How does riding horses keep you fit?

Well, it's always possible that my friends were not riding properly (and my personal experience so far has been fairly limited, due to hoof problems ), but I still have to stick by what I see, which is that the riders (not just my friends, but everyone I meet) seldom if ever look as if they've been exercising.

Right. And you build a little strength that way, and improve balance, but do you get real exercise? How about doing a little test next time you ride: go for 15 minutes or so at your normal pace, then stop and take your pulse. Look up "target heart rate", and tell us whether you're anywhere near that zone.

omg i ride evryday almost and i have a non gaited horse so i have to post trot for most of the time being rode,the first month i had the skin peeled off my legs in places and sore as heck,but the next month i could ride all day and not feel anything.and i do track at school and even if track is not in season and all im doing is horse riding i can still run the mile in about 6 minutes.

I can tell you that I do get up into my target heart-rate zone. I am an event rider so I have to do dressage, and two phases of jumping. It's alot more of a workout than walking along a trail

James- it has a lot to do with the discipline of riding. I ride as often as I can, and my mare and I work HARD. My heart rate definitely gets up there. Sitting her trot [correcly] for the twenty minutes or so we trot at a time is the equivalent of doing sit-ups for twenty minutes. I may not have a six pack, but my abs are HARD. Believe you me, it's a workout! Sweat isn't a good factor to go on, either. Some people sweat lots and some people don't sweat much, and they can be on the same workout regimen. Just saying. =]

I'm almost always sore after riding. To really ride a horse, you use your whole body, every last muscle, I swear. The muscles in my back, my seat, my thighs, my calves, my arms, my shoulders, even those boob-muscles all get sore sometimes. It's a good feeling. =]

I used to ride under an instructor that worked our group hard. We never concentrated much on the horse's frame, but on us. We'd shorten our stirrups three holes and go around trotting in two point and posting. Then we'd drop our stirrups and have to post and hold a two point for laps and laps and laps. Those lessons were killer. We definitely huffed and puffed our way through it. =]

Sure, and isn't that what I said? That the ordinary sort of riding along a trail (which my friends were doing and claiming as exercise) isn't really much of a workout, though the eventing &c might well be. I don't know enough about them to have a valid opinion, but I do know that they're not what most people are doing.

There's also the difference between general fitness and training specific muscle groups. For instance, I'm in pretty good shape, but each year the start of cross-country ski season finds me with sore inner thigh muscles, simply because those muscles don't get used much for anything else. Same with biking: in the spring, my butt gets sore from even the easiest ride. Horseback riding uses still different muscles, and they're likewise going to be sore until trained.

Horse riding is exersize in my opinion and what I have found with my riding. If I take Chinga out on the trail just walking around, not so much work done. But I still think its exersize. Because its only a short trail the one we take. I'll keep heels firmly down and as "perfect" of a posistion I can get while Chinga walks down the trail.

But then we will have a training day, we'll both work really hard. Walk, Trot, Canter, Circles, Figure Of 8's, Jumping, Holding Two Point, ect. We both come in, with a sweat. We have both gained muscle and both lost weight. Of course if a rider just sits there bouncing around, then no they are not going to lose as much weight as a rider who rides heels down, leg contact, straight back and actually working themselves and their horse.

I find that i keep fit by riding!! I end up sweating whatever fat i have on my body off!!! Nugget is a workout for lots of other people but with me it is more, i ride him for like 45mins and i start to sweat coz he gets lazy!!! My mum thinks that he is sooooooooooooooo lazy nd that he will only ever move for mee!! but i have recently found out that he works nicely for my friends!!! Welovechinga rode Nugget the other day and Nug went AWESOME!!!!!

^^ Don't you just hate that sometimes Zoe, when someone who hasn't ridden as long as you can ride Nugget really well but then you hop on and his just a pain? I think its similar to Chinga, he knows I can make him work so he makes me make him work. But for friends his so gental and caring. Although after todays mishab no more friends riding him.

Sorry off topic.

HHAAHAHAHAHA yer the annoying thing for me is that after a friend rides and I hop back on he tends to be reallllllllllllyyyyyyyyy strong!!!!!! so This is no longer off topic as i get a work out by trying to pull him up!!!!

James- Look at these videos, they show some of the best event riders in the world doing all three phases.



Now tell me theses riders arn't getting a workout I LOVE XC!