An assessment of the internal load experienced by horse riders at different ridden gaits and the implications for rider fitness

Abstract

The repetitive motions used by the rider to control the horse, dampen the vertical and horizontal acceleration of the horse’s trunk, and yet maintaining good horse riding posture cannot be easily replicated with the use of exercise equipment or sporting simulators. As such, determining the physiological demands of horse riding requires a mixed approach of laboratory and field testing. Previous studies have quantified oxygen uptake for different gaits (Westerling, 1983) and heart rates during race riding (Trowbridge et al., 1995) when riding one horse, but different horses may necessitate different physiological demands. The aims of this study were to establish baseline fitness data of student riders and compare the difference in heart rate of the riders when riding two different horses at three common riding gaits; walk, trot and canter. With institutional ethical approval, participants (n= 19), performed a standardised exercise test in the form of a 6- minute Astrand-Rhyming Cycle Ergometer Test to assess fitness. Two ridden 45-minute sessions one week apart, which incorporated each of the three gaits were carried out on two different horses for each rider to assess the physiological demands of different horses. Mean heart rate for each gait, each rider and each session were analysed using ANOVA. The mean heart rates for each gait were; walk 128 bpm, trot 137 bpm, and canter 149 bpm. Gait had a significant effect on the heart rate of the riders (P=0.001). There was no significant effect of the rider (P=0.256) or the horse (P=0.374). A post hoc pairwise Fisher comparison showed a significant difference (P<0.05) between walk and canter and trot and canter. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between walk and trot. The results suggest that gait is the most significant factor when influencing heart rate, highlighting that gait reflects the intensity of the exercise, unlike the horse’s way of going, which did not show any significant effect on the heart rate of the rider. Therefore, to improve the cardiovascular fitness of riders, increasing amounts of time in the canter gait should be encouraged.