Your own physical fitness should be taken just as seriously as the horse's fitness. It will improve suppleness, straightness, muscular strength and tone whilst  preventing unnecessary injuries to your body. Physical fitness will also allow you to perform yard tasks quicker and easier, and improve your riding skills.

Increasing your fitness will improve your: 

• Cardiovascular fitness.
• Concentration, patience and well-being.
• Reaction times.
• Postural fitness.
• Postural suppleness.
• Postural straightness.
• Joint suppleness.
• Core strength.
• Co-ordination.
• Riding skills.
• Speed and efficiency whilst performing yard tasks.
• Balance whilst riding.
• Healing process.
• Improve the horse's suppleness, straightness and fitness.

This can help prevent:

• Muscular strain.
• Joint pain.
• Back injuries.
• Fatigue.

Examples of jobs that require physical fitness:

• Mucking out.
• Sweeping the yard.
• Grooming.
• Carrying buckets.
• Lifting bales of hay.
• Lifting feed sacks.
• Riding horses.
• Walking up and down hills catching horses from fields.

Ways to improve your physical fitness on the horse:

• Ridden lunge lessons.
• Riding without your stirrups.
• Riding in trot and canter.
• Hacking out at faster paces.

Ways to improve your physical fitness off the horse: 

• Swimming.
• Cycling.
• Running.
• Yoga.
• Pilates.
• Eating a well balanced diet.