Why Horse riding is just like any sport
Before you come for me, let me start by saying that I know that there are very few sports that involve working with an animal, who could decide at any moment that they do not want to play anymore and your day is over.
What I mean when I say that horse riding is like any other sport is in reference to how we train for the sport. With all sports, they do skills training, as do we when riding. However, we are much further behind in the strength and conditioning elements of training.
If you don’t know what strength and conditioning is, it is gym based (but doesn’t have to take place in a gym) training that is done alongside your traditional skills training. The purpose of strength and conditioning work is to keep the athlete as injury free as possible.
A common misconception is that this is done by running the legs of an athlete so they are fitter, then going into the gym to lift heavy weight, but this is often not the case. It is often done by using a combination of exercises that mimic what you do in your sport, in order to make you stronger when you are doing these movements while competing.
Another reason for doing this type of training is to improve weaker muscles or increase their range of movement which in turn will improve your performance, posture and balance.
With other sports, this can translate into kicking a ball further, being faster of the mark when sprinting or being able to jump higher. When it comes to horse riding it can mean: feeling more balanced around corners, your horse being able to understand your aids better or even lower the risk of injury after a fall.
This type of training won’t just benefit your riding. It will also help you when it comes to working around the yard. If you are stronger and more mobile it will be a lot easier for you to clean stables, carry tack/haybales/buckets or whatever other jobs that you need to do that come with looking after a horse (or horses).
Banded rows
So what are some of the exercises that we could do that would compliment our riding?
Squats - This leg exercise not only works all the muscles in your upper legs, but it is also the closest thing you will get to mimicking rising trot without a horse. If you really focus on squeezing your glutes (butt) when you stand back up out of the squat it can help to stop you from tipping forward when rising on a horse.
Banded/Cable Rows - This exercise helps us strengthen our midback muscles. These muscles are often weak (thanks to office jobs) resulting in poor posture. If you strengthen these muscles it will not only improve your posture while riding but can also make your rein-related aids clearer to your horse.
Plank - While this exercise doesn’t actually mimic anything that we do while riding, being able to engage our abdominal muscles is really important for both posture and balance. If you struggle with either of these while riding, learning to engage your abs will make a massive difference.
These are just a few examples of some of the exercises that we can do that can greatly improve our riding. Horse riding and working with horses is incredibly physical, so why are we not doing things that can make it easier on our bodies?
why wouldn’t you want to make your life easier
Want to learn more about how YOU can do this too? I’m hosting a FREE webinar on Tuesday the 8th of November @7.30pm (GMT) to find out how to join follow the link below!