Cross-training in multiple sports and equine disciplines involves diversifying workouts and movements to improve overall fitness and performance on the field or court and in the saddle too.
It is a great way to increase muscular endurance, stamina, and riding position in the equestrian world. With cross-training, what were once thought to be discipline-specific riding skills are now reaching across equine disciplines, improving overall riding skills and producing talented, adaptable riders. Many young riders are cross-training across various sports and riding disciplines as well in hopes of becoming well-rounded equestrians and multi-sport athletes.
Competitive equine and gymnastics coach, Meredith Tipton has many years of experience coaching young riders who are multi-sport athletes. With 25 years of equine coaching and 20 years of gymnastics coaching under her belt, she has seen the benefits of cross-training across multiple sports and riding first hand. Meredith acknowledges it is beneficial for young riders to try different sports and also different disciplines within the equine realm in the beginning to help decide which direction they want to go.
However, once a young rider narrows down which sport or discipline he or she wants to go far in, the rider should dedicate the majority of the time to that specific sport. In her experience as a coach, Meredith has seen this go both ways. Students who determine which sport or discipline they want to excel in and focus on those specifically have the time needed to devote themselves. However, students who are spread thin across 4-5 sports each week have less time to spend in each activity. Meredith has seen horsemanship decline if riding is lower on the priority list and the horse is one who requires regular riding. In this case of weekly multiple sports and practices with limited time left to devote to riding, she recommends finding an equine partner who doesn’t require 4-5 days a week of regular riding to stay “sane.”
Meredith is also a believer in cross-training for equine athletes as well. The farm where she trains focuses mostly on eventing, so the kids do conditioning in the field, hill work, dressage work, and jumping regularly. To change things up, she and her students enjoy taking the horses out in the back field and go on long trots. “Changing the environment helps keep your horse entertained and helps keep the work fresh,” according to Meredith.
It is important to note, however, with the amount of work involved in cross-training for the equine athlete, more is not always better. Meredith says she discusses with her students the importance of not over jumping the horses. They do not jump to height each week. Instead, she says they may opt for “ more technical exercises at a lower height, pole exercises, small grid, etc. to create jumping and steering questions while keeping the wear and tear low for the horse.”
Meredith’s students that participate in Pony Club get to dabble in other horse sports and experience cross-training in other disciplines at clinics. For example, she had a student who recently traveled to Kentucky for championships and afterwards had the opportunity to take her dressage horse and participate in Mounted Games and Competitive Trail. “He’s a good all-around Quarter Horse, so he was brilliant in all of these things, and it made a really fun trip for my student,” Meredith states.
Cross-training in various equine disciplines creates stronger riders as well. From riding different kinds of horses to learning from trainers with experience in many backgrounds, cross-training produces well-rounded, versatile riders. For example, training in Saddleseat requires the rider to have a great amount of balance and core strength.
Cross-training in Hunt Seat will help the rider develop more stability in riding through an emphasis on using the rider’s calf muscles and heels. Western Horsemanship can help the rider to learn how to stay connected with the horse with the entire leg, not just the calf, as a steering aid while riding with one hand. While every skill gleaned from different disciplines may not be applicable to others, there are several elements that can carry over, creating more balanced and stronger riding.
Young Rider, Mia Duke (pictured at top with Camryn Kraski’s pony SBF Hilins McLaren), is an excellent example of success through cross-training in different equine disciplines. At just nine years old, she is riding on the Hunter/Jumper horse show circuit while training and competing in barrel racing as well. The skills and experiences she is learning in these very different disciplines are translating between each other quite successfully.
Mia has won multiple championships on the Hunter/Jumper horse show circuit on her small pony Fairywood Tomboy, aka Nugget, including Classic Company Circuit Champion in Gulfport, Mississippi, in 2023. She qualified and competed at Pony Finals in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2022 and 2023. Mia has moved up in the ranks and speed on her horse, Reba, in the Western realm as well. From Pee Wee barrels, to Buckaroo, she is now competing in the Youth and the Open classes. This past summer she won Boyd Farms Buckaroo Champion Buckle and Donna Stampley Memorial 2D Champion Buckle. She will continue her training and plans to compete at the NBHA Youth Nationals in 2025.
According to her mom, Heidi, Mia’s training in Hunter/Jumper has taught her to be precise and much more aware of her position and the effect it has on performance. Her extensive history of being coached by highly successful trainers in multiple disciplines has taught her to apply instruction when it is given and as it is needed. The barrel racing has taught Mia skills of applying adjustments at a much faster pace and brought out her fearless side she had a hard time finding in Hunter/Jumper. In keeping with the theme of cross-training for equine athletes too, Mia has even crossed one of her barrel horses over into the jumper scene, with successful rounds and winning ribbons at the EXEL horse shows in Germantown, Tennessee.
Whether a rider is cross-training between sports and different types of riding or among various equine disciplines, cross-training can add invaluable skills to the equestrian’s riding toolbox that will transfer across disciplines and enhance riding.
Photos courtesy of Heidi Duke
