Saddle Up!

8 Exercises to Prepare you  for your First Horse Ride

I had the opportunity to go horseback riding for the first time this past weekend, and I had such a wonderful time! It was, however, more physically demanding than I had thought it would be. For those of you who are considering riding a horse on your next vacation, I recommend doing the following exercises a few times a week in the month prior to your trip so that you feel strong and confident in your ability to ride by the time you get to the horse.

Read through the exercises first, making sure to click on the title of each exercise to be taken to more detailed instructions or a video demonstration. You’ll find the full workout put together at the bottom, and always remember to warm up for at least 5 minutes before beginning your workout!

Pop Squats

This exercise will work your quads, in addition to your abductors, adductors, calves, glutes, hamstrings. In other words, it’s a great full leg exercise! You can do this one without any equipment, though using a low step will make it more challenging. Do to the explosive nature of the jump, you’ll also be working on your cardio.

Transverse Step Up

One thing that surprised me when I got off the horse was how my knees felt. With my legs held wide and my knees pointed out, stepping off the horse to stand up straight again left the connective tissues of my knee feeling strained. In order to strengthen these connective tissues in that way, it is important to move in a transverse plane (diagonally). This exercise not only strengthen the legs, but the because of the turn before the step they also prepare your knees for that outward movement.

Curtsy Lunges

This lunge variation again trains your knees to move in a different direction – laterally, or sideways. Because the moving leg is crossing behind the standing leg, you will also notice that you are engaging more of your inner and outer thighs during this lunge – which are important for helping you stay on the horse!

Wall Sit or Horse Stance

Ah, the classing wall sit. It is amazing for building endurance and stamina in the legs, as you are holding this position for time. If you’re looking for an additional challenge, try holding the horse stance instead! Since it requires wide legs, it’s also amazing for hip flexibility and it more close mimics the riding position on a horse (hence the name!).

Medicine Ball Side Toss

One thing I learned from my experience is that the upper arms should stay glued to the sides and that one should “steer” by rotating their torso, leading with the eyes.

Stand perpendicular to the wall and quickly pass the ball to the side, keeping your upper arms glued to your sides. Note that the power of this exercise comes from a quick snap of the hips through a stable core. Try this exercise close to wall to begin with, as this will limit your ability to over use your arms to push the ball. Concentrate on feeling this exercise with your core.

Dead Bugs or Hollow Hold

The dead bug strengthens the deep stabilization muscles of your core while protecting your spine, which important for holding yourself upright with a horse moving around below you! If you already have a pretty strong core don’t find the dead bugs very challenging, feel free to do a hollow hold (for time) instead. With both exercises, it is important to note that your spine must remain in a neutral position. If you find that your lower back is beginning to arch you should either end you set there, or regress to a more suitable variation for the remainder of your set.

Bird Dogs

Now that we’ve strengthened the front of out “trunk”, it’s time to give the backside a little love. Bird dogs will help stabilize the muscles around the spine, in addition to the the glutes, hamstrings, and muscles around the shoulder. Just make sure to keep your hips and shoulders even as you extend outwards. If doing these on your knees is too easy, try doing them from a plank position!

Glute Bridge

The glutes, while usually thought of in regards to their appearance, are actually an important part of the core. In addition to strengthening your rear end, these bridges also help improve core stability, and particularly your lower abs, which will help improve your upper-body riding posture. To make it more challenging or put more focus on the hamstrings, simply try doing one leg at a time.

Frog Stretch

The benefits of this exercise are two-fold. First, it requires a decent amount of hip mobility in order to comfortably straddle a horse in the first place. If you have tight hips, working on this before hand will make your ride that much more comfortable! Secondly, your inner thighs will most likely be feeling pretty sore after you get off the horse! Do this stretch after your ride to help loosen up those tight muscles.

Calf Stretch

I was told to position my feet in the the stirrup so that my heels pointed down,  and my toes pointed up. Having tight calves, this was a little bit tricky for me! This is why I recommend working on this easy stretch to make your riding posture more comfortable.