Being fit to ride certainly has benefits for riders but there are also benefits for our horses. The horse-and-rider partnership is unique. We owe it to our horses to be as balanced and coordinated as possible to ensure their comfort and ability to do what we ask with ease. We are not all built the same and not everyone will assume the “ideal” riding posture and position. Still, we can all work towards better posture, balance, and coordination, resulting in clearer, more effective communication with our equine partners.

A hot humid day. One rider. One horse. Both are exercising at a moderate level. Who is more likely to overheat? It might surprise you to learn that your horse gets hotter much faster than you and is more susceptible to the negative effects of heat stress. Prof. Michael Lindinger, an animal and exercise physiologist at the University of Guelph, explains: “It only takes 17 minutes of moderate intensity exercise in hot, humid weather to raise a horse’s temperature to dangerous levels. That’s three to ten times faster than in humans. Horses feel the heat much worse than we do.”

Finding time to exercise can be a challenge at this time of year: farm chores, yard work, summer vacations, competition, you name it, it’s on your plate. Unexpected downtime due to back injury or strain would really put a kink in your summer plans.

To further explore some of the issues mature riders face, I invited Sue Leffler, a Canadian Level 4 Centered Riding® Instructor and Balimo™ Clinician who works with predominately adult riders, about 45 percent of whom are over 45, to share some of the ideas she has seen work to help mature riders stay fit to ride.