The TSE Membership is designed for active and aspiring distance riders who wish to ride longer, in greater comfort, while properly supporting their equine partners. Our members are committed to building their personal fitness alongside their horses’ fitness, and we support each other in building the physical and mental toughness that commitment requires.

Yes, all TSE members get access to both the foundational Essential Endurance Rider Fitness program and the challenging Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness program.

Full Partner will release in phases beginning May 2025.

Members get full access to two endurance rider fitness programs:

Essential Endurance Rider Fitness is appropriate for personal-fitness beginners and riders returning to the saddle after injury or illness (with your doctor’s permission, of course). It is also perfect for maintaining or regaining the physical ability to ride long distances as you age.

Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness is appropriate for riders who are ready to take on challenging strength and interval workouts in preparation for riding competitive 50’s, multi-day pioneer rides, and 100’s. 

Inside the membership, I’ll walk you through how to choose the right program for you. And since you have access to both Essential and Full Parner — plus the Leg Up Library for additional personalization — you can’t go wrong!

TSE members join at all different fitness and ability levels. Our current membership includes riders in their mid-seventies, former Ironman triathletes, riders recovering from major injury or illness, riders combatting menopause-related decline, parents getting fit while balancing families and horses, and more.

If you are currently able to ride short distances and perform the basic tasks associated with horse care, you are fit enough to start the Essential program. If you have a solid fitness base already and are looking to level up and target rider-specific needs, the Full Partner program may be a good starting place for you.

It’s okay if you’re working through some physical challenges, including past injuries, bodyweight struggles, or plain old aging. As long as your doctor has cleared you to get started, you can do this!

The TSE Membership is different from other fitness programs. It doesn’t just assign workouts and leave you to implement them on your own.

Inside the membership, you’ll find Ride Meeting videos and Trainer Talks to keep you encouraged and informed about why the exercises are relevant to you, as an endurance equestrian. The Essential program also includes Rider Opt-In exercises to keep your new skills top of mind and applicable in the saddle.

As a TSE Member, you’ll be surrounded with motivation, accountability, and support. You’ll get access to live calls with me and your fellow members, fun monthly challenges, community in our members-only Facebook group, Email Extras with encouragement and healthy recipes, and even direct email access to me.

As a TSE Member, you will have access to the Essential and Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness programs, plus all other membership benefits, for as long as you remain a member.

Essential Endurance Rider Fitness contains 14 weeks of workouts designed to gently and gradually progress your mobility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness. You’ll have the flexibility to move through the program at a slower or faster pace based on your individual needs.

Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness contains an additional 12 weeks of workouts designed to be revisited in a cyclical manner, continuing to build your fitness well beyond your first round through the program.

Essential Endurance Rider Fitness offers flexible workout programming totaling about 3.5 hours per week, broken into 30-minute segments that you can fit into your schedule as needed.

Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness also has a flexible schedule, with 6 weekly workouts ranging from 45-60 minutes in length, plus quick mobility routines.

The membership also includes Trainer Talks full of information and inspiration. These brief lessons can be accessed at your leisure. You’ll also be invited to hang out in our private “Crew Area” on Facebook and join monthly, 1-hour live Q&A calls with me and your fellow members.

The process of conditioning our horses does, indeed, make us more fit for the sport. However…

Horses don’t require as much exercise as humans do to maintain optimal fitness. Most of us – yes, even 100-mile competitors – simply don’t ride long, hard, and often enough to maximize our fitness through horse time alone.

Additionally, the very nature of riding creates muscle imbalances that must be counteracted with different fitness activities. If you work at a desk to pay your feed bill, those imbalances are only getting worse!

Most of the time, riding is not intense enough to improve cardiovascular fitness and strength beyond our current levels. This goes for daily barn chores, too.

None of us are getting younger. Unless we take action to counteract the loss of muscle and bone that comes with age, we’re accepting increased injury risk and decreased longevity on the endurance trail.

Think about it… Are you fitter now than you were six months of riding and farm chores ago? If not, doing more of the same won’t lead to change. You have to shake things up.

The Essential and Full Partner programs are designed to use minimal, inexpensive equipment that you can use at home. You might have some of it already!

The full equipment list for Essential includes: resistance bands (loop style with removable handles and door anchor); stability ball (optional); yoga mat; and foam roller.

For Full Partner, you’ll add some dumbbells.

You’ll also need a good pair of shoes and, ideally, a horse to be your partner as you integrate your new skills into your riding life.

The membership incudes a shopping list with links to each item, so it’s easy to get exactly what you need.

The Essential and Full Partner programs are designed to elevate your cardiovascular fitness benefits beyond what walking, riding, and barn chores can provide.

Running is the simplest, most efficient method for most people, and it is a useful skill for endurance riders. For this reason, the Essential program includes a very gradual walk-run program that will prepare you to run 2.5 miles in 30 minutes by the end of 16 weeks.

However, some riders are unable to run for various reasons. Essential also includes a detailed cardio option that uses rucking (walking with a weighted pack) as an excellent alternative to running.

The Full Partner program builds on the running or rucking base built during Essential (or your other fitness experience) to include interval, tempo, and endurance workouts that can be performed either through running or other modalities, like a stationary bicycle.

The TSE Membership is so much more than just a fitness program! 

Both endurance rider fitness programs included with the membership are designed specifically for distance riders who need to be able to maintain good riding posture for very long periods, plus be able to mount from the ground, hike out of a sticky situation, trot out for the vet, and handle unwieldy objects like portable corral panels and buckets of water.

Most other rider fitness programs focus heavily on flexibility and core strength. Essential certainly includes those elements, but also focuses on:

• Counteracting common muscle imbalances that cause discomfort for both horse and rider
• Building cardiovascular fitness so you use up less energy while riding for hours at a time
• Increasing strength to support good riding posture and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
• Training your neuromuscular system to react appropriately to sudden challenges, like stepping in a hole or sticking a “teleport” spook

Absolutely. Not all of our members are distance riders. Some do Competitive Trail Riding instead of endurance, and others are preparing to enter (or re-enter) the sport.

Although the fitness programs were designed to specifically target the needs of endurance riders, they are also highly applicable to all kinds of equestrians. If you want to feel stronger, more balanced, and more energetic for anything from trail riding to dressage lessons, Essential and Full Partner offer the foundation you need.

Probably!

Very few of us – even fitness types – rarely engage regularly in the mobility and balance work that riders need. Even fewer do that PLUS thoughtful, progressive cardiovascular and strength training to support longevity on the endurance trail. The TSE Membership fills those gaps.

Current moderate exercisers (like those who take daily walks in addition to their barn time) will absolutely benefit from the equestrian-specific nature of the Essential program, which targets the exact needs of distance riders.

More advanced athletes may choose to use Essential to improve their mobility and muscle balance during recovery days while utilizing the Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness program to build strength endurance, muscle mass, and symmetry.

No. Essential Endurance Rider Fitness and Full Partner Endurance Rider Fitness are personal fitness programs designed to complement your riding. They will not teach you to ride, but will lay the foundational balance, mobility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness you need to ride longer and better.

The Essential and Full Partner programs are not specifically designed for the purpose of decreasing bodyfat. However, the physical activity they require – especially resistance training – support the metabolic environment needed for fat loss if combined with appropriate nutrition.

The membership does not include meal plans, but it does offer basic recommendations for appropriately fueling your fitness, and nutrition is a common topic in the members-only “Crew Area” on Facebook.