
training.
I’m not saying that only fit people can ride, I’m just
saying that a rider’s fitness level greatly affects the horse’s balance and
movement. I don’t believe that your
weight has much to do with your fitness level either, but I also don’t think
that you can be 400 lbs of fat, and be fit enough to ride. The reason that I specified 400 lbs of fat is
because there are some body builders that are close to 400 lbs, and I would
think that they are pretty fit, though riding would probably reveal muscles
that they did not know they had.
So, where do you start when trying to get yourself fit for
riding? I say start small, start waling
more. Get a pedometer; you will be
amazed at how much more you walk when you know how many steps you are making a
day. You will find that you walk more,
just to get more steps. Set yourself a
daily step goal, and gradually increase it.
I have a goal of 8,000 steps a day for a week. I am currently on day 4. After the week is up, I plan on increasing
the goal to 10,000 steps a day. I am
also working on my balance. I looked up
exercises to improve balance, and this is what I found; http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/balance-exercises/SM00049 the exercises are simple, and can be
completed with little or no equipment. I
love exercises that you don’t have to buy anything to complete! If you have a friend or riding buddy that is
also in the process of getting fit, use them as motivation to keep going. Team up with them for daily exercise. If you don’t have a friend, take your
horse. Walk with him/her, and work up to
jogging or running with him/her. It will
build your bond with your horse and improve your fitness level, and his/her
fitness level.
Get in the habit of measuring yourself on a weekly basis,
because weighing yourself alone does not always tell the entire story of how
your exercise is paying off, or not paying off.
I have never been what one might call a petite girl, especially if you
looked at my weight alone. I’ll give an
example that doesn’t bother me to share.
When I was 19, I barrel raced every weekend, year round. I was bigger than most of the girls/women
that I competed against. Most of them I
outweighed by 30 plus pounds. I weighed
in at 180 pounds. Sounds fat right? (Now
to me it seems skinny!) Even at that
weight, my chest, waist, and hip measurements were 36 – 24 – 36,
respectively. I was not fat, by any
stretch of the imagination, and I was quite fit. I worked at a feed store for 55 hours a week,
then went to an Arabian farm and worked another 40 hours in a week. I survived on roughly 3-4 hours of sleep a
night, and still had energy to burn, but I also ate like a human garbage
disposal. I was solid muscle from the
top of my head to the bottom of my feet, and nothing moved. I was extremely fit; I could work side by
side with men all day, and often out work them.
I went through several other employees at the feed store, because they
could not handle having to keep up with me, especially when the trucks rolled
in that we had to unload. I never had to
work out then, because everything that I done for a living was a physical
challenge. I worked at the feed store
from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday and on Saturdays from 7:00 am to
12:00 pm. I went directly from the feed
store to the farm, which only took about 15 minutes then worked there until
usually 1:00 am or 2:00 am. I had to be
back to the farm by 6:00 am to feed and turn out the 17 horses that lived
there. As you can see, lots of work, little
rest and I loved every minute of it.
Could I do the same now? Nope,
not even close to it. Would I like to be
able to do it again? Yes ma’am or sir,
you bet I would! I miss being able to
ride several horses a day, and still being able to function afterwards. Now, I ride for an hour or so, and when I get
off I can’t get on another horse, my hips won’t let me for now. But I do plan on getting back to where I
can. That is another fine example of
fitness affecting my ability to train. I
can currently train one horse a day if riding is involved.
Riding is a good form of exercise, especially is you ride in
correct posture. It will work your
entire body. But if you are overweight
or obese, and think that you are riding to your fullest potential, you are
sadly mistaken. I’m not trying to be
hard on overweight or obese people, as I currently fit in that last category. I am 5’ 5” barefoot, and weight in at 229
pounds as of my last measurements. I
have at least 50 pounds to loose, and I can’t wait to lose them, plus about
15-20 more. (But honestly, right now, I would settle for the 180 that I used to
weigh.) If you are overweight, and think
that you are riding to the best of your ability, I challenge you to lose 5
pounds, and see what a difference it makes.
You should be able to lose 5 pounds in a few weeks just simply by moving
more, and not much else. If those 5
pounds makes a difference, image what 10 or 20 pounds would do.
Now, do not let anyone tell you that you are “too fat” to
ride, especially if you know that your horse can carry you with no problem, and
if any one does tell you that stand up for yourself. They do not know you or your horse, so what
gives them the right to say what you can or cannot do, or what your horse is
capable of. If you are just starting out
in horses, and you get turned down at a lesson, keep looking. If you run into a brick wall on the lessons,
look into buying your own horse, if that is something that you can reasonably
afford. Join in on horse forums, I can recommend
an excellent one, http://www.horseforum.com/ It has just about everything you can need
where horses are concerned. I love it
and visit it daily. My user name is
PaintedFury, if you join, look me up and send me a friend request, I will
happily accept it. This forum even has a
forum for Plus Sized Riders, which I particularly enjoy. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only
horsewoman in the world with my particular problem, and sometimes it’s nice to
have someone to talk to about it. And
let me tell you, the ladies and gentlemen in that part of the forum are VERY
supportive of each other. If you are
just having a bad day, they will rally around you and pick you right back
up. Big love to all of them!
Ok, to the point of all of this ranting. Being fit is important to your riding, but it
is more important to your health. Does
that make it an easy journey? No, it
doesn’t, but it is a journey worth taking and worth working for. Do not start on this journey because Joe Blow
made some snide remark about you. Start
this journey because YOU want to, for whatever reason, as long as it is a truly
personal reason. If it is because of Joe
Blow up there, then it is the wrong reason.
If it is because you want to ride better, or feel better, even just so
you can play longer with your kids (either two legged or four legged) those are
the right reasons. Do it for yourself
first, everything else is just an added benefit.
Good luck on your journey; and God bless you and your
families.
Lisa
