Fitness for equestrians is more important than just being fit

I’ve always been a “fitness girly.” I love celebrating the body through movement, I love understanding the way the body works and moves, I love the mental health benefits of exercise, and I love feeling physical exertion and enjoying deep stretches afterwards.

For those who don’t know, I made it my career in a past life. In July 2014 I was hit by an SUV while I was crossing the street and it broke my pelvis. While I exercised regularly before that, it was a pivotal time that started me on a journey of learning about exercise for more than weight-loss or aesthetic purposes. I became a yoga teacher, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and Pilates instructor, and I opened and ran a studio for five years.

These days, my exercise routine is much slower. It involves a lot of walking in the woods, stretching, and the occasional weight lifting. Having my horses at home gives me lots of physical exertion (IYKYK!) so I tend to spend less time working out and more time working outside.

Recently though, I pulled out the exercise bike and have been enjoying it in the mornings. I have never excelled at cardio; ask me to balance on my hands and I got you, but ask me to run and you’ll get a raised eyebrow instead. So building my cardiovascular endurance on the exercise bike has involved a lot of breaks and gradual time increases.

How this relates to horses

Over the past few weeks, I have been slowly preparing my horses to start getting in shape again. I am hopeful to ride them again this year and before I do so, I’ve been ensuring they’re physically (and emotionally) ready for it.

We have been doing a lot of hand-walks, and each week, I’ve been increasing the duration. This week, we increased it once again and while walking, my horse kept stopping. They were both doing it, but for this example, I’ll refer to my mare specifically. She would occasionally stop, maybe sniff the fence, or just casually look around. We’d pause together, and then she’d step forward and off we’d go again.

There was no resistance because I gave her the time she needed. I can almost guarantee there would be resistance if I tried to force her onwards.

My mare is out of shape. Sure, she’s getting back in shape, but it takes time. The same time it’s taking me.

If I hadn’t been going through my own experience of building my endurance and needing to take breaks… I might not have noticed hers.

Imagine if we were walking around and she needed a break but I said “Stop being lazy” and pulled her forward, clicked my tongue, or flicked a whip. Imagine if she pulled back or swished her tail or escalated to a buck or rear. The human might think how sassy she is, and meanwhile, the horse is saying “I just need a f*cking break. Can you give me a sec?”

Getting in shape is hard. And when we have that experience ourselves, we’re able to have more empathy for our horses in their experience.