I had no either; now I have another reason to understand why it is an Olympic sport!!! Like you. I had no idea how physically demanding riding was once you start past 3/4 level.
I think today will be another walk/stretch day exercise-wise, then I will start with the hard work ( e.g., rowing, weights, and core ) at the gym tomorrow. I can’t t believe that it has taken me two days to get over that lesson exhaustion! But things are starting to feel better.
You are not kidding!!! I swear I felt like I had a free-weight workout on Saturday.
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omg I’m scared haha. I think its a huge eye opener just at 2nd level!! I can’t imagine past 4th LOL
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Olympic weight lifting alongside cross-functional weight training was one of the best non-horse things I ever did for my riding. I never lifted heavy heavy weights (I think I maxed a 125lb squat and a 185lb deadlift), but I gained so much stamina and core stability. We did a lot of work on the bosu ball building balance and strength. I hated every minute of it, but dang it helped with my verticality in the saddle and stability at all three gaits.
Yep, like driving a Greyhound bus, manual, no power brakes or steering.
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The jump from First to Second is significant, and again from Third to Fourth. I’m guessing it’s a huge step at every level after that, but will probably never find out for myself lol.
I was so naive back in the days when I thought the big difference between levels was riding smaller circles and going more sideways haha.
To whichever poster said they couldn’t understand the physicality because they had never ridden a big-moving horse, you are correct. You literally can’t imagine it until you do it. I thought I knew what using my core to ride felt like until I had my first ever lesson on a huge, semi-retired Grand Prix horse. The canter was a dreamy but I literally couldn’t trot a 20m circle. It was embarrassing but hilarious at the same time. I couldn’t post the trot without double bouncing and I sure as heck couldn’t sit it. What an eye opener! And I’d been riding since I was a teen, just never on a horse like that.
Same for the difference in physical strength required of both horse and between First and Third, and I imagine between every level after that. You simply can’t really know until you experience it.
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Oh well this is timely for me! I’m new to dressage (and also getting back into shape after 8 months off), and the last couple horses I’ve ridden regularly were all “non-traditional” dressage horses- QH, Arab, TB, etc. Last week my trainer put me on a schoolmaster who’s trained through 4th level and is a classic big moving WB.
When I was on the horse I could definitely feel major differences in how he moved and how that affected me (and vice versa!) but didn’t notice it being particularly demanding physically. But once I got off? I realized on the drive home I was actually trembling. The entire next day I felt about as steady as a bowl of jello. When I rode h/j I certainly had my share of two-point hell lessons, but this whole body exhaustion was new to me.
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Glad for all the feedback from the experts. Thanks
I felt the same way. I am glad I started this post. I thought I was “riding fit,” doing well during my gym workouts. Not at all. This weekend was a "reality check’ for me.
Yeah, we call that “armstrong” steering!
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I just started work with the Bosu Ball two weeks ago,. I could tell how it made a big difference in my verticality over the weekend. Any excercises you could recommend or good sites to look at? Your weight lifting is VERY impressive.
That was me. I have been riding my TBs, nice cushy. wide TB/Draft crosses, and comfortable Iberian crosses for years and am doing Third/Forth Level. Can’t recall the pain going from Third/Forth years ago because I was using a School master retired TB eventer. This was my really first taste of the “big mover.” This time was a different story. I laughing at myself now and can only look forward to more. I’ll most likely drink a high energy sport drink next week before the lesson to see if that helps a little with the muscle exhaustion…
For the heavy lifting, I worked with a trainer who would pick on my form and spot me. I would recommend the same.
For bosu ball exercises, I did a lot of lunges (back foot on the ball), squats (one foot on each ball), planks, push-ups, standing on the bosu and doing shoulder presses, bird-dogs, up-down planks, and v-sits.
Single leg squats helped me tackle my one-sidedness as well.
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Yes, riding the big moving horses is amazing but is also a fantastic core work out. I’m not riding one now but when I was riding one regularly I lost weight pretty quickly and felt strong. Our rides were awesome. Now I’m back to being a blob. Oddly I wasn’t sore after riding him but the TB, who isn’t particularly bouncy at all, makes my lower back hurt. Sometimes my hip too. The big boy was just a better fit for me physically I guess.
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After staring a warmblood from scratch, I bought an Iberian thinking it would be less effort. BOY WAS I WRONG. After one particularly grueling session on steering while cantering and NOT diving through the outside rein (very hard if you are only 4 years old), my coach looked at me and smiled, “now you know why colt starters are all so wiry.” At the time I was too exhausted to speak and was passing out from lack of oxygen, but I could have smacked her. 
Thanks, for the enformation, I’ll add some of bosu exercises tomorrow. I joined LA Fitness and have been working with a trainer that has a sister that is involved with show hunters so he understands what riders really need to work on.
I feel your pain…:
I am not in my first flush of youth, and I’ve been on the injured list, off and on, for the past year, so I’m not as fit as I should be. And on top of that my SI joint is riddled with arthritis and there’s a couple of iffy discs back there, too, so I have to be super-careful about any core strengthening exercise I do so I don’t completely cripple myself.
I’m fortunate enough to be in full training with an exacting teacher, and to have an upper level schoolmaster, who, whilst he is actually a pretty smooth ride, isn’t handing out any gifts in the getting in front of my leg department. And it’s starting to get quite warm here.
I’m just completely and utterly toasted by the time I get off after my daily lesson. Like “come home and have a nap” toasted. But, in order to pay for this fun hobby, I need to actually sit down in front of my computer and think coherently and not fall asleep on my keyboard for a few hours, then stagger round cooking dinner and being a decent human being.
I’m sitting here now with jello legs waiting for it to be a reasonable time to go to bed.
I’m assuming that as my fitness improves, I will become less of a zombie, but oof… this is hard work!
Really, though. First world problems. Lucky me. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger…
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and why we need flat saddles!
My new one has an added oddity, long legs and wobbly…add odd mouth requirements so mullen, which means always gotta have opposite arm pressure to support bit so it won’t pull through… Finally he’s moving off my leg…WHAT a relief to my shoulders!
oh, AND he paces. Riding him is like riding a surfboard.
They are a different kind of physical ride!
