Cleaning Horse Stalls is Good for You!

Riding, grooming horses, and mucking out a barn are all activities that contribute to a healthy lifestyle, according to a study conducted by the British Horse Society.

Done on a regular basis, barn chores are difficult enough to be classified as moderate-intensity exercise, helping to burn excess calories and cause a rise in heart rate. In particular, riding at a trot was found to enhance energy expenditure.  A total of at least 150 minutes of exercise at this level of moderate intensity each week is suggested as an aid to physical health.

The study found evidence that horseback riding is much more popular among women than among men, and is a life-long activity for many women, with more than a third of survey participants being over 45 years old. Another finding showed that riding gives rise to positive psychological feelings, and that participants are strongly motivated to continue the activity because of these positive feelings gained by interacting with horses. Interaction with an animal is not generally a feature of participation in sports, a fact that makes riding somewhat unusual among leisure and recreational activities.

If you were looking for an excuse to spend more time at the barn, or maybe even buy another horse,this is it. Equine enthusiasts have always suspected that horse activities were beneficial to them, and this study confirms that feeling: “There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a person” (paraphrase; attributed to Winston Churchill).