Exhaustion - please help!!

[muddyjods]

I feel a possible ramble coming on, so apologies in advance if this goes on a bit. I'd be hugely grateful if anyone could suggest anything, or even just tell me i'm not alone...

I've been learning now for about 18 months with a year break after the first 6 months. I'm very slightly built, and not very strong in general. Both times when i first started riding, i took half hour lessons and would be totally worn out by the end.
I've been on hour lessons and the odd two hour hack for 9 months or so, really enjoying it and only a bit tired at the end (as I should be!) but recently we've been doing more jumping (we're only talking the crossed pencil type of jumps here!!) and i just find it totally exhausting, and my RI doesn't seem to have any idea what i mean.

I'm OK with one jump at a time followed by a rest to get my breath back, but the last few lessons we've been doing short courses (maybe 6 jumps). Last lesson, my horse was having a "slow day" and i was already worn out having to constantly kick her on ( even using my seat, and she hates the whip and will scoot out from under me if i even move the hand that's holding it, so that didn't help either!). When i tried to do the course i actually managed to have her refuse on me - this is a horse that usually really likes to jump, but i think she was feeling my body going "no, no, no, NOOO!" - i felt so weak that i stopped even caring if i fell off because at least i'd get a lie down!

RI wanted me to go again and just doesn't seem to get it that i just didn't have a bit of leg muscle left in me. Although i enjoy jumping i do find it scarey, and the adrenaline cutting in and leaving me shaky doesn't help - and of course the more i feel pushed to do something i can't do, the worse that gets.

Does anyone else get that feeling? How do i explain to my RI that i can barely hold the reins until i've calmed down and got my breath, let alone make a safe and collected attempt at a jump?

[Trewsers]

I used to get jelly legs a lot during / after a lesson! I think its quite normal (unless you're superwoman) but I'd definitely ask your teacher to give you more recovery time between attempting jumps - its dangerous otherwise.

[NoviceNic]

Are you exhausted cause your pony is lazy and you are constantly kicking, pushing and riding said lazy pony on????

Do you carry a whip?? Do you use the whip to re-inforce your leg? Does it make any difference to the pony if you carry a whip?? Is there a more forward, safe horse that you could ride in your lesson???

I doubt you are on your own with this. I too have a lazy coblet. Leg, legs , legs and more legs.....:mad:

I also think that your RI needs to be told that you are not 18 again...:p I am totally exhausted after a 30 min lesson and I have been riding for 6yrs....:eek:

[Skib]

How old are you?
I'm in my 60s and I get tired, even in a 45 minute lesson of walk and when doing very little. Because it is the mental effort of concentrating which is exhausting as much as physical effort. I have never tried a 3 hour hack, but 2 hrs leaves me tired. After a day riding and helping at the yard I need a day off to regain my energy. However the same was true when I commuted up to London and worked in an academic library. I didnt like going up two consecutive days.

So I guess that feeling tired is not a serious problem (unless you are anaemic), but getting an RI to understand when you are tired is.
The horse understands very well - he feels it and stops for you. Positive side of that is that you have good rapport with the horse.

I dont have a solution for the RI except to explain how tired you get. That you need breaks. And you need to do the things that require most energy, closer to the beginning of the lesson while you are fresh, rather than leave them till the end when you are tiredest.
My RI understands this with me now, but if I go off to ride elsewhere, other RIs may not understand my physical limitations. For them I need a simple and convincing explanation - even if it is not 100% medically accurate.

For RIs who wont adjust their teaching to suit your stamina, create a similar necessary fiction. Say something like though you find riding is beneficial (very beneficial) to your health, it is important (medical reasons - e.g. you have had shingles, or glandular fever or even flu in the past) you dont get overtired. You've managed well till noew, but the jumping is a problem and could they please adjust their teaching so you don't get exhausted?
(Jumping and canter etc arent compulsory by the way)
A problem for us older women is that improving our stamina and length of concentration becomes one of the goals of our riding lessons. Teachers hate students who cant keep the horse moving and who stop all the time. I currently have a problem as I was trotting on the lunge and wanted to stop. I just felt I couldnt concentrate any longer. Unfortunately I was still riding nicely, and well balanced so the horse keep going.
As you have found, it is easy to persuade a horse to stop (or convince a teacher to stop) just by neglecting to ride actively, or ride out of balance.
It will be a sad day when we need to fake infirmities in order to win a break. But in extremis it is probably safer to do this, than to continue to jump or ride stirrupless when we havent the energy to do well.

[eml]

Another possiblility is that you are holding your breath when jumping, lots of people do this, if two or three jumps are possible but 4 or more make you lightheaded and shaky this is the most likely explanation.

But jumping from canter, particularly on a stubborn horse, is tiring. I generally work riders round a course in groups of two or three jumps at a time finishing up with the whole course when I am sure they should get round. Only the young, fit frequent riders tend to be able to repeat the whole course more than once!!

[Teehee]

Another possiblility is that you are holding your breath when jumping, lots of people do this, if two or three jumps are possible but 4 or more make you lightheaded and shaky this is the most likely explanation.


This was me 100% :) but doing canter... I was good for one or two rounds, then pretty much I had to stop, not because the horse was tired... but me so nervous that I would forget to breathe!!! And had no breathe to keep it up!!!

[Mina]

Hi MuddyJods,

I'm so relieved to see your post; I'm currently worrying about exactly the same thing! You are not alone in this!

I used to be fine at my old riding school, but my 'new' place (I've been there a year now), is much more full on in lessons - majority of the lesson in trot, fast canters, and very strict too - so no getting 'lazy' with those legs! It's great, and my riding has really come on, but boy do I feel it after an hour's lesson!! Since I'm a group lesson I don't really feel I can say much; the rest are older riders too, so I figure if they can do it I ought to be able to too.

My main worry is that I'm about to do a five day course there, with at least two hours riding a day, plus yard duties. I cannot wait to have this opportunity to learn 'hands on', but I've had to admit to myself I'm not sure I'm up to it physically.....

I'm usually not too bad with a forward going horse, but those more 'reluctant' horses are somewhat trying. It's not just you!

[laura jeanne]

i felt so weak that i stopped even caring if i fell off because at least i'd get a lie down!


I know the situation is not funny, but that part was to me-

I don't see the problem with anyone refusing to do something they don't want to at any time. The most the RI could do is refuse to teach you and that might be a good thing if he/she is not concerned about your limitations. And no one knows how you feel but you.

She can't push the horse over the jump for you, so just don't do what you don't feel up to. It's no one else's business but yours (well, it should be the RIs) to safeguard yourself against possible physical injury. Not to mention being put in an awkward situation where you have to "explain" your problems more than once.

You need to have a private conversation with the RI about setting your own limits as to how much you can do per lesson. Your actual question is how to tell all this to the RI. I think I would tell her that you are having trouble getting through the lesson without getting so tired that you do not feel safe and that you are trying to build up your stamina. Tell her that you will make every effort to keep up with the rest of the group, but there will be times when you will have to sit out a particular exercise and rest before joining in again.

Well, good luck with it. I get tired too but usually don't notice it til after the lesson when I practiaclly fall off the side of the horse.

[Imp]

I agree with the above posts and wanted to add (apologies if somebody said this and I missed it) that I think you sound like you're being pushed out of your comfort zone. That itself can cause to you tensing up, as mentioned before you'd then hold your breath too; both of which are exhausting after a couple of minutes never mind an hour :eek:

Again, I agree that you need a one to one with your RI to ask his or her opinion and advice. Can you take a private lesson at your pace, over one crosspole at a time as you seem happy with that? that alone will build your confidence as you'll be likely to feel great after such a lesson :D

Good luck and let us know how you get on :p

[VickiGG]

Sounds like you are holding your breath with tension - I did that too... and I used to wonder why I was getting so puffed after one canter circle, until RI noticed I was holding my breath.

Breathing - count the strides out loud, really helps :D

[muddyjods]

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughts! i really appreciate it. I think the comfort zone / tensing up thing is exactly it!

NoviceNic - i do carry a whip, but the horse i ride tends to react to even the slightest tickle by scooting out from under me, followed by about four nice energetic strides and then dropping back to lazy! She's actually not always this bad, last week was unusual, and if i'd been able to i'd have asked for five minutes "time out" just to do nudge-kick-tickle with the crop exercises asking for trot until she was listening better, but you know how it is in lessons!

Skib - i'm in my 30s, but i've always had poor stamina - and if my other half wasn't in the lesson with me and would laugh himself silly, i totally would use your "medical condition" approach (and have done in other circumstances before :o )

Mina - it's such a shame we end up worrying about our lessons when we're paying to enjoy ourselves, isn't it! as others have suggested, a quiet word with the RI is probably the best way forward, although i find that quite a difficult thing to do... takes me straight back to being 13 and the class wimp at games :) Good luck with your course, and i'd love to hear how you get on.

[Virago]

Hi Muddyjods. I'm in my 40s and, like you, have always been a bit low on stamina. Riding still whacks me out sometimes but I'm working hard to improve my staying power. I would echo what the other posters have said about breathing. I think it is the key to relaxed and sustainable riding.

I give myself a short preparation session before I ride - only about 5 or 10 mins. I do some basic stretching (these muscles are not as elastic as they once were!) and I also breathe very deeply - in through the nose and out through the mouth, taking about twice as long to breathe out as in, breathing deeply into your lungs, feeling you tummy expand. This makes sure your lung are prepared for the exertions ahead! I also do some NLP relaxation and confidence exercises, as I have a tendency to be a nervous nellie!

How often do you ride? I am a once-a-weeker, which is not enough to get one fit on its own. I do power walking and a bit of jogging a few times a week to help with my stamina. Also, make sure your blood sugar levels are high enough - I try not to ride on an empty stomach! That's not good for the brain or the body!

[Faerie Rider]

Can't help much I'm afraid but can relate a bit of a weed too!....legs used to start to shake after doing just half a circuit of canter in the school...am trying to build up a bit using my lateral thigh trainer...I am hoping that when I get to that stage again I'll of built myslf up to it a bit more and the old leggies won't find it such a trauma!:rolleyes:

Good luck with it...
lol
FR
x

[Zingy]

The fact that you're getting shaky suggests that your body doesn't have enough energy resources to cope with the work you're being asked to do - result is your blood sugar levels drop and you get shaky. I found I was always ok during a lesson, but it could hit me when I got off at the end! Though you don't want to ride on a full stomach, have you tried eating just before your lesson? Something like a banana may help boost energy levels.

It's perfectly reasonable in your lesson to ask for a couple of minutes to get your breath and sort yourself out. Your instructor should have picked up on it anyway, but they obviously haven't.

Another thing that may help is to take a few drops of rescue remedy before your lesson. You sound like you're almost expecting to feel awful/ not be able to do it - believing it's going to happen makes it even more likely that it will ;) Rescue remedy will help calm you down and let you give yourself a more positive approach.

How about asking your instructor for a couple of slightly slower lessons? You're there (and paying)to enjoy yourself, not to push yourself to the point of exhaustion. If you don't want to outright ask her for that, why not say you've been reading about something like lateral work and you really want to try learning something different? You can always come back to the jumping at a later date.

[*toHorse&Away*]

You are not alone I find it very tiring sometimes esp jumping where lots and LOTS of leg is needed.
I agree with a lot of whats said, you sound a bit like me and probably do forget to breathe as well as getting a bit tense which doesn't help.

[LMS]

I don't see why your instructor wouldn't let you take a few minutes here & there to catch your breath. If you're too weak to continue, it really affects how you ride.

I have riders that need to take a time out once in a while during every lesson & it really doesn't bother me. They just come next to me on centre line & they get to look at the others riding, which is good because it "develops the eye", so really they're not missing out on anything.

I've had lessons, where I've had to ask my coach if I could park myself somewhere because my body couldn't cope, like you I felt drained & shaky. She had no problem with it because in that state I wasn't an effective rider, so the horse wasn't doing it's best either.

Talk to your RI, I'm sure she'll understand.

[moomillie]

Whilst I don't wish to detract anything from the other posts I found it interesting that you seem to have had this problem to some degree from the start. If none of the other advice works then it might be worth having a word with your GP to see if you have exercise- induced asthma. I am asthmatic myself and will often need to take breather during my lessons, particularly if I'm on a horse that needs a lot of work to get going and we're working in open order. My riding instructor is very sympathetic and understands my problem. I take a breather for a few minutes and them carry on again. If I'm too tired at the end of the lesson to do the same tasks as the others then I just do what I feel capable of doing and she's OK with that. I hope this helps.

[greymane]

Muddyjods

Im so glad you posted this - I thought I was the only one who seems to run out of steam. I too am slightly built and not very tall but thought that my job in garden maintenance would at least make me fit - wrong! At least not fit for riding.

For me a combination of things work.

1) Breathing properly ie not upper chest as you tend to do when tense or nervous, but deeply and evenly
2) Making sure I have a drink of water before I ride. Its amazing what a difference this makes. Its so easy to get dehydrated without realising
3) Gentle stretching exercises. In Fact I've just been investigating Pilates which is apparently fantastic for improving 'core' strength

Sorry if the above have already been mentioned. I think also I am a little out of my comfort zone - mentally and physically - which can be very tiring. Today I did a very good impression of a windmill at canter because I was tense and trying to get the horse going!

[Dolly's mum]

Muddyjods

Im so glad you posted this - I thought I was the only one who seems to run out of steam. I too am slightly built and not very tall but thought that my job in garden maintenance would at least make me fit - wrong! At least not fit for riding.

For me a combination of things work.

1) Breathing properly ie not upper chest as you tend to do when tense or nervous, but deeply and evenly
2) Making sure I have a drink of water before I ride. Its amazing what a difference this makes. Its so easy to get dehydrated without realising
3) Gentle stretching exercises. In Fact I've just been investigating Pilates which is apparently fantastic for improving 'core' strength

Sorry if the above have already been mentioned. I think also I am a little out of my comfort zone - mentally and physically - which can be very tiring. Today I did a very good impression of a windmill at canter because I was tense and trying to get the horse going!

All I would add to this is making sure that you eat a high carb food an hour or 2 before your ride and take a sports drink along with you. It sounds to me like a combination of; not breathing correctly so you have no Oxygen for aerobic respiration so you get tired muscles, and the glucose reserves in your muscles been used up due to constant activity, so you get tired muscles.

[coverblown]

I went back to riding recently (sorry, I have n=been boring everyone about this..) after a 3 month break. Just did 20 minutes but was completely exhausted - walk trot and canter on the lunge.

Although riding is good exercise it does seem to be a good idea to be fit for riding - that's what I'm trying to do now - I did train (a little ) for the Race for Life, but even that didn't stop me being puffed out after only a short time in the saddle.