08/06/2026
🏋️ What the gym has taught me about training horses 🐴
As most of you know, I’m a bit of a gym addict.
What started as something to improve my own riding quickly became a genuine passion, which is exactly why I went on to gain my Personal Training qualifications. I wanted to properly understand how athletes develop strength, fitness, mobility and resilience, and how to train people safely and effectively.
The more I learned, the more I realised that the principles of good training are remarkably similar whether you’re training a rider or a horse.
The more time I spend in the gym, the more parallels I see between human and equine athletes.
💪 1. Ego lifting = jumping too big, too soon
One of the biggest mistakes in the gym is ego lifting.
You’ve probably seen it: someone loads more weight onto the bar than they can actually control. Instead of performing a proper bicep curl, they swing their whole body to get the weight up. The target muscle isn’t doing the work anymore.
The same thing happens with horses.
People rush to jump bigger tracks or move up levels before the horse has developed the strength, balance and coordination to cope. The horse then finds alternative ways of doing the job, often using their body incorrectly.
Just because they can get over the fence doesn’t mean they’re doing it well.
The goal shouldn’t be to see how much weight you can lift or how big a fence you can jump. The goal should be quality movement first.
🔥 2. Warm-ups matter more than you think
Nobody walks into the gym and immediately attempts their heaviest squat.
You warm up the joints, get blood flowing through the muscles and prepare the body for what’s coming.
Yet with horses, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of a proper warm-up.
The warm-up isn’t wasted time. It’s where you prepare the joints, activate the muscles and establish the balance and rhythm you’ll need later in the session.
A horse that is physically prepared is far more likely to perform well and stay sound.
🧠 3. Mind-muscle connection
One thing the gym has taught me is how important it is to actually think about what you’re training.
If I’m doing a rowing exercise, I’m not just pulling the weight. I’m actively thinking about using my back muscles. When I coach people in the gym, I often have to teach them how to engage a specific muscle group because they simply don’t know what they’re supposed to be feeling.
The same applies in riding.
So often riders focus on the outcome without understanding what’s happening underneath.
Instead of simply asking for more impulsion or more collection, think about what part of the horse’s body you’re trying to influence.
Are they carrying themselves through their back? Are they stepping under with the hind leg? Are you helping them or getting in their way?
The more aware you become of biomechanics, the better your training decisions become.
⚠️ 4. Niggles don’t appear overnight
Most injuries don’t happen overnight.
In the gym, if I repeatedly overload a movement pattern, I might start noticing discomfort in my knee or lower back. It’s not an injury yet, but it’s a warning sign. Ignore it for long enough and eventually it becomes a bigger problem.
Horses are exactly the same.
A horse may not come out hopping lame, but repeated strain on the same structures, the same surfaces or the same movements eventually accumulates.
This is why variety matters.
Different surfaces. Different exercises. Different intensities.
Training isn’t just about what you do today. It’s about what your horse can still do comfortably six months from now.
📅 5. Every day doesn’t need to be leg day
In the gym, I wouldn’t train heavy squats every single day.
The body needs variation and recovery.
Obviously horses are a little different because every ridden session involves movement through the limbs, but the principle still applies.
Think about your weekly programme. Schooling, pole work, hacking, jumping, fitness work and groundwork all place slightly different demands on the body.
A well-rounded programme develops a more robust athlete than repeating the same work over and over again.
⚖️ 6. Train both sides
Every gym-goer eventually discovers they have a stronger side.
If you ignore the weaker side, the imbalance only gets bigger.
Horses are exactly the same.
We all know the horse that finds one rein easier than the other. The answer isn’t to endlessly work on the good side. It’s to patiently develop the weaker side until both become stronger and more balanced.
Straightness isn’t something we’re given. It’s something we train.
😴 7. Growth happens during recovery
Perhaps the biggest lesson of all.
Muscles don’t grow during training. They grow during recovery.
Training provides the stimulus. Recovery creates the adaptation.
The same is true for horses.
We often focus on the sessions themselves but forget that improvement happens when the body has time to absorb the work.
Rest days aren’t lazy days. They are part of the programme.
Without adequate recovery, horses can become physically tired, mentally sour or both.
The gym constantly reminds me that good training isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing the right things, consistently, and allowing time for adaptation.
Whether you’re training yourself or training your horse, the fundamentals are the same: prioritise quality over ego, build strength before asking for performance, pay attention to the details and respect recovery.
At the end of the day, both you and your horse are athletes. 🐴🏋️
📍 If you’re interested in training with me, I offer coaching from my base in Epworth (DN9 1JR) and at lots of local venues throughout the area.
As a qualified British Showjumping coach and qualified Personal Trainer, I’m passionate about developing both horse and rider as athletes. My PT qualifications came from wanting to better understand performance, strength and movement, and that knowledge now plays a huge role in how I coach riders and train horses.
I coach 7 days a week (give or take!), and you can find upcoming clinics and venues on my page.
📲 Drop me a WhatsApp on 07814 631387 if you’d like to book a lesson or find out mo
