Work on Your Own Fitness

It’s not fair to ask hour horses to get into summer riding shape if we have been slacking ourselves, too. It’s a partnership, after all!

Now is the perfect time to start a fitness program for yourself before you hit full-tilt summer show season. If going to the gym isn’t convenient, consider an online program. There are lots of YouTube videos to help guide you through basic working routines, and several subscription services targeted directly for building rider strength out of the saddle.

If prefer to get your exercise outdoors, the barn property can become a gym. Map out a path around the perimeter of the fields, or even just up and down the driveway, to go for a walk or a jog. Hills are ideal because they maximize the cardio challenge, build muscles and burn more calories.

There’s also plenty you can do in the barn to build fitness. If you board, ask your barn manager if you can pitch in to make their day go a little quicker. Carrying and scrubbing water buckets, mucking out some extra stalls, or even just helping bring the horses in and out from the fields will help you build up stamina.

Think about your summer riding plans, too. Is trail riding on your list? You can’t go trail riding if the trails are full of branches and trees that fell over the winter. Get in a full-body workout walking the trails on foot and helping remove anything in your way.

If you board at a facility, team up with some other riders to keep each other accountable. Getting a group to ride together after work or on the weekends can make it more fun. Workout classes are better with a friend, so you may want to join a gym with your barn buddies.

Peer support is trickier if your horses are at home or if you board at a smaller facility. There are plenty of Facebook groups with other riders in the same isolated position also craving support. Groups exist for different breeds, sports, and riding goals. An online community can be just as positive as in-person support to keep you motivated.

Get Your Horse Fit

If you return your horse to full work after two months (or more) of down time, he will have lost significant fitness and be more prone to injury. Although cardiovascualar fitness is relatively easy for horses to achieve, tendons and ligaments take months to strengthen when starting from scratch.

If you have space on your farm to go for low-intensity hacks, that is the perfect place to start, but walking in the ring works, too. You can walk even an unfit horse under saddle for up to 60 minutes per day, four to six days a week. Ride your horse forward and keep him pushing from behind, even at the walk. (Going around in an inverted frame with his back down and head in the air will strengthen the wrong muscles.)

Stick to walking for at least the first two weeks of your program. You can gradually increase the time and/or add hill work to keep things challenging, but always keep a feel for when your horse starts to get tired, and wrap up your ride at the first signs of fatigue.

After two weeks, you can gradually add in a few minutes of trotting. Take walk breaks after 2 or 3 minutes of trotting when you start, then work up to 5 to 10 minutes of trot over the next week as your horse is able. Don’t let your horse fall apart in his downward transitions, and think about him lifting his back and stretching down into your hand during breaks from higher-intensity work.

In week four, you can add 1 to 2 minutes of cantering, building up from there. After 30 days, you can introduce a few small jumps or very short bursts of more intense work as your discipline requires. It’s better to ask for successful smaller amounts of higher-intensity work than less-successful—and potentially detrimental—longer workouts.

After six weeks of consistent work, your horse should be much closer to optimum fitness. Throughout his conditioning period and beyond, continue walking as much as possible each day; this can be done before and after the more intense portion of your ride.

Also pay attention to how you feel during this process. It’s hard to ask your horse to carry you if you are starting to fatigue. If after trotting a couple circles you feel your leg slip and your hands start to bounce, it’s time to go back to the walk.

Getting both you and your horse back into shape in the spring takes time, and rushing only gets you to the wrong place faster. It’s better to take it slow while rebuilding stamina in order to reduce the risk of injury and to keep riding fun for both of you.

This article about horse and rider fitness for spring appeared in the April 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horse and Rider Fitness for Spring appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

At Next Level Eventing, Tamie Smith utilizes a physiotherapist, chiropractor, acupuncturist, PEMF, BEMER blankets, Revitavet, laser therapy, and other therapeutic resources to keep her horses in top shape.   

Jo-Ann Wilson, the United States Eventing Team sports therapist, helps riders and their grooms come up with an ideal therapy plan and makes sure to check in with the riders consistently, even though they are spread across the country. She works closely with Tamie to determine which therapies are best for her horses to keep them feeling and going their best.  

Keeping up with fitness and bodywork is not just important for Tamie’s horses, but for Tamie herself.  

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to incorporate taking care of my body more,” she says. “I’m lucky that I’m a pretty fit, healthy person. I go to the gym three to five days a week in order to be good enough to be at the top of the sport.” 

While Tamie rides multiple horses daily, she says that riding alone is not enough to maintain the level of fitness she needs.  

“Most people would think that was enough,” says Tamie. “It absolutely is not. I do a lot of cardio work, like the Stairmaster. I do light weights but high reps. It’s mostly about keeping my cardio [fitness] and my muscles strong so that I can be in the best shape for my horses.” 

Eventing requires a strong partnership between horse and rider, and putting in the extra work off of the horse has clearly paid off for Tamie and her herd.  

This article about Tamie Smith’s approach to alternative therapies and fitness is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine’s “Next Level” series. Click here to subscribe!

The post Next Level: Tamie Smith on Alternative Therapies and Personal Fitness  appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Tamie Smith, winner of the 2023 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5 aboard the 18-year-old German Sport Horse gelding Mai Baum, tailors her fitness and conditioning program to each horse to focus on their specific needs and goals.

“Going into a top five star, I would be galloping typically every four to five days,” she says. “We have wonderful mountains in our area [Temecula Calif.], so I have access to probably the best gallop that I’ve been able to find in the whole country.”

She explains that having hilly terrain is paramount to being able to get her horses’ heart rates up, especially the non-Thoroughbred horses. The steep inclines test the horses’ hearts and lungs without putting unnecessary wear and tear on them.

For the horses at the lower levels, Tamie does a lot of pole and cavaletti work to get their heart rates up. This works on their rideability, while also improving their endurance.

Once a week, Tamie aims to take her horses for a trot-hack, which she finds extremely beneficial.

“We have all kinds of different types of footing, like a river bed, hard-packed road, uneven slopes, and whatnot,” she says. “I take the horses out and just play and just get them through all the different types of footing. I think that that’s really important for their bones and their tendons and ligaments.”

As far as recovery for the horses coming off of big events, Tamie always gives them ample time off.

“For instance, Mai Baum came home after Kentucky and got three weeks in a field of doing nothing,” she says. “I try to leave them out there to just be horses and let their legs and bodies recoup. During those three weeks, we would go over him to make sure that there’s been no new injuries or anything that might have popped up after a competition—typically if you’re going to have some sort of small injury, it might show up a few weeks after.”

For all of Tamie horses, she tries to give the whole month of November and into the start of December off. The older horses go on hacks to keep muscle and fitness intact, and all of the horses are checked on. Otherwise, they get a chance to just be horses and enjoy some time off.

This article about Tamie Smith’s fitness and conditioning approach is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine’s “Next Level” series. Click here to subscribe!

The post Next Level: Tamie Smith On Fitness and Conditioning appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Developing a strong core is a popular focus in fitness these days, for both horse and rider. The benefits touted are less back pain, better posture, greater mobility, and increased athleticism. Plus, who doesn’t want a whittled waist and six-pack abs?

As riders, we may also seek the Holy Grail of a strong core for other reasons. Maybe it will help us sit up straight, keep our heels down and stay magically glued to our saddle as our horse moves underneath us. For our horses, maybe it will help them carry us with ease on trail rides and perform the movements of our favorite discipline, from reining or dressage to show jumping.

And we know the drill to get there, right? Crunches, curls and planks for us humans. Belly lifts, carrot stretches and asking for collection and frequent transitions while riding our horses.

But what if becoming a better, more balanced rider and helping our horse develop athletically and stay sound was not about core strength, but rather about core stability?

Strength vs. Stability

Core strength is training the abdominal muscles to perform certain demands, like holding a static plank position for several minutes, doing hundreds of crunches or sit-ups, or keeping your abs tight throughout the day.

The next time you go for a ride, tighten your core as much as you can. Likely you’ll feel unbalanced and unable to absorb your horse’s movement. Plus, how long can you hold that deep core contraction and still breathe and cue your horse? This is riding from core strength.

“We do need a certain level of core strength for everyday living,” explains Wendy Murdoch, renowned riding coach, author, and expert in human and equine biomechanics and connection.

“However, developing six-pack abs is not needed if our goal is to be better riders. In fact, if good riding were about the sheer strength of our abdominal muscles, then little kids couldn’t ride at all, and some ride extremely well.”

Core stability, on the other hand, involves dynamic movement.

“It’s the ability of the core muscles to work in an efficient and coordinated fashion to maintain correct alignment of the spine and pelvis while the limbs are moving,” Murdoch explains.

It’s this combination of dynamic strength and movement that are key to core stability—and good riding.

Signs of Instability

Here are some signs that you and your horse are not moving with core stability.

Human:
◆ Bracing against the stirrups or forcing the heels down
◆ Pushing the stirrup leather out of a plumb vertical line
◆ Pitching forward at the hips
◆ Not being able to stay with the motion of the horse
◆ Relying on the reins to maintain balance
◆ Gripping with the legs

All these result from bracing in the core muscles and elsewhere in an attempt to maintain balance, rather than from allowing soft joints to absorb the movement of the horse.

Horse:
◆ Out of balance
◆ High-headed
◆ Rushing
◆ Falling in on circles
◆ Difficulty controlling speed
◆ Stiff
◆ Resistant
◆ Fearful

These often occur because the horse is trying to negotiate the task but doesn’t have the flexibility in his joints or stability in his torso to carry the weight of a rider.

The key to building core stability is adding the element of instability in movement.

“Our ability to stay upright and in balance while riding is the result of our large and small muscles firing at the right time, while our joints are supple to allow and follow motion from our horse,” explains Murdoch.

To help us create a solid foundation of core stability, she offers these suggestions.

Core Stability Exercises

Because human and horse anatomy is so similar, we can both benefit from similar exercises and movements. One of the best, and most fun, activities that will benefit both you and your horse is going for walks on varied terrain: up and down hills, walking over logs, negotiating rocks on the trail, and so on.

“The instability under your feet allows the large and small muscles to work and become stronger,” says Murdoch. “At the same time, you’re developing your proprioception of knowing where your body is in space.”

Here are some additional options to try. For humans and horses, the key point is to start with small, slow movement and build in dynamic movement that challenges balance and activates the small postural muscles.

For the Human:
◆ Standing on a balance board, BOSU ball, or SURE FOOT pad (sold by Wendy Murdoch)
◆ Stand-up paddleboarding
◆ Hula hooping
◆ Jumping on a trampoline
◆ Doing yoga poses that challenge balance
◆ Using the Anywhere Saddle Chair instead of a desk chair (sold by Wendy Murdoch)

For the Horse:
◆ Try non-habitual movements, such as those from Linda Tellington-Jones, whose system of circular touches allow the nervous system to learn much more quickly than through repetition of movement.
◆ SURE FOOT Equine Stability Program and pads: These challenge proprioception and balance as the horse activates different muscles and learns new ways of maintaining stability.
◆ Dynamic stretches, such as those from Activate Your Horse’s Core, the book by Hilary Clayton, BVMS, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVSMR, FRCVS.
◆ Groundwork: Explore slow, quiet ground work to become aware of how your horse is moving and his alignment. Start by walking over poles, allowing his neck to relax and lower, then try turns and more complex movements with your horse staying soft in his body. One approach is Peggy Cummings’ Connected Groundwork.

Get Set for Core Stability

Core stability is a gateway for you and your horse to learn to move freely, improve function and deepen your partnership.

“After all, the point of riding isn’t about overpowering your horse with rock-hard abs,” says Murdoch. “Rather, it’s guiding and signaling your horse as you move together in harmony, and helping your horse develop the athletic ability to carry you in dynamic movement.”

No crunches or belly lifts required.

This article about core stability for horse and rider appeared in the April 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Developing Core Stability for Horse and Rider appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.