How You Can Get Stronger
To Ride Your Horse Better
Five tips to improve your strength and your riding.
A reader asks, "How can I get stronger for riding horses (especially posting)? I’m fairly fit and do martial arts, but riding feels unnatural to me."
1. Pilates for riders
Riding and martial arts have one very important thing in common: They both require a strong core. You rely on this core to maintain balance on a horse and to influence the horse’s movement. I’d recommend Pilates for strengthening that core.
2. Wobble Board Exercises
Riding a horse requires exquisite balance. The horse's back flexes as he moves, and the way it flexes depends on the gait. It is different in walk, trot, and canter. Novice riders try to maintain balance by gripping the reins (which puts uncomfortable pressure on the horse's mouth) or by gripping with their thighs or knees (which puts uncomfortable pressure on the horse's barrel or back.) Wobble boards not only give you a core workout, they teach you how to maintain your balance without relying on gripping.
3. Improve your seat and posture
The best way to improve your riding is to develop a secure seat. A secure seat is one that moves with the horse's back. This is how to to develop a secure seat.
The best way to improve your riding is to develop a secure seat. A secure seat is one that moves with the horse's back. This is how to to develop a secure seat.
4. Improve your timing
The more you ride, the more you realize that riding well is more about timing than strength. Beginners exhaust themselves trying to post by pulling themselves up with the reins or pushing themselves up with their legs rather than allowing the horse to gently toss them up out of the saddle. They exhaust themselves trying to get a horse leg yield (side pass) by using more and more leg pressure rather than improving their timing to coincide with the swing of the horse's belly.
This is how to post effortlessly.
This is how to leg yield (side pass) effortlessly.
5. Improve your cardiovascular conditioning
Equestrians get pretty tired of hearing non-equestrians quip, "But the horse does all the work, right?" Wrong. Riding burns a shockingly large number of calories, and makes significant demands on physical endurance. You can improve your riding by engaging in 30 minutes of cardiovascular workout training once or twice a week. Outdoor or treadmill running, stairstep, elliptical, and bicycling (or spinning) are all excellent ways of improving your cardiovascular endurance. Meanwhile, to see just how many calories you burn while riding, click here.
Happy Riding!
Copyright Denise Cummins, PhD February 3, 2016; Updated June 3, 2024
The Thinking Equestrian
As long as you’re here, check these out!
Equestrian Products That Make Your Riding and Horse Care Easier and Better!
Training and Riding tips for Everyone
The more you ride, the more you realize that riding well is more about timing than strength. Beginners exhaust themselves trying to post by pulling themselves up with the reins or pushing themselves up with their legs rather than allowing the horse to gently toss them up out of the saddle. They exhaust themselves trying to get a horse leg yield (side pass) by using more and more leg pressure rather than improving their timing to coincide with the swing of the horse's belly.
This is how to post effortlessly.
This is how to leg yield (side pass) effortlessly.
5. Improve your cardiovascular conditioning
Equestrians get pretty tired of hearing non-equestrians quip, "But the horse does all the work, right?" Wrong. Riding burns a shockingly large number of calories, and makes significant demands on physical endurance. You can improve your riding by engaging in 30 minutes of cardiovascular workout training once or twice a week. Outdoor or treadmill running, stairstep, elliptical, and bicycling (or spinning) are all excellent ways of improving your cardiovascular endurance. Meanwhile, to see just how many calories you burn while riding, click here.
Happy Riding!
Copyright Denise Cummins, PhD February 3, 2016; Updated June 3, 2024
The Thinking Equestrian
As long as you’re here, check these out!
Equestrian Products That Make Your Riding and Horse Care Easier and Better!
Training and Riding tips for Everyone
Opening Photo Credit: ID 75744821 © Fsstock | Dreamstime.com
