The fitness trend of the past few decades has turned to yoga and Pilates, but international dressage rider Betsy Steiner has taken this a
step further in developing “Equilates,” a trademarked system based on exercises similar to those in the traditional Pilates workout.

Last year Steiner, of Wellington, Fla., and Ringoes, N.J., collaborated with author Jennifer Bryant on a book called A Gymnastic System Using Mind, Body and Spirit, and she’s created CDs and a stretching workout and is working on equipment.

Pilates uses a machine called The Reformer for its more advanced exercises, and Steiner is also producing equipment specific to equestrian fitness–one piece is finished and is being used in her courses, and another is in development.

Hoping to introduce Equilates to the masses, Steiner has created a nine-month instructor-training and -certification program based in Wellington. The course has two tracks: one for certified Pilates instructors, and one for people with no previous experience.

Seven people became certified Equilates instructors after completing their exams in October 2004, and they’re now teaching in various parts of the United States. Steiner also gives clinics in Equilates.

“I’ve gotten glowing feedback on how it’s helped peoples’ riding, because it addresses the horse too,” said Steiner. “It’s fun, and it’s interesting. It’s quite an involved program.”

Steiner has recorded a CD that students can listen to while riding, with reminders about things to think at the basic gaits. Rather than a lesson, the CD is a sort of checklist to go through while warming up and schooling.

Although Steiner is a dressage rider, she thinks that Equilates will appeal to a broad range of riders. “[Eventer] Karen O’Connor came to work with us, and I want to get going with more three-day people,” said Steiner. “They’re much more forward in their mindset–they don’t hold back.”

Steiner believes that the key is that “Equilates is really fun. During the course I would watch riders, and I would comment on what was going on in the rider’s body, and then we would go into the studio and work.

“Very few people have a straight spine,” Steiner added. “They may have a collapsing of the hip, and so on. As riders become aware of their bodies, they can really fix problems. For instance, the horse not stepping under can be affected by the placement of the seat bones.”

She also pointed out that Equilates could help instructors to understand what’s going on with their students’ bodies.

A Matter Of Core Strength

Like Steiner, Mary Midkiff has had extensive experience with fitness for riders, and lately she’s been “extolling the virtues of Pilates.”

Although she said she’s not acquainted with Steiner’s program, Midkiff has similarly found that Pilates targets the areas of the body that need to be developed for optimum performance on the back of a horse.

“It’s the absolute best because it focuses on deep-core strength,” she explained. “You can stabilize the pelvis, the hips function properly, the abdominals support the back, and that’s just the beginning. If I said to a female athlete to do one thing, it would be to go to a Pilates studio once a week.”

Also, she noted, “Finding a good Pilates studio is a lot easier than finding something horse-related. It should be accessible, convenient and affordable.”

Midkiff, of Boulder, Colo., is the author of Fitness, Performance and the Female Equestrian and She Flies Without Wings. As a rider and an equine business professional, Midkiff considers the female perspective in her approach to horses. Considering that approximately 80 percent of the equestrian population is female, Midkiff has found a demographic that’s just waiting for information.

Contributors to Fitness, Performance and the Female Equestrian include Peggy Cummings, a recognized and certified instructor, clinician and trainer; Mary Beth Walsh, a physical therapist on the faculty at Marymount University (Va.) and a certified British Horse Society assistant instructor; and Margaret McGovern, a licensed and registered dietitian.

“Everyone needs to maintain an exercise program. Unless they are riding seven or eight horses a day, riding is not enough to keep fit and trim,” said Midkiff. “We need to hike or walk or stair-step. I live in the foothills of the Rockies, so the altitude and hills here keep me fit.”

Midkiff, who’ll turn 50 this year, rides her Hanoverian gelding regularly and teaches about four lessons a week. “My horse is big and immature, so he takes a lot of work,” she said. “He requires a lot from my body, so I have to be fit to ride him properly.”

Midkiff gets a massage once or twice a month, and she stretches after each ride. “The fitter you are, the faster you heal, and as you get older you need to be fit and healthy so that you can get back in the saddle in a week [after an injury], otherwise it might take months,” she said.

Multi-tasking Your Way To Fitness

The Riding High Fitness program came about after a meeting several years ago between four-time show jumping Olympian Anne Kursinski and co-founder John J. McCully. After being the reserve at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Kursinski started to get focused on her own fitness. As her business grew, she spent less time in the gym, but eventually she found her way back, reasoning that she should take her own fitness as seriously as her horses’ fitness.

Along with author Dianna Robin Dennis and Paul M. Juris, McCully published a book called The Rider’s Fitness Program (see review Feb. 18, p. 107). The program is arranged in a six-week format that uses 18 different routines of five to seven exercises each. According to its creators, The Rider’s Fitness Program avoids the downfall of the body adjusting to repetition so that the exercises lose effectiveness.

Dennis explained why she thinks the program works: “First, the exercises are designed by people who work with riders regularly. They spent hours watching videos of riders to figure out what we need. No one evening routine repeats a prior one, so the program avoids rote. Last, the higher-level exercises emphasize multi-tasking–that is, doing more than one thing at once.”

The program consists of differing routines that require a variety of exercises, forcing your body to respond and adapt the way it does when you are on horseback, while developing longer-lasting skills. The program includes fundamental information on diet, general health and safety, and what clothing and equipment are necessary.

“I’ve always felt mentally and physically that if you can’t control your own body, how can you ride effectively?” commented Kursinski.

“A sport-specific program meets the body’s needs more than a generalized program,” said Dennis. “You’re exercising the muscles, singly and in combination, as well as your brain, in a way that some sets of general exercises don’t do.”

Kursinski also pointed out that riders have a better appreciation of their horse’s corresponding weaknesses as they work on their own fitness. “It’s especially helpful for students who don’t ride every day, but because of school or work are ‘weekend warriors,’ ” she said.

Straight From The Trainer’s Mouth

For 30 years, Jack Pollard worked as a personal trainer in South Carolina, training countless athletes in varying sports, as well as two Miss Americas. Before that, he was a strength and conditioning coach at Clemson University (S.C.). He also developed a series of workout videotapes about a decade ago.

Pollard is the father of advanced event rider Michael Pollard, husband of event rider Nathalie Bouckaert, so Jack has first-hand experience working with riders. When Michael was a working student for Denny Emerson at age 15, Jack created a fitness program for Emerson’s other working students.

Now he encourages his son and daughter-in-law to maintain a regular fitness program. “Michael might ride nine horses in a day, but that’s not enough,” said Jack. “The first time I took him and Nathalie to work out, they thought they’d die.”

Jack, 51, goes to the gym every morning at 4:45 a.m. and runs for half an hour, then lifts weights for half an hour. “I run, and I hate every step,” he said. “But it’s good aerobic exercise. For people with knee or back problems, running is a terrible idea. They should ride a bike, for example.”

Jack said that people often waste time at the gym talking to friends and watching other people work out.

“The key is to go in, get it done, and go home. You don’t have to spend three hours. Just do 12 to 15 exercises, eight to 12 reps per exercise. You can get that done in 30 minutes, then you should also do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, like running.”

In eventing, Jack said that being fit isn’t just about being better, it’s also about being safer. Working specific muscle groups doesn’t do the trick, he said, advocating total body fitness instead.

“It takes a strong individual from head to toe to keep your balance. And in this sport, it’s just a matter of time before you fall off. A fit person is going to have less risk of injury and a faster recovery time than someone who’s out of shape,” he said.

He explained that the widely advocated high-rep/low-weight training, which many women prefer to build endurance without bulking up, doesn’t work.

“You improve your endurance by becoming stronger,” he said. “If I give you a five-pound weight, in four weeks you’ll be twice as strong, so you’ll need to increase the weight. You have improved your strength, not your endurance. You need to use more muscle fibers, and to do that you need to increase the weight,” said Jack

He emphasized that taking the time to do the exercises slowly uses the muscle to its maximum effort.

“People don’t like it because it’s hard,” he said with a smile. “If it were easy and simple to be in shape, we wouldn’t have so many fat people in this world. We have people like Jane Fonda smiling and making it look like working out is fun, but it’s just not fun. It’s hard work. People shy away from the hard work, but that’s what gets results.”