Help! The out of shape rider!!

[AnnieGirl]

Hello everyone! I recently started riding again after a full 5 years off, and it has sadly been a struggle. Unfortunately with recently graduating, and a new job I don’t have time to get to the barn every day. Right now I am lucky to get a lesson every week since the trainer I am using has a schedule that doesn’t match up with mine (other students who take more regular lessons). This is okay because I don’t have many more options of quality trainers without a 1hr++ commute after work, and of course, I am a big believer in quality over quantity. Other than the lessons I can get the barn to hack about one to two additional times per week.

Unfortunately, the horse I am riding is a true kick ride on the flat. Spurs, crop, lunge whip nothing seems to wake her up or get her motivated on the flat. My problem with this is that I am just not in shape to push her forward, or use my leg super effectively. I want to make the most of my riding time, and I was wondering if anyone in similar situations has any advice for this. Is there any exercises I could be doing not at the barn to strengthen myself. Or should I be working on certain things on the flat to strengthen myself as well? Side note. The saddle I am riding in is brand new and not broken in yet which adds to my difficulty of getting the most out of my ride.

I would also like to add that it isn’t losing weight I am concerned with, but overall muscle strength especially in my core and legs.

[goinghome]

Way back when I was just starting college I decided to take saddle seat lessons. The instructor put me on the laziest most unresponsive animal I’d ever sat on. I was ticked off at first but after 6 months of taking lessons twice a week on that little mare and I had legs (and buns) of steel. Best fitness program I’ve ever worked! :lol:

[AnnieGirl]

I love this mare to death. She really does have a lot of personality, and is my dream horse beside the laziness. I am super excited that she pushes me to work harder during my lessons, but I wish I didn’t get tired so quickly during them. Trotting two times around the ring is an accomplishment. Sadly.

[retiredhorse]

Can you ask for lunge line lessons? Lunger can help keep horse going forward, while you work in your position. This means knowing how to lunge, not just chasing horse with whip. You can work up to riding without reins or stirrups too.

I know when I’m out of riding shape, if my legs get tired, I resort to driving with my seat, which is counterproductive and builds the wrong muscles.

If your leg is not yet solid, I’d be inclined to remove spurs and carry two dressage whips to back up your leg. Make sure you’re rewarding horse for moving forward and not inadvertently catching or balancing on the mouth, and essentially conflicting the aids.

Or ask for a different horse with more engine, so you don’t develop bad habits if you’re compensating for lack of strength/timing. At least some of the time. Like maybe for your hacks, it would be beneficial to practice on an easier horse. And lesson on the harder one.

Also being fit in general and having good awareness and ability to use/feel what your own body is doing helps. Like gymnastics or Pilates.

And you can work on softening saddle off the horse a bit. Roll the flaps with some leather balsam. I did this 2-3x with my new saddle years ago and it helped. Maybe there’s newer products out there that would be good too.

[AnnieGirl]

I don’t have access to another horse. I am blessed to know the owners, and they are giving me a free lease situation. I think I am going to hate myself, but I like the removing spurs part. I’m sure it will not be pretty, but it would keep me from using them as a crutch and strengthening my leg.

It’s frustrating knowing what to do, but being in the situation where I am just not strong enough to get the results I want. This is a complete 180 from when I rode through high school and college. At least when all is said and done I will be extremely strong

[Arelle]

I’m kind of in the same boat in that I took six years off from jumping and now I’m back - my best advice is to pick up cross training - I try to run 4-5 days a week and hit the gym - squats, lunges, etc. Even if it isn’t riding, getting your core stronger and more strength will allow you to ride better/longer.

[Chall]

I have looked around to see what devices I could use:

• igallop (nope, not enough like a horses gait per riders’ reviews)
• electronic horse with sensors and video screen $1000,000
  -mechanical horse $3000
  -a weighted block you hold while riding, reins are held on it ( forgot the name)

My instructor suggested one of those big balls that you sit on, where you have to continuously use your muscles to stay on top.

So far, what hurts most after lessons are my ribs (!) so I don’t think any of the above is applicable.

[Posting_Trot]

I think it’s a good idea to lose the spurs, and probably you should also lose the whip. Since you’re leasing the horse, you might want to consider lunging the horse and just see what kinds of gaits you get when the horse doesn’t have a rider on her back. In other words, is the horse actually lazy or is it you?

One other thing to consider is the horse’s age and fitness level. Is the horse hurting anywhere? Does she seem to have a sore back? Does she seem stiff when you first start riding and gradually warm up? When did the owners last vet her completely? Is she ridden other than the times you ride her?

If she’s older she could have arthritis which would make her stiff. If the saddle doesn’t fit her back could be sore enough that she doesn’t want to move out while ridden. If she’s out of shape, she may gradually become more lively as her level of fitness improves.

[DancingArabian]

Overall fitness will help you. I suggest joining a gym and trying to go on the days you aren’t going to the barn. Boutique gyms are popping up all over and offer a specific format over and over. Something like Orange Theory, or kickboxing would be helpful for your fitness for riding. Or if you join a regular gym, they will likely have group fitness classes you could try, or you could hire a personal trainer and hit the weights.

[HungarianHippo]

Add Running to your routine! You don’t need a gym, and can do it in all weather–humans are remarkably waterproof. Since you are just starting out, you should focus on frequency rather than volume/intensity. In other words, better to do 1-2 miles 4 or 5 days a week, versus longer & faster runs just on the weekend.

[PNWjumper]

Two things -

1. There’s a common misconception that a slow horse requires a ton of leg and squeezing. That’s not true. A slow horse needs a rider who instantly reacts when they get dull or slow. IMO, spurs have absolutely nothing to do with what’s required to get a slow horse going. It’s a whip (and proper use of said whip). I agree with the suggestion to ditch the spurs. When I’ve watched friends ride dull horses with spurs, nine times out of ten I’ve watched them nag with the spur throughout the whole ride which at best makes the spurs 100% ineffective, and at worst rubs holes in the horse’s sides (which I have seen happen in a single ride).

I have 2 prone-to-being-ultra-dull-especially-if-they-think-they-can-get-away-with-it-horses. My rule for both of them when other people ride them is that starting from the minute they get on, I want the rider to be uber aware of their cues. If they cluck the horse MUST respond! MUST! EVERY SINGLE TIME that noise is made. So no extraneous clucking allowed (this is much harder for most people than they realize)! I tell the riders to cluck when appropriate and if they don’t immediately feel the horse surge forward a little bit then they need to give a wallop with the whip. And that HAS to be a legit whack…not one of those pansy ass taps that don’t do anything. It usually takes a few of those responses and suddenly the horse realizes that the rider means business and they both get shockingly easy to ride. If the rider doesn’t master that skill they both drag their feet and barely go for the rest of the ride.

That gets carried forward through the rest of the ride. The dullest of dull horses doesn’t need to have a whip used frequently…just consistently and definitively. If the horse slows down at all, it’s an IMMEDIATE cluck and same response as above. I’ve had a lot of friends come ride at my house over the years and I’ve been surprised how many times I’ve had to chide people for their wimpy and useless application of that most important tool. Hit yourself with the whip and see how hard you have to whip your leg to make it sting. Then apply technique to horse. If the horse doesn’t respond after the cluck (they always get the cluck first and the chance to respond without the whip), then whip once. If they still don’t respond then escalate. IME, this works 100% of the time. If it doesn’t, you’re doing something wrong or being inconsistent.

Squeezing, for the record, does absolutely nothing for either of those horses in regard to forward tempo. And I’ve yet to meet a slow horse that requires squeezing as a way to get them to go forward.

2. There’s a certain baseline of “squeezing” that is, of course, required to keep your own body moving appropriately with the horse. This can be helped by all sorts of exercise focusing on core strength, as others have mentioned.

[Sunflower]

Nothing to do about being in shape, but I had a revelation in a lesson recently with my OTTB. Normally he is a forward ride but this particular day he was doddling along like the pokiest ever school horse. Pushing, squeezing, kicking, it all had no effect. My instructor said that it is easy for horses to ignore your leg, and tune you out. She said that energy comes from the body, from me, and gave me an exercise of pushing my hands out one at a time ahead of me, as we walked ( sorry, I am not good at describing this, sort of like a pedalling motion but with your arms) and voila, pokey pony was suddenly alert and forward moving. I try this now to get energy from him-- and it works. Not sure why. But it does.

[Sport]

@PNWjumper is right on. You need to be brave but this horse is just ignoring you and making you work harder and she can cruise.

[SnicklefritzG]

Send me a PM and I can suggest some exercises to do off the horse that will help immensely.

[Bogie]

PNWJumper has nailed it. Spurs are not a “go forward” aid. They are to encourage the horse to engage it’s abdominal muscles. Or, in the case of my mare, they are a bucking deterrent :lol:. The horse can feel a fly land on him, so he’s just tuning you out. You need to get him to sharpen up and listen to your aids. I’ve found a whip to be the best way to do that.

My draft x mare can be sluggish when she wants to tune me out. I don’t let her. If she’s not listening and responding, I start with a ton of transitions – both within gaits and in between gaits. If she doesn’t move on when asked, she gets a sting. It doesn’t take too many corrections before she “remembers” to move forward when allowed. I try to ride her mostly off of my seat.

As for your own fitness, when I’m swimming regularly I always ride better. It builds core strength and endurance.

[Scribbler]

It’s hard with a horse that isn’t yours, but you need to do some diagnosing. I would start with longing the horse and seeing how she reacts. Will she move forward? Will she canter around at liberty or play with her friends?

If this was my own horse, I would want to look at feet, saddle fit, and diet, including amount of grain and supplements. Also fitness level and age. and workload.

My mare can get very dopey if she isn’t getting enough days off, if she isn’t getting enough grain, and if something hurts. Periods when she won’t even canter in turnout with her friends are different from periods where she is being balky under saddle but has lots of energy at liberty.

IMHO experience a horse that is overall low energy has more problems than just being a “kick ride.” And it is doing your riding no good to learn to smash with your leg and heel and spur. You will learn busy legs that will get you in trouble when you transition back to a more forward horse. I see this happen all the time with lessons kids moving from lesson horses to half leasing private horses.

How does the horse go for other people? Have your coach or the horse’s owners ride her and watch. they may be able to wake her up quickly, or they may have the same problems as you. But definitely you will learn something

[KLeaphart]

You should try Blogilates. There is a new workout calendar every month you can follow or you can choose specific videos/challenges to work specific areas. It’s free and you can work out from home.

While riding, I’d do no stirrups until you can’t anymore, take a walk break, then continue with stirrups.

[SuzieQNutter]

If you are leasing the horse, then you train it to go without whip and spur.

A horse that won’t go needs to learn to go with legs off. A horse that over reacts with leg on needs to learn to go with leg on.

I deliver junk mail. I use a bike and the bike carries the pamphlets. I started off walking up hills and coasting now. Now I only do that on the really steep hills. I can pedal most of the way now on the one without steep hills.

So I am being paid to get fit enough to ride.

[Redlei44]

@PNWjumper

That gets carried forward through the rest of the ride. The dullest of dull horses doesn’t need to have a whip used frequently…just consistently and definitively. If the horse slows down at all, it’s an IMMEDIATE cluck and same response as above. I’ve had a lot of friends come ride at my house over the years and I’ve been surprised how many times I’ve had to chide people for their wimpy and useless application of that most important tool. Hit yourself with the whip and see how hard you have to whip your leg to make it sting. Then apply technique to horse. If the horse doesn’t respond after the cluck (they always get the cluck first and the chance to respond without the whip), then whip once. If they still don’t respond then escalate. IME, this works 100% of the time. If it doesn’t, you’re doing something wrong or being inconsistent.

Squeezing, for the record, does absolutely nothing for either of those horses in regard to forward tempo. And I’ve yet to meet a slow horse that requires squeezing as a way to get them to go forward.

Well said. Assuming this is not pain, I agree with this 100%. Your goal should not be to get strong enough to engage in a squeezing contest, it should be to work on sharpening up your cues and improve the mare’s responsiveness and self-engine.

One of the horses I currently ride is like this, well schooled but tries at the beginning of most rides to be a lazy bum. One fair but firm leg-cluck-whip at the first lazy response consistently nips it in the bud and results in a much more pleasant ride.

[danacat]

@AnnieGirl

Is there any exercises I could be doing not at the barn to strengthen myself.
I would also like to add that it isn’t losing weight I am concerned with, but overall muscle strength especially in my core and legs.

Wall sits are a great ‘at home’ exercise for legs, core etc.
https://kickasshomegym.com/wall-sit-benefits/​​​​​​