From: Marcie
Dear Jessica, I can't thank you enough for providing horse-sense for all of us around the world. You're the best!!!! :-)
I hope you can help with my question. I'm just beginning to get back into riding after many years away from it, and I do have your book (thank you, it's wonderful, I keep it next to my bed and I'm re-re-reading it at this point). Anyway I know that you stress the importance of taking lessons, but I just feel that I really should be in better shape before I ask an instructor to put up with me. I have located an excellent instructor, and I plan to start my lessons in September when the kids are back in school and things are settling down a little. But I feel terribly unfit and embarrassed about it -- what can I do in the next month that will help me? I try to do some of the things you suggested in your book, but I'm the kind of person who just won't exercise unless I'm in a structured situation.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Marcie
Hi Marcie -- congratulations on getting back into riding. Your plan sounds very sensible. First, do have a check-up and ask your doctor's advice -- I know that everyone always says to do that, you've no doubt heard it before, but it's a good idea! If there is ANY reason that you shouldn't exercise in a particular way, find out BEFORE YOU BEGIN.
ANY kind of exercise will help you become more fit, and that will help your riding. If you want to give yourself the best possible edge, think in terms of three kinds of exercise: aerobic for endurance, weight training for strength, and some sort of suppleness/flexibility training.
The suppling exercises are the easiest to structure! If you can find a good local class in yoga or Tai Chi, you'll get the stretching benefits AND add some additional motivation and a little structure to your exercise program.
If you can, add something aerobic -- walking, swimming, jogging, stairs, treadmill.... anything that will promote good overall aerobic fitness. But please -- your doctor will say this, too -- start SLOWLY. Stay at your comfort level and don't try to go too far or too fast -- as you begin to find a short session easy, add more minutes, not more speed. You can begin to think about adding speed later, MUCH later, when you are fit and strong.
Weight training is also useful -- riders need a certain amount of physical strength, and stall-cleaning and grooming isn't enough. ;-) Sensible weight-training, with machines rather than free weights, will help. Again, start SLOWLY and with the lightest weights, or even with NO weights at all. Just going through the routine for a week can be a real challenge if you haven't worked against resistance in a while. Doing this in a gym environment will be the best plan -- the machines are there, after all! And you'll want someone on site to give you advice about form -- and the other people there will provide motivation and encouragement.
If all of this is far too intimidating, don't give up. If you have a month before your first lesson, and you WALK every day, even for fifteen or twenty minutes and not very fast, you'll definitely see and feel improvements.
For me, one of the best exercises has always been walking -- it's inexpensive (you just need good shoes) and your feet are always right there, so there's no problem with finding a gym or exercise equipment. And if you make a point of doing it first thing in the morning, or on lunch hour, or just before dinner, you can make it part of your routine. But I know it can be hard to keep up any program without assistance, so try to enlist a friend or neighbor who would also like to walk, and go out together. Or take your dog. Or take your neighbor's dog... Even two or three SLOW miles a day can work wonders at the end of a month. Your energy and endurance will be MUCH improved.
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.