Exercise Your Way to a Better Ride

By the Editors of Horse & Rider magazine

In this article, a Team Horse & Rider panel provides fitness tips to get you in stellar shape for riding. Achieving greater stamina, muscle strength and flexibility will make you a better rider. Plus, your time in the saddle will be more effective and enjoyable.

Stacy Westfall was the first woman to compete in (and win) the Road To The Horse competition in 2006. In the same year, she also won the Freestyle Reining Championship at the All American Quarter Horse Congress with one of the highest scores in NRHA history: 239. Stacy operates her Westfall Horsemanship in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, with her husband, Jesse.

This article originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Horse & Rider. For advice on keeping your horse in peak physical shape if you're taking a hiatus from showing or regular riding, see our March 2010 Team Horse & Rider Problem Solvers, "Retaining Show Shape" with Carol Metcalf. To order a copy of either of these issues or other back issues, call 877-717-8928.