The eternal optimist that I am, I would like to think of my equine-related outings as replacements for equal time in the gym. Yeah, well.
But the truth is, our time in the saddle counts for something. As does stall mucking, which can be a pretty good workout if you remember to use your legs for lifting and change your hand position on the fork so you work both sides of your body.
So here’s the deal, according to a 1980s (yes, a bit old) European study that tracked all sorts of horse-related activities, rating them for calories expended per hour as well as the amount of effort required to do the task. A 150-pound person cleaning stalls burns a sweet 550 calories per hour and rates a 7.7 on the physical exertion scale. (A 12 is exhausting, 3 is mild and 8 is optimal.)
And surprisingly, the authors of the study concluded that a posting trot burns 420 calories per hour with an exertion of 5.9, while a sitting trot burns 450 at 6.3. Strange as it sounds…
How do the rest rate?
Feeding horses 306, 4.3
Grooming 525, 7.3
Riding at the walk 168, 2.3
Canter 514, 7.2
Gallop 558, 7.8
Driving a tractor 150, 2.1
Lawn mowing 457, 6.4
Slow aerobics 420, 5.9
All of this, of course, depends on your weight and fitness levels and how economically you ride Trigger into the sunset. An Olympic-level rider, for example, is going to burn fewer calories on a cross-country course than us mortals. So naturally, we should bulk out on sufficient quantities of beer and ice cream to compensate, right?
Obi & me