Horse Riding is a physical activity and rider
fitness and being fit to ride is just as important as your horses
fitness.
Toning your adominals for dressage, or strengthening leg and ankle joints
for cross country and show jumping is essential.
Fit to ride
Simple exercises
Using an exercise ball
fitness or training near lincoln
So what is rider fitness, why do you have to be fit
to ride and how can you improve your riding fitness.
 Contrary
to what most non-riders think, there are really two athletes in the sport
of riding.
While some riding disciplines, such as polo, eventing or classical dressage
may demand a higher fitness level than others, any rider who is fit to
ride is likely to have more fun riding no matter what discipline they
prefer.
Riders spend time and money exercising, training and caring for their
horse every day. The horse will almost certainly be in tip top condition;
but to be a winning combination, both you, the rider, and your horse need
to be in the best possible physical condition.
A fit rider is physically stronger, has more stamina, is well-balanced
in the saddle, and has the flexibility and suppleness necessary to move
with the horse as one unit. A rider who is fit to ride can give direct,
clear and consistent riding aids.
Rider fitness is a special type of fitness, a combination of suppleness,
stamina, muscle strength and flexibility. Being fit to ride allows the
rider to move in balance with the horse; with free and flexible movements.
As with any physical sport, a rider needs the correct type of fitness
and being fit to ride means having supple and flexible joints and developing
the correct type of musculature. This in turn, helps you ride more safely;
helps you avoid injuries and pain, makes you a more effective rider, increases
your mental confidence and enhances your enjoyment of the riding experience.
NOTE:
Yes; mucking out, filling haynets, pooh picking and walking back
and forth to the field will help with your general fitness but they are
chores and can sometimes fix muscle groups in rigid positions or can over-develop
forearms or biceps on just one side.
A balanced rider needs to be flexible on both sides, to be supple and
strong, to be soft in the hands and firm in the shoulders, to roll through
the hips and be steady in the legs. Being properly fit to ride requires
attention to your whole body, not just a strong right arm.
 Novice
riders tend to ride once a week which is sufficient for the first few
months; and the rider, especially the yourng rider, will begin to develop
the correct muscles and suppleness provided they are taught correctly
from the start. This makes it very important that you find and ride at
an approved riding school or with a qualified instructor.
Doing exercises at the gym or jogging will increase your general fitness
and strength of muscle and it is helpful. But, too much gym fitness increases
your muscle mass and the strength in your muscles and this will eventually
impede your riding.
To be fit to ride it is important to develop the correct type of fitness,
with strength in your muscles, but not to much muscle mass, suppleness
and flexibility in your joints and freedom of movement in your lower back
and hips.
If you use a gym and can consult a professional trainer, ask them for
exercises that build strength in your lower back and in your stomach;
and exercises that stretch and supple the muscles in your thighs and calves,
that open your chest, increase the flexibility in your joints and help
you develop stamina.
Use a range of simple daily exercises at home to help you increase and
maintain your suppleness and fitness. Regular and more frequent riding
will help too, as will having lunge lessons with a qualified instructor.
Why you need joint suppleness and flexibility :
Your ankle joint – acts as a shock absorber and
needs to be supple, fit and flexible. Keeping the heel down through a
supple ankle joint, gives the rider stability, which is important in general
riding and particularly important when jumping.
Your knee joint – allows free movement of your
lower leg and allows you to give aids while keeping your upper leg relaxed
against the horse’s side. Your knee also acts as a shock absorber
when jumping.
Your hip joints – are probably the most important
joint of all, and are the very centre of your riding. Your hip joints
need to be fit, supple and flexible to allow free movement of your body
both in flatwork and jumping. Your hip joints also allow the free movement
of your horse under you. Stiff, unyielding hips will impede both your
and your horses movement since you use your hip joints more than any other.
Even when mounting you twist your hip and this can create strain within
your hip joint.
Your lower back – includes several joints between
the vertebrae. Your back needs to have strength in the muscles so that
you can control the horses movements through your lower back, and maintain
your own body posture while allowing the free flowing movement of the
horse with flexibility, balance and relaxation, at the same time.
Your shoulders – your shoulder joints are often
forgotten when riding, yet they are one of the foundations of good hands.
The shoulder joints need good muscle strength combined with good flexibility
and suppleness. This will allow you to ride with a rhythm and softness
in your hands, but to still remain poised.
You require physical and mental fitness :
Your mental fitness is also an important a part of riding your horse
and as a novice rider you will probably have been anxious and nervous,
but will have benefited from initial riding lessons using a solid, bomb-proof
horse or pony to give you that basic confidence required to ride.
If you are a more advanced rider you need to be mentally aware and focused
enough to control and ride your horse.
Mental fitness develops from confidence in your own physical ability.
As your riding ability and confidence grows, so too will your mental confidence
increase.
 It
cannot be overstressed that riders at all levels must, not only develop
and maintain their physical fitness, but also try to develop a superior
mental confidence.
Being both physically and mentally fit to ride will increase both you,
the rider, and your horses enjoyment of the sport.
Young Riders:
Mental fitness is particularly important for young riders, who may be
apprehensive though incredibly eager and excited, at beginning to ride
and at being around ponies.
A young rider needs to understand that being taught to ride is different
from being taught at school. The riding instructor may need to shout and
although merely raising their voice so that the class can hear; the young
rider should not be made to feel that this is ‘shouting at them’
and should not become overly sensitive about the loud or focused instruction.
Parents, in particular, need to understand and be aware that their child
may be overly sensitive about this and they should take the time to explain
to the young rider, the reasons for this direct type of instruction.
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