What?!? I thought the holidays were a time to slack off a bit. Let yourself go. New Year’s is the time for gym busting. Well, with a swim suit clad vacation looming and the horses on their self-inflicted winter break, I figure this is the perfect time to start the toning.
Normally I rely on manure bucket slinging (64 calories per
stall), wheel barrow pushing (63 calories every ten minutes), hay bale hauling
(20 minutes – 249 calories. Straw 20
minutes – 181 calories) and the ever present hike for the horses (ten minutes –
40 calories) to help maintain my fitness, but this season we’re stepping up our
game in the saddle which means I need to step-up my game outside of the tack.
It’s nothing fancy and it’s fast. I have to fit my “work-out” in on my lunch
break, which makes me feel a bit like wonder woman by the way. I dash to the gym, do a presto-quick-o change
of clothes, a set of twenty-five decline bench sit-ups, elliptical or stair
climber for a mile, then a second set of sit-ups. That leaves just enough time for either
stretching or a quick cool down walk followed by a shower. It might not be glamorous, but it’s a great
way to refresh your brain before heading back to work.
After a couple of weeks, I’m really starting to enjoy the
routine. Hopefully the horses like the
idea, because unbeknownst to them, they are getting ready to hit the gym
too. Nutmeg can throw her shoes and
Admiral can spend every day recreating his mud pack, but when dinner rolls
around its yoga time!
Nutmeg and I ventured to a new chiropractor over the
weekend. There were a lot of little
things nibbling at me telling me she needed to visit the chiropractor, but I
just couldn’t get to the big city to see our previous expert. It was an informative afternoon and she
didn’t beat around the bush. She pointed
out that compared to her neck and hindquarters, Nutmeg’s back is pretty
weak. Enter horsey sit-ups!
If you’ve ever goosed a horse by getting cold water under
their tail before they were ready, you’ve seen a horsey sit-up. You can stimulate that tucking motion without
the cold water enema by stimulating a point on either buttock about a hand's
with from the top of the tail. We will
also be doing belly lifts and shoulder stretches.
I’ve always said Nutmeg was a stiff horse, but our
discussion with the chiropractor was really enlightening. Just like I desperately need to stretch every
day to keep my mobility, Nutmeg needs similar stretching to keep her
limber. There are a plethora of
loosey-goosey horses that stay limber all on their own, but Nutmeg is not one
of them. Since I’ll be taking her to the
gym each evening, Admiral is going to participate as well. Stretching and muscle building will
compliment his recovery program very well and it’s something we can do even
when he insists of remaining covered in mud.
The holidays are a great time to take a break. Your horses need time to relax and let down
just as much as you do, but that doesn’t mean you have to turn them out into
the wild and turn a blind eye for a month.
There are lots of ways to take a break, without losing all the hard work
you put in over the year. Spend time
working on ground manners, go for some leisurely trail rides, groom, groom,
groom and my Fresh Perspective for this winter, pick up the habit of horsey
yoga!
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