Conference noted::equitation

	The only way I know of to take care of that is ....


	head out again today! ;^) ;^)

	

	

    Boy can I sympathize.......I haven't ridden in almost 4 years and just
    got my 3 yr old back from the trainers (which means I've gotta ride
    more often than I normally would).
    
    I keep telling myself that he's young so I have to keep the sessions
    short:-)  (of course it's totally unrelated to the fact that I'm
    discovering muscles I forgot I had:-)
    
    Kathy

    Yep, its that time of the year again....I did two days in a row!!!
     by Sunday, I couldn't move.  My husband, gave me a nice back massage
    and a couple of good cracks and I'm ready to go again.  
    
    What about our horses???  I noticed some raw spots where the cinch
    was rubbing....  My guy is in pretty good shape, but not ready for
    those 4-5 hr rides yet.  (neither am I)!!
    
    I love it!!!!  

    
    Same here.  I have not ridden bare-back in quite some time..well..
    I rode for 1hr bare-back and I feel like my legs are  made from
    rubber!  I wonder if I look as funny as I feel?
    
    Louisa & Joey

    Ok, so, folks, do you have any advice for actually *getting in shape*
    for riding?  I looked through the rider_conditioning keyworded notes
    and didn't see anything except to....... ride!
    
    Having just had my first lesson in 15 years Tuesday night, and feeling
    like a bowlegged cowboy today, I've found out which muscles need
    strengthening: The ones I didn't know I had!
    
    Here's my take on the muscle groups that need help and some proposed
    exercises to help out.  Any feedback is *quite* welcome!
    
    Lower back and Buttocks: Kneeling leg lifts, tense/release exercises,
    squats.  Also supporting muscles in abdomen: crunches and sit ups.
    
    Quads: Squats, leg lifts, tense/release.
    
    Inner thighs: Sideways leg lifts, seated scissors, resistance
    squeezes
    
    Outer thighs: same as inner, but the other direction :^)
    
    Knees - mainly tendon soreness for me - indicating stretching exercises
    needed.  
    
    Ankles - big time stretching exercises needed - amazing how inflexible
    my ankles have become!
    
    Any other suggestions?
    
    I'll start ........... tomorrow.
    
    Dana

    I just try to walk a lot to keep in shape, besides riding. 
    
    One stretch I do while warming up is to bring my feet up behind the
    saddle (feet touching butt).  It opens and stretches my hips and knees.
    

    There was an article on rider fitness/conditioning in a recent
    Practical Horseman, I believe.  
    
    Although I would almost expect to be a bit stiff/sore when I start
    riding in spring after a winter of riding very little, I usually don't
    have a problem.  Probably from carrying water buckets around in
    addition to all the usual barn chores! :-)
    
    I do however, tend to get sore in the knees on long trail rides.  I can
    tell when I've hit the ~15 mile mark by them.  I just drop the stirrups
    for a ways, or lower/raise them a hole to re-position.  
    

    For improving your own flexibility, there's little that is better than
    yoga(hatha yoga, I mean. There are several kinds of yoga). It can improve
    your suppleness and coordination. It's basically 1) bending, 2) stretching 
    and 3) remaining in what look like contorted positions while you wait for 
    your muscles to release just a little more. There are a number of yoga
    exercises/positions that are excellent for loosening ankles, thighs,
    hips and back. Places where many riders get tight and stiff...
    
    As for conditioning so you don't get sore from riding, I've never found
    any exercise that used exactly the same set of muscle groups as riding
    *and* included the duration of riding...
    
    For example, one winter, Jan and I enrolled in an aerobics class to try
    to avoid the pain of getting back in riding shape in the spring. Didn't
    work. We kept in shape overall but after that first 5 minutes of
    posting trot we were sore! And that workout routine included an
    exercise similar to posting(I forget what it was called though)! The
    problem is that we post for a *lot* longer than the instructor had us
    doing the similar exercise...
    
    So now, we just walk and keep flexible. Fortunatley, we now live
    somewhere where we can ride year-round(well, sort of) so we don't get
    too far out of riding shape...

    Re: no exercises which use the same muscle groups for the same duration
    
    I can certainly see why that would be true.  Even when I made up my
    proposed list of exercises I was sure that I was missing the rounded
    nature of the work that the muscles are being asked to do.  I can think
    of no other activity that would compare!
    
    -dana

Dana,

Long time no see. It's great to hear that you're back in the saddle
again. I find getting in shape for riding very difficult - my body is very
uncooperative.  I do some simple stretches every day and before I go jogging
or riding to help lengthen my tight leg muscles. Things like jogging actually 
shorten your muscles so you have to make sure you throw in some stretching 
to counteract the effect.  I also have a T'ai Chi tape I got from a PBS catalog.
I think a lot of the concepts are directly applicable to riding: total 
relaxation, natural breathing, balance and developing root. They even have 
something called the horse rider's stance which helps condition the legs. 
There are some T'ai Chi classes offered at Digital. I think I remember seeing
a write up on one offered at LKG which would probably be the closest to you.
As a previous reply already stated, yoga is similar and would also be good.

As far as being sore. Even though I always stretch before I ride I will
occasionally feel it a day or two later. Especially if I've had a lesson heavy 
on shoulder-in or haunches-in which requires my pretzel body to really stretch.
Two Nuprin work just great for me.

diane    

    Back a few notes someone said there is nothing that will condition you
    for riding but riding. This is very true but...
    I started riding regularly about fours years ago. Before that I was
    competing on the national level in Judo. Started weight lifting 26
    years ago. Played just about every sport that was around me.
    ( now I have never said I was very good at them)
    	Most of us have a job other then riding to do. If we rode everyday
    4 or 5 hours, getting in shape for it would not need to be discussed.
    We need to compliment our riding with activities that will assist and 
    protect us. 
    	I'm a little biased. Weight training, stretching is what I use.
    Of course having taken around 100,000 falls in judo helps too.
    When an author talks about posture etc, to help gain this a strong
    set of abs and a flexable and strong lower back helps. Crunches,
    toe touches done slowly will help. 
    	To help with the sore knees, doing small knee circles helps, and
    Ice them down when done riding if they really ache. Toes raises
    on a 2x4 help the ankles. 
    If the upper body is aching, military pressing, curls, triceps,
    presses, upright rows will help. Time to go.
    
    Carl

    Hi -
    
    Thanks for all the tips.  I could use a disciplined approach to
    stretching.  I've had several injuries which I think are at the root of
    my knee and ankle inflexibility, so I've started gently working on those. 
    I lift weights for strengthening anyway, but I've never attempted yoga
    or T'ai Chi.  
    
    Dana 

    Careful with the weight lifting, folks. It's one of the kinds of
    exercise I *wouldn't* recommend for riders except jockeys. 
    If you can do ordinary barn chores(mucking out, carrying 50 lb. feed
    bags, stacking hay bales, etc), you have enough strength.  
    
    Like Carl K., I've participated in numerous athletic activities over 
    the years: baseball, basketball, squash, handball, volleyball, tennis
    ...just about everything except fuball which I've never liked. Spent 
    a couple years doing T'ai Chi and about 10 years doing yoga. The 
    baseball and basketball coaches had us use the weight room so I've 
    been there too. 
    
    If you do use weight training, go for lots of endurance(i.e.
    repititions) rather than strength(i.e. weight). The body-builder's type
    of muscling is undesireable for riding.
    
    Building too *much* muscle is one reason I don't recommend weight 
    training. Another is that it's too easy to injure yourself. 
    Besides, without careful stretching/bending to offset the 
    side-effects of weight training, you could end up quite inflexible.
    
    
    John