Horse riding has three disciplines: show jumping, dressage and endurance.
During jumping the rider demonstrates his/her ability to command the horse to jump over obstacles. In dressage, the rider needs to accurately control the horse and perform a series of exercises. During endurance, the rider has to guide the horse through artificial and natural obstacles. There are three different horse gaits: walk, trot and canter. The walk is a marching pace with a 4 time tempo. The trot is a two beat rhythmic pace, with four different types. Canter is a three beat pace with four different types, similar to trot.
It is evident that riders should maintain a certain level of physical and exercise fitness, so they can meet the physical demands of horse riding. In cardiometabolic aspects, heart rate and energy expenditure are higher in the exercise types that include endurance and speed. VO2 is not the only cardiac parameter that is commonly used in measuring the heart circulatory oxygen demands. In conclusion, horse riding is an exercise type that needs certain level of fitness of the rider, and this should be taken into consideration when a new exercise and training plan is to be designed.
Keywords: Horse riding, Heart physiology, Oxygen consumption