Specific exercises and supplements to help us 50+ ride well, and work at the barn

What are you doing to keep fit/get fit, keep supple, improve or keep your balance, stretch muscles or even to control nerves and be calm? And what supplements are people taking, or herbs or meds to keep from feeling pained and creaky before and after riding or barn work?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Linda White on July 11, 2009 at 8:34am

At the end of last season, I had lost some confidence and I felt my balance was off. So, over the winter, I took bareback riding lessons, meaning only to work at a walk, trot. The barn had lovely small Western trained Arabs, and I persevered until I was actually able to lope bareback. That did wonders for my balance and for my confidence. I started the season this year in much better riding shape than I ever had.
Another thing I do for preventing aching legs and back after a ride - I always dismount and walk the last half kilometer or more. If I don't do that, my legs cramp up and my back hurts. I learned that from an endurance rider.
I also take Arthrotec for arthritic pain - works very well.

Permalink Reply by Heather Sansom at Equifitt.com on July 11, 2009 at 11:18am

HI, this is a really great question! I've actually picked it to respond to for my Ride Fit blog this week. Please feel free to submit further questions to the blog. You can, but don't have to submit photos with your questions if you would like specific individualized feedback. I'm betting that for everyone who actually submits a question, there are 100 people who had it in their minds.

Permalink Reply by Janet Ortega on July 15, 2009 at 6:56pm

Hi Linda, what is Arthrotec? I haven't heard of it before. Maybe it's a Canadian drug?

Permalink Reply by PJ on July 11, 2009 at 5:22pm

Hey Ann...good questions! I mostly walk briskly around our farm and up and over the surrounding hills to keep fit. And let's not forget dashing from shed to shed to shed looking for where in the heck I left the rake. I must admit I take an Ibuprofen almost daily to squelch the aches. It has been a struggle for me being back in the saddle after waiting 3 years for babies to be old enough to back. I call it rusty on green.lol One thing I do to stretch is before I dismount I drape myself over Tuggers back and really let my muscles stretch. I also walk the last mile home if I am out on the trail. BTW it really helps calm those types that like to jig all the way back to the barn. And later in the day there is always that wonderful glass of wine being sipped on the deck and reliving every moment of our ride. Life is good and when it comes to horses it seems to be the only time I refuse to be in a hurry. Oh I almost forgot...I buy the large agriculture size bags of Epsom salts for a long salty bubble bath. That really soothes the aches.

Permalink Reply by Ann Hatfield on July 11, 2009 at 10:55pm

Does loading hay into a pickup, unloading and stacking it count towards riding fitness? I don't think it gives me any assistance towards keeping fit for the saddle but keeps the bicepts and upper back in good shape.

I have fibromyalgia, just to make things more interesting!! and was one of the early people on Vioxx. You remember, one of the drugs a big-gun pharmeceutical had to remove because it was causing some people heart attacks. Hopefully I have no damage...At any rate life was much better on Vioxx than off it. Since then, too much coffee and Tylenol, knowing it isn't much good for the liver. Arthtrotec makes me ill so have now turned to plain old asprin until my gut rebels. Sigh. Oh, calcium/magnesium seems to help me. Understand it is supposed to be a pankiller, and of course is related to muscle contraction. So, there is a pretty benign supplement.

I find yoga helps, even the small amount I do. E. g. I can be found in overalls and winter gloves throwing the ball for the dog-she is getting middle-aged and bit stiff, too, and needs more exercise- and doing yoga in the driveway with my hands in the snow on the way to feeding of a morning. I squeeze it in this way. A few sun salutations really make a difference.

My balance is going, though. I read some Canadian expert on backs who says a lot of it is the tiny muscles that cue us when off the vertical getting lazy/weak-that old strenghten your core thing. The few times I used balance balls and/or tilt boards and/or went to the gym regularly I noticed my balance improve. When I was teaching aerobics (a lifetime ago) and kept up on this sort of thing as I was certified in Alberta, I recall reading that one can essentially take off a decade; one can retun to a fitness level of a decade previous though a moderate exercise program.

By the end of spring session (Dec- to end of March) all my seniors, one class I taught, could do more than 100 sit ups-and, no, not the lower-back-killing old sit ups your gym teacher taught you! So, come on girls and guys. We can do it.

I also read somewhere that if many of us watched one fewer tv show and exercised in its place we would be vastly fitter in North America. Don't think that applies to many horse-people we haven't time to watch tv. Speaking of which, I must go and remove fly masks before dusk, feed and consider doing some housework. Yech!

Permalink Reply by Shirley on July 15, 2009 at 1:05pm

You do housework?! LOL So hard to force myself in that area! Now horse-work ...that's a whole different subject! The energy seems to come from no-where usually. Now I have had a nasty cold/cough thing and that has zapped even my horse-work energy so this must come to a stop real fast...Two weeks is long enough.
The idea of exercising instead of TV or even at the computer is great advice. My husband loves for me to sit and watch TV with him in the evening but often I go to the computer and look at our horse issues while the TV program is going. That seems to be okay with him....at least we're in the same room. He has been very encouraging with my horse love but it's just not his thing. He's willing to help with most anything and has been interested along side of me in doing wild horse searches out west which has led to my big concern for our wild horse herds. The past two trips we've made to Nevada, Utah, Arizona we have spent many many hours and days on the roads going to where the wild horses are suppose to be and everywhere we have gone the locals tell us "Oh, we don't see wild horses anymore". I hope more people will become aware and look into this issue and the problems concerning so many seemingly unwanted horses. I want them all and I'm sure i"m not alone with that idea/dream but of course the reality is "MONEY"
Anyway, I'm on a "Save the horses" mission mode today. I meant to just tease you about the housework! But do enjoy that horse-work!
Keep fit and stay strong and ride balanced!!!!
Shirley

Permalink Reply by Janet Ortega on July 15, 2009 at 5:10pm

Hi Shirley, where are you located? I live in AZ and there is a band of wild horses (there really is) just across the canyon and up the road from me. I used to ride there regularly and saw them every time I rode. There is also another larger band on the other side of the mountains but I haven't seen them. The BLM actually took one of the babies that was born to a wild mare out of a jack burro. They say that's extremely rare because the stallion of the herd doesn't let strangers in. Hmmm he must have been looking elsewhere. But nobody seems to know what BLM did with the baby mule.

Permalink Reply by Shirley on July 16, 2009 at 2:17am

Hi Janet, I am in Michigan. My husband and I have flown out to Las Vegas several times in the last few years when we were able to get ridiculously cheap air-fare on Spirit Airlines and then we'd head out of Vegas to different more natural areas. We hope to do that again when it is cooler there. We like to travel in the winter or early spring when we want to get out of our cold winter weather. Maybe I can get some directions from you next time we are coming out. What part of Arizona do you live in?
Why did the BLM take the baby mule? I think they should have to answer that question. The mare must have been a sneaky little thing to get away from the stallion to meet up with her burro friend....I have seen little video clips of how well the stallions put up with other fellas messing with their girls. It's not pretty.
I'm very envious of you being able to see wild horses. You said you used to? You don't do that any more?
These horses were in the Bryce Canyon area but they were not wild.
Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Permalink Reply by Janet Ortega on July 17, 2009 at 4:37pm

Nice pic Shirley,
I love to look at green things in the summer. haha When you live in the desert, you don't get to see much green.

I live in western AZ close to the Colorado River in a town named Kingman. I live on the eastern side of the Cerbat Mountains. If you google Cerbat you might find something on the wild horses. They are in a canyon on the eastern side and there is another band on the western side but I don't much about them. I think they are a bigger band according to what I have heard.

Yes I used to ride up into the canyon all the time but I haven't ridden in a few years so I have kinda lost my contact with the wild ones. I did see a National Geographic special on the Cerbat herd along with a couple other herds that supposedly have been DNA tested for the Spanish blood. They said that this group is directly descended from the Spanish horses. They are only a few miles from where I live but civilization has encroached upon them since I've been riding up there along with mountain lions so I don't know how many there are left. They used to maintain at 8 unless there was a severe drought.

I'll attach a couple of photos of the wild ones that someone sent me. NJOY!

Yes I think coming out to Vegas in the midst of winter is an excellent idea. heh heh! Let me know when you come out and maybe we can meet up! Yes I'll give you info on where these horses are. More on that later. There are a variety of areas around AZ and NV that have wild horses I think. I think there is also a living museum exhibit somewhere in the Phoenix vicinity with the spanish blooded wild horses in it. I don't recall offhand where it is exactly but I'm sure I could google it and find out.

Janet

Permalink Reply by Janet Ortega on July 17, 2009 at 4:39pm

Shirley, Oops!!! As usual I forgot to attach. Here are a couple of photos of the Cerbat herd.

Attachments:

11.jpg, 123 KB
12.jpg, 108 KB
17.jpg, 116 KB

Permalink Reply by Shirley on August 5, 2009 at 10:32pm

Thanks for sharing the pics. Very cool!

Permalink Reply by Karen T on July 15, 2009 at 12:34pm

Hi - new member here - took a 26 year hiatus from riding to raise two boys and now that they are grown, got back into riding 3 years ago. Now at age 51 I find that the knees grumble a bit when in the saddle too long. I start my days with a 7 km walk (two healers in tow) and then try to stretch regularly. Started to play recreational soccer again and the cross training really keeps the legs and core strong. When stiff from soccer, I get in the saddle and after a day in the saddle, the soccer seems to work the muscle soreness out. I think the key is to keep active and the body will respond......Happy trails!