A question for people who ride horses and do dance, gymanstics, Cheerleading...?

Question

For those of you who ride horses and dance,do gymnastics, or other arobic stuff. Does riding horses affect ur flexibility? It does mine! I was always a really flexible person until I started riding horses. They tighten up my muscles! Do they do that to you? If so, is it worth it? To me, it is so worth it!!! I would rather be barrel racing anyday then doing a ballet recital. Plus, hip-hop dancing doesn't take quite as much as ballet does. I'm into hip-hop. However, if you know of any ways to loosen up your legs, tell me please. It would be nice to be able to do the splits and stuff like that again! LOL!

Answer 1

i ride everyday  and i am so flexibel .

Answer 2

It's totally worth it.. It hurts my back!

Answer 3

I have danced for years and my sister rides horses, and she taught me how to jump. I noticed that after every time i rode i felt really stiff. So every time that I ride i stretch an awful lot before and after, and i can still do my splits and high kicks!

Answer 4

You may want to consider trying vaulting. Otherwise, taking your feet out of the stirrups and moving them back and forth helps. Emergency dismounts help too, and you should know how to do them anyways(besides, for vaulting it's the standard dismount).

Answer 5

Riding horses is a dance.  The horse is your partner.  You are the choreographer and as you ride you create the Ballet.

To stay flexible you need to stretch before and after riding.  You can use Yoga stretches they tend to be the most effective.  Yoga also teaches you about breathing and how to relax and center yourself.  Ballet teaches you your verticality, balance, and grace.  Modern dance teaches you to be expressive, grounded, and use your body efficiently. Jazz and Hip Hop give you the ability to isolate muscle actions with speed and rhythm.  Put them all together they will help your riding ability as well as your connection with your horse.

Answer 6

Yeah it does it to me - I cant even reach my toes.

Answer 7

I did gymnastics competitively for years before getting into horseback riding, but I didn't notice it tensing up my muscles.  But I do find that my legs are getting a bit bowed from all that saddle time. o_o

Answer 8

I never done that but i have a friend that did gymnastics for a long time. when her trainer started her off bareback she had perfect balance and only need to do bareback once cause her balance was good i beliee she was flexible though?

Answer 9

Horseback riding has improved my flexibility.  I used to ride all the time when I was young and I was very limber.  I just started riding like everyday after a year of not riding that much, and I can barely stretch my legs high enough to get my foot in the stirrup! lol

Answer 10

hi, good q!

yeh i have been riding for yrs and i dont have any flexability!



ridings a sport which involves a lot of muscle strength (static tension without much motion) -when you ride you create microscopic tears in your muscle tissue- when your body rebuilds the damaged muscle it grows back bigger and stronger than before. Without stretching those muscles fibres they stay tight/strong! hence no flexability.

i do find that i have fairly flexable hips flexors though?

if you want your flexability back stretch after riding!

ps: if you like gymnastics/dance and riding (like me) you can combine them all and do vaulting! and its heaps of fun! www.equestrianvaulting.com.au