endurance riding

I am a former endurance horseback rider. After two years off due to chronic heart failure and three heart procedures in nine weeks, I am setting tomorrow as my date to start exercising both my horse and myself.. I hope to ride a 25 mile ride in six weeks.. anyone else participate in this sport with a pacemaker?

5 Comments

Hello :-)

by pacergirl - 2011-02-13 09:02:31

I would take it slow at first. I would also check with your dr. before getting back on your horse. I would also ride with a friend. You really have to check with your cardio. doc. and see what he/she says.

I began by stretching out my muscles. I also used my stair stepper to get my legs in shape so I could lift myself into the saddle. I did lift some weights to gain muscle in my arms. I began slow and with just a 2 lb. weights and as I gained muscle I added weights. The imp. thing for me was to not tear any muscles in my chest. My pacemaker was not a problem.

I ride for pleasure only and when I get to ride only for a few hours with some friends. I did ride a lot. now not so much only because I don't own a horse.

There a a number of horsewomen who are members of this site and they will respond as soon as they can. They are probably out riding. :-)

I wish you the best with getting back in the saddle. Be careful. Please keep us up on your progress! I think you can do it. I really do.

Rate response

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-14 01:02:12

You might find your HR going higher than necessary if Rate Response is turned on in your pacemaker. It senses body motion and uses it to determine an appropriate HR. While on the horse the pacer might set your HR to one more appropriate for the horse.

It's nothing serious or risky, but could be disturbing if you aren't aware of it. One way to check is to rest for 10 minutes or so and then use your thumb and index finger to wiggle the pacer and see if your HR increases. If it does RR is on.

Enjoy the ride,

frank

Training ride yesterday

by Gracie - 2011-02-14 11:02:02

9.52 miles.. I was tired but happy and sore shoulders this morning but feel wonderful. My horse and I are FAT but it was truly a great start.. 38 days to go!!

thanks for the comments! They are encouraging..I love riding and this forced retirement was hard. I am 11 days away from the first anniversary of my last heart procedure!

had my pacemaker check last Tuesday.. pacing 21% of the time with episodes of v-tach.. not happy about that but....the nurse practitioner said it is "just part of having sick sinus syndrome...."

Hope you are all doing well

and yes, Frank my HR went VERY high for a while and I could not figure out why!

Sounds like fun

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-15 03:02:09

Glad you can get back to what you enjoy. Keep it up.

You might talk to the pacer folks about adjusting your Rate Response to keep your HR a bit more in bounds during a ride. This could even be the cause of the vtach.

They aren't as well trained in handling those of us that are active. I remember a year or so ago when I was told I had a spell of vtach. I asked if it was on a certain date and they said "yes, how do you know?" My response was that I had done some strenuous hiking in our desert hills on that date and had monitored my HR as it moved up. It wasn't vtach, but rather just a normal response to exercise.

frank

thanks for the tip

by Gracie - 2011-02-15 10:02:14

My Vtach was in December.. I think we were hiking up the mountains where we live. I am very used to my atrial tach and I have had four or five confirmed episodes of v tach. I only pace 2% from the ventricles so this was surprising.

I keep thinking that after 14 months, I should be used to this whole thing..

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