After record-breaking heat this summer, we’re all ready to enjoy some crisp autumn days with our equine partners and barn friends. Whether you find one or all of these ideas useful or fun, we hope our Fall To-Do List inspires you to try something new in your horse life as we enjoy the changing seasons.

1. Hit the Trails

Especially if you’re lucky enough to live in an area with lots of fall color, grab your riding friends, ditch the arena and treat your horse to a leisurely trail ride in the woods. The break in your daily training routine is good for both of you and can even help you get out of riding ruts and prevent burnout.

Plus, walking in nature has additional physical and mental health benefits such as reducing stress and anxiety and improving mood and overall well-being. The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku, which means “forest bathing.” So, embrace the fall foliage and enjoy just being in the moment with your equine partner.

2. Core Focus

Can’t ride due to the weather? Throw in some extra core-toning workouts and yoga sessions. As we all know, a stronger core equates to better riding (plus, it improves our horses’ abilities to balance and move.) USDF medalist Debbie Rodriguez discovered that riding alone wasn’t sufficient exercise to develop the strength and flexibility she needed to ride effectively.

“Riders must have enough muscle strength, coordination and suppleness to maintain a correct and balanced position in order to easily influence their horses,” she noted. “In the end, lighter aids are needed because the rider has better control over her body and is operating from a centered, strong and stable position.”

Rodriguez talks more about the benefits of developing a strong core here. For some specific core-strengthening exercises, click here.

Dressage trainer Jaclyn Sicoli is an avid yogi and encourages her students to practice yoga to improve their core strength, flexibility, balance and mental focus. She explains that yoga promotes the same core position as riding and strengthens the muscles that elongate the spine and allow us to stand straight.

“The core muscles are constantly at work when the body is seeking balance and are vital for balance while riding,” Sicoli said. “Many riders sit at a desk or in a car for hours every day. This creates tension that works against proper riding position and relaxation. The deeper muscles of the hips and back need time to relax and open up. A few hours of stretching each week will change your ability to sit properly.”

If you don’t currently incorporate yoga into your non-riding fitness routine, you might want to reconsider. For Sicoli’s five reasons why you should be hitting the yoga mat in between riding lessons, click here.

3. Get Out of a Riding Rut

Challenge yourself to do one new exercise per week instead of your same-old walk-trot-canter hack. For example, do you have trouble keeping your leg underneath you? Try this exercise from hunt-seat trainer Boo Major to help stabilize your legs in the correct position while simultaneously improving your upper-body control:

• At the trot, alter your posting sequence so that you change diagonals every stride. First do it by sitting for two beats and rising for one, over and over. This will teach your body not to get ahead of your horse’s motion.
• Then practice staying out of the saddle for two beats and sitting for one. This will teach your body to avoid falling behind the motion.

For more of Major’s tips to correct common leg, seat and hand problems, click here.

4. Go Stirrup-Less

For those of us who happen to be Adult Ammies of a certain age, “No-Stirrup November”—a month-long commitment to improve your seat with or without stirrups—might seem overly ambitious, but challenge yourself to incorporate some stirrup-less work into your riding routine. Riding without stirrups will help you become a more supple, adaptable rider and develop an independent seat. Dressage trainer Dave Thind provides several No-Stirrup November exercises here.

5. Prioritize Reducing Stress

Giving yourself time to rest and recover is crucial for managing stress and balancing work and family obligations with your horse life. But taking the time to destress often creeps to the bottom of our to-do lists. Sports psychologist Jenny Susser says that taking time to feel good or do something relaxing is a not a luxury. Instead, it’s a necessity, and our bodies, minds and spirits need to feel good every day in order to flourish.

“The key to feeling good in our hyper-drive stressful lives is being intentional about it. Do not let it become negotiable,” she advised. “The good news is that feeling good only takes a moment. Take a few deep breaths, listen to a favorite song, look at a picture or video of the horse you love. You can endure hours of stress if you have moments of feeling good as a relief peppered in.”

For more on Susser’s advice for managing mental stress in both horse and rider, click here. Now that you have permission, make a point of doing at least one thing to destress every day—a hot bubble bath with Epsom salts, a massage, a nap—whatever helps you relax and recover.

6. Assess Your Blanket Inventory

With Jack Frost just around the corner, it’s time to evaluate your turnout sheets and blankets, as well as any stable blankets or coolers you use throughout the colder months. Carefully examine your inventory for any rips, missing hardware or straps and any other potential integrity issues. If you discover any damage, check your blanket’s warranty.

While horses will be horses and eventually damage their winter wardrobes over the years, some manufacturers have warranties. SmartPak, for example, offers a 10-year Indestructible Guarantee on all of their Ultimate Turnout Blankets and Sheets. Weatherbeeta and Horseware also offer limited warranties on some of their blankets.

Hopefully, you were ahead of the game last spring and washed your blankets then, but if you’re a procrastinator like me, it’s wise to have them washed before the first cold snap.

7. Helmet Safety Check

Helmet Safety Awareness Week this fall reminds us that it’s crucial to regularly check our helmets for signs of any damage or compromised integrity. Indications that you’re due for a helmet replacement can include cracks, dents, warping or holes on the outer surface; chin straps with broken teeth or clips; a loose retention harness in the shell; or the inner lining is missing chunks or certain spots appear compressed or even melted.

Even if your helmet doesn’t have any visible signs of damage, most manufacturers and governing safety bodies recommend replacing helmets every three to six years because the internal components can deteriorate over time.

If, however, your helmet takes a blow after a fall, kick or any other impact (I had a helmet fly out the back of my car following an accident), it needs to be replaced immediately. A lot of brands offer “crash replacement policies” at heavily discounted rates, so be sure to ask your helmet manufacturer about their specific policy.

If you end up being in the market for a new helmet, consider upgrading to one with MIPS (Multi-Directional Impact Protection System). This technology was engineered to help reduce the rotational force exerted on the brain during a fall and is also used in helmets for cyclists, motorcyclists and winter sport enthusiasts. You can read more about MIPS here.

8. Pink-Ribbon Friends

Do you have a barn friend who’s a breast cancer survivor or one undergoing treatment? Take the time to reach out and schedule a fun ride or lunch together or surprise her in a group lesson by planning an all-pink saddle pad and polo day. Or, just let her know you care by sending flowers or something unique and horse-related along with kind note.

Read about hunt-seat rider Kerri Burke’s story as a breast cancer survivor here.

9. Give Back

‘Tis the season of giving, thankfulness and friendship. Pay it forward by volunteering your time or equestrian expertise at a local therapeutic riding facility or equine-rescue organization. You can also donate to any favorite national or international groups or take a weekend afternoon to clean out your tack trunk (or if you’re like me, your many tack closets) and donate any new or lightly used items you’re confident your horse can live without.

Or maybe you have a niece or nephew or other special youngster in your life who’s itching to catch the horse bug? We all can relate to that special moment when we first fell in love with all things equine. Take a day to introduce your little one to your horse and teach her some horsemanship basics—you never know how it might impact her life! (My first day of riding camp went on to shape the trajectory of my professional and much of my personal life.)

10. Boost Barn Camaraderie  

Host a pumpkin-carving, potluck Freindsgiving at the barn. We all have insanely hectic schedules, but the pandemic taught us just how important our social connections are. And, for us, our barn communities are part of our social lives—we often go through a lot together when it comes to heartbreak, joy and grief with our horses.

For any barn members who have a little extra time on their hands, create an informal planning committee to organize the menu, drinks and any extras like games (pumpkin-carving contests are a proven favorite), special treats for the horses or an inexpensive gift exchange.

Looking for an easy fall-themed horse treat recipe? Give this one a go!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

(Adapted from Spalding Labs)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups whole oats
• 1 can pumpkin (or 15 oz of fresh cooked pumpkin)
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups oat flour or almond flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp honey or molasses (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pumpkin and water together well. Add flour, oats and spices. Add optional honey or molasses. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. 

11. Reassess Your Goals

Don’t make this some monumental task or get bogged down in details. Simply think about things you could improve or revamp in your horse life. When the pandemic brought life to a halt in the spring of 2020, we were gifted with the rare opportunity to get off the hamster wheel and reassess what we value most in our horse lives. That pause in normality reminded us that we have the freedom to choose how we spend time with our horses and what goals are most important to us, which might involve redefining our perceptions of success.

Go back to that time and simply reflect on what’s important to your horse life and brainstorm ideas to improve or enhance those areas. No goal—or idea of a goal—is too big or small. Just keep the focus on what brings you and your horse the most joy and meaning.

12. Start Tack Shopping

The holidays, of course, are a popular time for big-item gifts like saddles and tack trunks. If you’re in the market for a new saddle for the upcoming holiday season, kick off your search now, especially if you hope to have it under the tree by December 25. A lot of manufacturers offer barn calls for saddle fittings and demos. However, these can be harder to come by if you live in a more remote area or one without a large horse community. Some companies even offer trial and test-ride periods for saddles; google “test ride saddle” to discover regional or nation-wide offerings.

Tip 1: If you’re like me and are currently leasing a horse—or if you ride a lot of different horses—you might want to look at saddles with adjustable gullet options. That way, if you find a saddle you adore, you can always adjust it to accommodate for different horses’ conformations.

Tip 2: Akin to saddles, if you or your horse-crazy youngster, has a tack trunk on their holiday wish list, order as early as possible. Many of the custom tack-trunk companies are small, family-owned operations, so it takes times for them to fulfill orders.

Happy Fall Y’all! We hope you and your horse enjoy giving some of these ideas a try over the upcoming months.