[wannahorse22]

I have been thinking lately.......I do not want anyone to take this offensivley, but some people need to start thinking about their health and fitness. By that i do not mean abs of steel or anything, i mean becoming a better rider, and helping your horse. If you are overweight, you could be causing a lot of discomfort to your horse. And it really is not hard to be heathy and fit, you just have to devote some time to yourself everyday. I workout for an hour everyday and i am 13. If you work your muscle groups such as... core muscle, leg strength, ab strentgh....well a lot of muscle gruops. You can improve your riding a lot! Just remember being fit and healthy does not mean you want to be 'skinny' or lose weight, its a lifestyle. Anyway...dont you want to be as strong and powerful as the horse beneath you? Dont you want to live longer?

Just consider the way you are living your life​

 

[Walkamile]

Wannahorse22, I commend you for being so aware of health and fitness at such a young age.

While you are able to devote an hour to your fitness, that will become more difficult, though not impossible, as you get older and life's demands come into play.

For many, working 40 plus hours a week, in addition to taking care of families, homes, chores, etc...does not leave a lot of time or energy to exercise. That is when it is very challenging, but again, not impossible.

While an hour might not be available, 15, 20 or 30 minutes might be "doable". But , oh, it is so difficult to get motivated sometimes. :wink:

So, from this "older" lady, I applaud your passion for being fit and healthy, and thank you for being concerned about helping others to stop and consider the very real benefits of being so. Sometimes we get so very caught up in the whirl wind of our schedules that we put ourselves on the back burner.

 

[nrhareiner]

As you age like has been stated you will find that there are many reasons why people do not devote time to strictly exercise. I never have and I have up until I got sick was able to bench press my weight which is more then the norm for a female also could do one handed pull ups. Again never exercised. That was just from working and the horses.

Now with only 50%-60% lung capacity I do what I can. You need to remember that there are reasons why people might not be as fit as they should be. From time constrictions to health reasons.

 

[Emmy]

I agree with taking the time to be healthy and fit not only for riding but also for your own health. Being fit means having the strength and energy to get through those long days.


I personally believe it is completely unfair to ask a horse to work and than put no effort into your own fitness. If you have enough time to ride than you surely have a few minutes to run a few laps around the ring yourself.


Although I doubt everyone will go out and run, perhaps you can find an exercise that works for you. I have found yoga to be incredibly satisfying. Depending on the type that you practice there are so many benefits. However, I also strongly feel that being healthy is also about what you eat.

 

[Sixxofdiamonds]

Other than the difference of me no longer being pregnant in 2010, I won't change my workout habits.

I am one of the strange (my husband is as well) adults in the working world who devote at minimum an hour a day to working out.

Granted, my husband devotes about four hours or so a day to it.
We typically go running, hiking, canoeing, backpacking, horseback riding, ice skating, rollerblading, etc and in the morning before work go to the gym.

However, we're also a bit more health-aware than most. We eat a paleolithic diet, which bars the eating of processed sugar and grains. Mostly veggies, fruit and cuts of meat. We also eat a lot of nuts for snacking.

So I voted "no" to the poll question.

 

[Miss]

Hello!!
I wont to ask someone is at the age of 13.
I just wont a friend here.
I am not from USA or UK.
I am from Portugal
I don`t have friends who like horses só i look for this tipo of forum


Please anwser to me!!!

 

[Miss]

Hello!!

If you had 13 years old and you like horses.
You like to see Saddle Club.
My favourite caracter is Stivie because she is look like me




Please aswer to me !!!


:roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

 

[wannahorse22]

Yoga is really fun! I aimed this thread more towards younger people so they could change their habits before they get older. So dont be offended.

 

[nrhareiner]

I agree with taking the time to be healthy and fit not only for riding but also for your own health. Being fit means having the strength and energy to get through those long days.


I personally believe it is completely unfair to ask a horse to work and than put no effort into your own fitness. If you have enough time to ride than you surely have a few minutes to run a few laps around the ring yourself.


Although I doubt everyone will go out and run, perhaps you can find an exercise that works for you. I have found yoga to be incredibly satisfying. Depending on the type that you practice there are so many benefits. However, I also strongly feel that being healthy is also about what you eat.

What do you think riding is?? A hour sitting on the couch watching TV??

Then you add in Choirs and such. Really if you have horses and ride and care for them you do not need to do a lap. You already have.

 

[sillybunny11486]

What do you think riding is?? A hour sitting on the couch watching TV??

Then you add in Choirs and such. Really if you have horses and ride and care for them you do not need to do a lap. You already have.

Just what I was thinking.

 

[Emmy]

Maybe if you ride hardcore everyday, however I doubt most people do that.

I own one horse and in my opinion he does not exhaust me. If I was to ride him everyday for 45 minutes I personally feel that I could still add in another form of exercise. I DO NOT believe riding alone is a good enough excuse for not exercising. No doubt riding is a workout however I do not believe every time a person rides they are truly engaging their whole body. I guess your level of fitness could be a factor too.

You missed an important part of my reply, "Although I doubt everyone will go out and run, perhaps you can find an exercise that works for you." If you own a barn or multiple horses than possibly that is your exercise. I assumed most people did not and perhaps that was my mistake.

 

[nrhareiner]

Horse back riding is listed in the top 5 for overall exercise. It is better then running as with running you burn more muscle then you add. With horse back riding anything past a walk you are going to up your hart rate into a level that you are getting a good benefit from it. Also you do not get the pounding on the joints as you get when running. You are using every part of your body when you ride.

All you need it to raise your hart rate by about 45% for about 20 min a day for 3 days a week to get all the exercise you really need.

Anything past that % and you are burning muscle not fat. So you loose much more then you gain.

Most people do not exercise correctly and intact do more damage then good.

 

[jamesqf]

Don't just limit yourself to formal exercise, either, but look for ways to get more exercise in your daily activities. When you walk places, walk as fast as you can. Take stairs instead of elevators, and take them fast. Instead of spending 10 minutes driving around looking for a parking place close to the store, park in the first available space, and spend 5 minutes walking. (Saves a bit of gas money, too.) Shovel that driveway instead of firing up a snowblower. (And get rid of all the "labor-saving" gadgets that take as much time as doing the job by hand, if not more.) Try biking to work or school. Do things like hiking & cross-country skiing for fun, and get exercise too.

 

[Void]

I ride almost everyday, workout everyother day 1hr+, work full-time, household chores, plus studying for the GRE. Along with a social life, working out is do-able.

 

[haviris]

The fact that you've said no offence twice sort of makes me feel like I should be. If you are implying that fat(or overweight if you prefer)=unfit, then I am. But otherwise I didn't see anything to be offended over. I also agree w/ the others that time is not always on our side, yes it's true if we have time to ride we have time to excersize, assuming we want to do that instead of riding.

I've had more time then ever this past year (although that will soon come to an end) and I'm taking advantage of every second! I was averaging 1/2 hour or so of excersize a day and riding up to 2 hours! Wasn't able to do both everyday, but I did my best (usually atleast 5 days a week for each)! Currently w/ the cold I've been riding less and managing about an hour a day of excersize. That will be cut back again very soon, I'm trying to work back up to more riding on my horse, and my mule is coming back from the trainer next weekend and she will have to be rode. Don't know how long I'll be able to keep the excersize up, but if it comes down to riding or excersizing, it will be riding.

It wasn't originally said that this was supposed to be directed towards the younger people. Well when I was 13 I did alot more then 1 hour of excersize a day! From the moment I got out of bed I was up and about, no formal excersizing, but I got plenty of a work out, only thing that slowed me down was school (I think if I was in school now I'd never get any excersize w/ all the homework).

 

[Taihoa]

Just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons. I know PLENTY of people who you would probably term 'unfit and overweight' yet are extremely fit and are very light riders.
Then I know plenty of string thin people that are usually considered 'fit' who ride like sacks of potatoes.
Weight has very little to do with it.
Yes, if you are overweight and are not a light rider then maybe you should do something about it - but for yourself, not cos someone told you to.
And if anyone is looking to tone up/slim down and doesn't like sweating (cos **** I'm lazy and I don't do running or the gym - too much effort!) then try pilates
I personally won't be changing my life style - my partner is a body builder so we eat high protein, low fat ALL the time. And I work 9 horses, walk our three dogs for nearly 2 hours and do pilates every day. I'm still not string thin, never will be, but I'm fit enough to do what I do.

 

[roro]

As long as a horse can carry an overweight rider without any problems, they don't have to change for their horse. In fact, a person with a lot of muscle weighs more than a person with a lot of fat. Other people are born with a heavier frame and it does not make them unhealthy. Being healthy and fit is much, much more than spending time at the gym. I do recommend trying yoga or pilates as it can help mind and body for riding, but it would be silly of me to assume someone is a lesser rider because they do not do yoga.

 

[I love Arabs]

IMO I think its kinda funny that everyone is talking about fittness and health and running while they are on the computer... (and yes I do realize I am too)

 

[ScharmLily]

Honestly, unless you ride many horses a day, I wouldn't really classify that as a sufficient workout. I workout multiple times a day, and really the riding just doesn't raise your heart or repeatedly stress your muscles enough unless you do it to an extreme. And to the person who said running burns off more muscle than you make, it all depends on your body type and how you do it. Sure, running for several hours plus is going to be burning your muscle, but doing sprints or coupling a half hour of running with strength exercises will certainly cause you to gain more muscle than you loose. When I started running again after breaking my ankle you could visibly see the muscle building up on my legs. Good exercising habits also need to be coupled with good eating habits. If you are worried about loosing muscle it may be because you are not taking in enough protein post-exercise.

 

[ridergirl23]

I think it really depends on what type of riding you do, and how hardcore you do it. I ride dressage, I ride for a VERY intense 15-30 min a day. sometimes i sweat, sometimes i dont, but i do classify it as a workout. and believe me, i am not overweight or weak, i find i am actually quite strong with my age. but it still is a workout for me, and i am at the barn as much as possible, which can require a lot of running around (lol) but if you just go for a trail ride, i wouldnt USUALLY call that a workout. haha if you do that bareback then its even more of a workout! but just what i do in a day keeps me fit.