Back in October, as my 20 pounds lost reward, I decided to pick up Horseback riding. In the past, I had occasionally ridden -- always in western tack and never any real lessons. For my reward, I took 4 lessons in English tack. I've had so much fun that I'm still taking lessons once a week (and lost another 20 pounds! YEAH!).

It's kind of expensive, but it is GREAT exercise. My legs are really strong and I have long muscles showing that I've never had before. It's also really uses your torso and deep support muscles as you balance and teach your body to work with the horse. And trust me, after an hour long lesson with lots of posting trots, etc, you've had a great aerobic workout on top of a terrific toning session.

Anyone else do horseback riding? For those who are looking for something different but challenging, I highly recommend it!

Penny

I envy you Penny.

Horseriding is great exercise. I used to compete when I was young in both western and english tack and that was the only exercise I did, but boy it kept me fit. I used to ride for at least 1 hour and most of that was trotting so my legs and waist would get a really good workout. Plus it was loads of fun.

I still have my horse but I live in the city now so I don't ride very often.

Lindy

I also was one of those who had horses always available to me when I was on the farm growing up. I NEVER had a weight problem. It is a great exercise for the body!! My mom and dad still have horses on their "ranch" and my dad rides pretty well almost every day. I don't have that luxury in where I live at. I really miss it too!! Tangy

I love horses - I need to find a place for riding lessons and to ride on a regular basis.

I used to play polo in high school and college, and I've never been so fit in my life as when riding that much. It takes about 2 hours a day to properly exercise a 12-pony string, and most of that is trotting (which is just as good for horses' endurance as for yours). Throw in another couple hours of mucking stalls and hauling around grain, hay, and water buckets, and you're talking about some serious exercise. And that's *before* actual polo practice, time in the hitting cage, and so on... There's a reason there are so few fat horse people!

For all of my adult life, my hips have been one size larger than my top. But for the first time, I'm the same size all around, and I think it is the riding that is doing this for me. Exercise-wise, riding is the one thing I'm doing different than all the other many times I've lost weight.

My instructor had me trotting without stirrups last week, and I managed to get through it without falling off! Last time we tried this, I had a rather ... abrupt ... meeting with the ground!

Penny

If you think trotting w/o stirrups is bad, just wait until you try jumping without them -- posting is nothing compared to holding yourself in two-point position! You get very well acquainted with the ground when doing that, too

I had to laugh when I saw the last post! I remember very well riding without a saddle....only the bridle on the horse... that was it....talk about a "thigh master" workout!!!! LOL!!!!! Those also were the days when I could jump right on the horse without the saddle too!! Oh, the good ol' days!!! If I ever move back up to where my parents live, I could get back into riding again.
Tangy