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Trotting, cantering, and galloping a horse tones your muscles while giving you (and the horse) a cardiovascular workout. And that is why it is considered a form of exercise.
But don't take my word for it. Researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service had twenty riders complete each of three riding tests: a 45 minute walk-trot-canter ride (WTC), a reining pattern, and a cutting pattern, all while wearing a telemetric gas analyzer. On average, the riders' heart rate went up to 163 beats per minute during their riding exercises. They found that the of calories burned per minute were
- Walk 2.3
- Trot 3.5
- Long trot 6.9
- Canter 6.9
- Reining 6.9
- Cutting 4.9
So, using these numbers, let's say you decide to go for a nice, easy hour-long trail ride, alternating between walking (15 minutes total), trotting (15 minutes total), long trotting (15 minutes total), and cantering (15 minutes total). You would have burned 34 + 52 + 103 + 103 = 292 calories. If you had walked instead (at a rate of 3 mph), you would have burned an average of 260 calories.
"This past weekend I did a difficult hour-long spin class at the gym and was shocked to realize that a recent riding lesson (walk, trot, canter, and a little jumping) burned almost the same number of calories!"
Notice that reining and cutting burn different numbers of calories. A dressage rider posted her Fitbit data online. While working her horse for only 38 minutes, she burned a total of 339 calories.
Another rider posted this: "This past weekend I did a difficult hour-long spin class at the gym and was shocked to realize that a recent riding lesson (walk, trot, canter, and a little jumping) burned almost the same number of calories!"
Don't have a Fitbit? Here is a site that lets you enter your own information to calculate how many calories you burn while engaging in different types of activities based on your gender, age, height, and weight. I entered the following information, and here is the result.
Female, 35 years old, 5'6", 140 lbs, 15 min walk, 30 min trot, 15 min gallop
Calories Burned:
Horseback riding - walking: 40 calories
Horseback riding - galloping: 128 calories
Horseback riding - trotting: 206 calories
Total Calories Burned: 373
Female, 35 years old, 5'6", 140 lbs, 15 min walk, 30 min trot, 15 min gallop
Calories Burned:
Horseback riding - walking: 40 calories
Horseback riding - galloping: 128 calories
Horseback riding - trotting: 206 calories
Total Calories Burned: 373
Happy Riding!
Copyright May 25, 2017, Denise Cummins, PhD
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