Collateral Benefits

I have always been interested in the health benefits of riding but have found little solid research on the matter. I have discovered that my pulse rate while cantering on a smooth Spanish mustang is the same as it is when I jog at 5 miles per hour. This summer we trained our horses pretty hard to prepare for the big ride. Nearly every morning this summer I cantered five miles on one horse or another, and spent most of the weekend in the saddle.

Here is the bottom line. I lost 17 pounds and my core muscles are stronger than they have been since I was a teenager. This is the key point. At 217 pounds I still exceed my "ideal" weight by about 70 pounds. Even if we made the number more realistic, I am about 50 pounds over weight.

At forty nine years old and fifty pounds over weight this exercise regimen contributed to a triglyceride level of 54 and a cholesterol count of only 148.

Riding, like any other exercise, must be done consistently and at a sufficient level of difficulty in order to produce results but it can produce results even better than that found in a gym.

Keep that in mind the next time someone tells you that "the horse does all the work" and that riding is not real exercise.

(Here are a few half Corolla and one full Corolla yearlings who spend little time worrying about their cholesterol levels.)