Whistler Real Estate Co Ltd, #137- 4370 Lorimer Road, Whistler, BC V0N 1B4

I have two great loves: horses and running, and the two don’t co-exist very well.

I’ll get to the riding part in a moment, but first, some background. For those of you who are runners, or know one of us crazy people, you know that most runners do LSD: Long, Slow Distance, once a week.

It used to be that I’d do my long run on Saturday morning, and, full of endorphins, be more cheerful than those cartoon Chipmunk characters the rest of the day. Then the kids got older and began having soccer games and cross-country meets, so the long run moved to Sunday morning.

And that worked for a while, until the long runs became increasingly…longer (endorphins are, after all, addictive) and the standing Sunday morning coffee/newspaper date with my husband slowly inched its way upward toward happening in the afternoon, until finally he protested

(did I say two great loves? I meant to say three. THREE great loves. Sorry, honey, in case you read this).

And then horses entered our lives, or in my case, re-entered my life. Now any extra time in a day that I used to take for running was devoted to running off to the barn to see my horse.

Trying to fit in time to ride, and also run, became a real problem. I could wake up super early in the morning and get in my run before a ride, but then it would like I was riding my horse with two rubbery legs because they’d already be tired. And I’d get so hungry that if I forgot to pack food, I’d get cranky about mid ride, and as soon as we got back in the car I’d start rummaging through my purse for anything edible, anything at all.

And I can’t run at night. I don’t understand how people do. By the end of the day I want to collapse and just relax, not put on my running shoes and pound the pavement.

So it came down to running in the morning, and riding my horse later in the day, after work/soccer/dinner/etc. And that doesn’t work well, either. Mosquitoes LOVE me, and I get distressed when they cover my horse’s face, too, despite copious amounts of fly spray. And if it’s cold enough that mosquito season is over, it gets dark way too soon to get in any decent riding time.

Then one afternoon while on a trail ride with my friend Sandy, I lamented that I’d missed my run that day because I just couldn’t fit it in, and Sandy said, “Well, riding a horse burns a few hundred calories, so wouldn’t that be your workout?”

Eureka! Would it?

I decided to do a bit of research, and in case you need help justifying skipping your workout in order to spend more time with your horse, I’m sharing it with you here.

What I found, from checking out several different sources, is that about an hour-long ride, along with all the activity involved in preparing for that, is the equivalent to running a few miles.

And this is just average stuff. If your horse is on 90 acres and you have to hike to catch him, your number will be higher…etc.

Let’s break it down for the average 150-pound person:

Loading/unloading horse stuff from the car/trailer, 5 minutes: 18 calories

Walking to get horse from paddock/pasture, 5 minutes: 15 calories

Grooming a horse, 10 minutes: 68 calories

Riding horse at the walk, 10 minutes: 29 calories

Riding a horse at the trot, 20 minutes: 147 calories

Riding a horse at the canter, 5 minutes: 45 calories

Loading/unloading horse stuff from the car/trailer after the ride, 5 minutes: 18 calories

Shoveling horse poop, 5 minutes: 35 calories

Walking horse back to pasture/paddock, 5 minutes: 15 calories

Feeding horse/s, 10 minutes: 54 calories

Grand total from one hour, ten minutes of riding and horse-related activity: 444 calories

Total from jogging three miles at a 10 minute-per-mile pace: 330 calories.

So, I’ve cut down on my running, and I’m spending all that newly found time with my horse. And I don’t know if I’m more fit, but I’m certainly happier—and doesn’t that lead to better health, anyway?

Besides, my running shoes will never nuzzle me with affection.