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Exercise Ideas Needed, Please!

What fitness exercises can you suggest for an old horsewoman who hasn’t been on a horse in several years but wants to try riding again?

I’m just not ready to quit, and I’ve just found a good trainer who has some good lesson horses.

Are there any specific exercises I can do to work on my core and my stamina?

Are there any unmounted exercises/games the horse and I could try together until I feel up to riding him (or if I never do)?

I used to free lunge our Shetland who had no kids to ride her but needed exercise. We made things up as we went along but I can’t remember how we got started.

I would be happy paying for grooming and bonding sessions right now but I want this sweet horse to enjoy our time too.

Handwalking on the trails is great for everyone’s fitness. Long-lining has the same benefits, plus you get to practice your contact on the reins.

As for your core, check out pilates videos online.

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You could also look up horse agility - a great way to exercise yourself, the horse and build a bond in the process!

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You could try learning in-hand work and long-lining. That way both of you get exercise at the same time, and it builds a good bridge to riding because it is kind of like riding from the ground.

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If I were the owner of these lesson horses, I’m not sure I’d be inclined to allow a student to handwalk my horses on trails, or learn to long-line, free lunge or do horse agility. Have you asked? Maybe the trainer is willing, and horses already know some things - but I would not assume. Thinking about the lesson barns I’ve ridden at - the answer to all of these would most likely have been absolutely not. So, I’d at least check on that before you start making any plans.

If this is a regular riding stable, why not get on and see how it goes? There is no reason you couldn’t just walk for the time being.

Off the horse/without a horse, of course there are tons of things you can do to improve your fitness – walking, for sure, but swimming, pilates, basic calisthenics…so what do you think you need to work on, and what do you have access to or like to do? (E.g. if you don’t have access to a pool, obviously swimming isn’t a good suggestion. Do you belong to a gym? Do you have any equipment at home - resistance bands, free weights?)

Consider belly dancing. You WILL learn how to isolate muscles, tone your whole torso, arms and legs, improve your balance, improve your rhythm and timing, improve your endurance and have fun doing so.

Plus being a belly dancer can be a good way to pick up extra money. That is what the wife of one of my brother-in-laws did to supplement what she earned at her regular job.

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Thanks! I just read about that for the first time this past week and it sounds like so much fun. Do you do it?

I would like to try that. I will ask if this horse has the right tack. I used to love long-lining our pony years ago. I’m trying to find some good in-hand-work videos online but so far I haven’t seen any that start with the basic basics.

And it always looks like fun. :slight_smile:

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That goes without saying.

I was just wondering this weekend if anyone does calisthenics anymore. We did them at school – back in the days of JFK’s fitness enthusiasm for schoolkids. I still remember several of the routines (I doubt I could ever forget them! lol). They sound like a good place to start.

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I would recommend a stationary bike with a heavy weighted wheel! You can find some reasonably inexpensively on Amazon and I used mine a ton before I returned to riding after a break. I’m now a peloton concert, but my first bike was about $180 on Amazon and it worked very well. With the resistance high enough, you’ll build leg, core and cardiovascular fitness. Just make sure you get one that makes you sit upright, rather than a reclining position!

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Lessons in Lightness by Mark Russell and Manolo Mendez’ are a couple DVDs you could check out. Mark’s in hand work generally just requires a snaffle bridle so that could be a good place to start if you have limited equipment.

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A lot of “calisthenics” are still incorporated into various types of workouts - things like squats, jumping jacks, pushups, for example. I do these all the time, with and without weights, assigned to me by a 30 year old certified strength trainer…so yes. They just don’t usually call them calisthenics. :slight_smile:

Also, I found this set of core exercises here on COTH and again, my trainer incorporates a lot of these into my workouts, especially planks, side planks of varying type, bird dogs, and different types of push-ups. https://www.oiselle.com/blogs/oiselle-blog/core-routine-runners-dozen

Some of these are really hard - e.g. V-ups are tough; but single-leg V-ups are nearly as effective and much easier to accomplish, so my trainer rarely has me do the double leg.

Caution - you will very likely not be able to do all of these, or all the reps. That’s ok. Just keep track of what you can do correctly, and stop there. Never push past the point where you can’t do it correctly - if that means only 5 reps, that’s it. Try for 6 next time.

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This is a super suggestion. I’m going to have to borrow this!

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Tai Chi is really good for building up core strength and it’s low impact and slow enough to keep from getting too sore. See if there are any martial arts clubs or school sin your area. The ones with Kung Fu (another Chinese martial Art) are probably more likely to be genuine. The place I go has acupuncture next door.

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Thank you. These sound like really good suggestions.

That is a handy set-up! I have been thinking of trying acupuncture again. I like the movements of Tai Chi and do some that are similar and really feel good.

I second the stationary bike suggestion. I bought an inexpensive one off of amazon for rehabbing post-ACL surgery and it’s been a fantastic purchase. You can do your own workouts on it (make sure you do some work standing up on the pedals and out of the seat like your hill climbing for maximum burn!) or there are apps and YouTube videos you can follow along with.

Yoga is awesome. There are so many great videos on YouTube now for free. I like Yoga with Adriene (Adrienne?) and the stretching workouts from the “growingananas” channel. You can search “yoga for core strength”, “yoga for strength and flexibility”, “yoga for runners” or whatever you are looking for and you’ll get all sorts of options.

Barre workouts are also great. Classes can be pricey but there are a number of good videos on YouTube for that as well!

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I will follow this. Unfortunately I cannot do anything that stresses my hands or wrists, so almost everything in the blog cited above is out of the question.