Counting Calories at the Barn
Walking a 10-foot circle as you longe your horse will not only burn calories for you, but your horse's longe circle will be enlarged, reducing stress and strain on his joints.
Photo by Lourie Zipf
In the January 2007 issue of Horse & Rider, we offer some tips for getting fit--and slim while you spend time at the barn and with your horse. To help you out, we've put together this chart of calorie-burning values for common horse-related activities.
Keep in mind--the more vigorously you perform these exercises, the more you'll maximize the calorie burning benefits. We'll give you the number of calories burned per exercise for a person who is 5'8" and weights 150 lbs. If you have a smaller frame and weight, you'll burn slightly fewer calories; you'll burn slightly more if you have a larger frame and weigh more.
|
EXERCISE
|
TIME SPENT
|
CALORIES BURNED
|
| Vigorously curry your horse, using a circular arm motion. | 10 minutes | 68 |
| Vigorously brush your horse. (Tip: alternate arms). | 10 minutes | 46 |
| Walk a 10-foot circle, as you longe your horse. | 20 minutes | 79 |
| Briskly hand-walk your horse. (Tip: add wrist or ankle weights for increased calorie-burning and aerobic benefits.) | 20 minutes | 91 |
| Muck/rebed stall. | 20 minutes | 159 |
| Push 50-pound load in wheelbarrow. | 10 minutes | 63 |
| Ride at the walk. | 20 minutes | 57 |
| Ride at the trot. (Tip: Posting at a medium trot will burn more calories than sitting at a jog.) | 10 minutes | 74 |
| Ride at the lope. | 10 minutes | 93 |
| Sweep/rake. (Tip: For a great waist trimmer, twist your upper body with each stroke, rather than using only your arms. When sweeping with a pushbroom, slightly bend your knees, to push off with your legs into each stroke.) | 20 minutes | 91 |
| Unload/stack 100-pound hay bales. (Tip: Protect your back by bending at the knees, and using your legs to lift the load. Consider a back support brace when lifting heavy loads.) | 20 minutes | 249 |
| Unload/stack 50-pound straw bales. | 20 minutes | 181 |
| Lift/heft 20 pounds (feed/water). | 30 minutes | 153 |
| Lift/heft 40-pound Western saddle on/off horse. | 10 minutes | 56 |
| Lift/heft 20-pound English saddle on/off horse. | 10 minutes | 46 |
