Medical Disclaimer: This calculator provides a general estimate based on established research and is for educational purposes only, not a substitute for medical advice. Individual results can vary based on health conditions, so consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, exercise, or health routine. Read our full Medical Disclaimer.
How Calories Burned Horse Riding Are Calculated
Calories burned horse riding is the energy your body uses to keep your balance, absorb the horse's movement, and control the horse with your legs, seat and hands. The main factors are your body weight, how long you ride, and how much of the ride is spent at faster gaits.
What Horse Riding Calorie Estimates Measure
It covers all the energy you use during the ride or barn work, including what your body would burn at rest anyway (a gross figure). It counts the rider's energy only, not the horse's, and it does not track heart rate or distance.
The Formula
Calories (kcal) = MET x body weight (kg) x time (hours)
1 MET = about 1 kcal per kg of body weight per hour
METs rate how hard an activity is next to sitting still. Every riding value is taken from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, a reference list of energy costs for adults aged 19 to 59¹.
How This Calculator Computes Your Result
Start with your age group and your weight in pounds or kilograms, then pick the type of riding and enter your time. Your weight is converted from pounds to kilograms if needed, then multiplied by the riding MET and your time. Calorie figures are rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, and the MET is listed to one decimal.
Type of riding | Compendium code | MET |
General riding (mixed walk, trot and canter) | 15370 | 5.5 |
Walk | 15400 | 3.8 |
Trot | 15390 | 5.8 |
Canter or gallop | 15395 | 7.3 |
Jumping | 15402 | 9.0 |
Reining (western) | 15403 | 6.0 |
Grooming, saddling and barn tasks | 15380 | 4.5 |
Pick General riding for a normal lesson or hack. Your result includes total calories, calories per hour and per 30 minutes, and a seven-row table with every option at your weight. Riders under 18 see no result, because energy values for young people are different. Riders 60 and over get the same adult values, plus a note that their burn may be lower.
Split my session (optional). Enter minutes for grooming and tacking up, walk, trot, canter or gallop, and jumping, plus any long breaks, such as waiting your turn at a fence or a lunch stop on a trail ride. Breaks are left out and the result is labeled "active time only". Short walk breaks between exercises count as walk, since you are still riding.
What Your Result Means
This is the energy your ride used, not a goal to aim for. For a 70 kg (154 lb) rider, the burn looks like this:
Type of riding | 45 minute lesson | 1 hour |
Walk | 200 kcal | 265 kcal |
Grooming, saddling and barn tasks | 235 kcal | 315 kcal |
General riding | 290 kcal | 385 kcal |
Trot | 305 kcal | 405 kcal |
Reining | 315 kcal | 420 kcal |
Canter or gallop | 385 kcal | 510 kcal |
Jumping | 475 kcal | 630 kcal |
What Changes Your Burn in the Saddle
How much you trot. In trials run by the University of Brighton for the British Horse Society, trotting had the highest oxygen cost of any riding activity and did the most to lift riders into moderate intensity². Riding at a walk alone was not hard enough to count as moderate in those trials². In this calculator, swapping an hour of walking for an hour of trotting adds about 140 kcal for a 70 kg rider.
Faster work and jumping. In a study of 16 women riding a 45 minute lesson, trot and canter work averaged 5.3 METs, the highest of the session, against 5.0 for walk and trot³. The compendium rates canter or gallop at 7.3 and jumping at 9.0, so a lesson with a full course of fences will cost more than a flatwork session¹.
Riding without stirrups. You might expect it to cost more. In the same study, work without stirrups averaged 4.2 METs, lower than the trot and canter work³.
The work around the ride. Grooming, tacking up and other barn tasks are rated at 4.5 METs, more than riding at a walk¹. Of 1,248 riders surveyed for the British Horse Society, 68% met the government activity guideline through riding and the work that goes with it². Use the split helper to add barn time.
Horse Riding Compared With Walking, Golf, Cycling and Hiking
Hourly calories for riding and other activities, from the 2024 Adult Compendium¹:
Activity (code) | MET | 70 kg (154 lb) | 90 kg (198 lb) |
Horse riding, general (15370) | 5.5 | 385 kcal | 495 kcal |
Horse riding, walking (15400) | 3.8 | 265 kcal | 340 kcal |
Horse riding, trotting (15390) | 5.8 | 405 kcal | 520 kcal |
Walking, 2.8 to 3.4 mph (17190) | 3.8 | 265 kcal | 340 kcal |
Golf, walking, pulling clubs (15285) | 4.5 | 315 kcal | 405 kcal |
Cycling, leisure, under 10 mph (01010) | 4.0 | 280 kcal | 360 kcal |
Hiking, normal pace (17082) | 5.3 | 370 kcal | 475 kcal |
A ride at a walk costs about the same as walking on foot at about 3 mph. A mixed lesson burns a little more than a hike and more than walking a round of golf or an easy bike ride. Polo is listed separately in the compendium at 8.0 METs, but that value is an estimate rather than a measured figure¹.
Horse Riding and Your Health
The Brighton trials measured riders' oxygen use with portable equipment during a 45 minute session. They found an average of 3.7 METs, with peaks of 7.1, and about 244 kcal used per session². The study of 16 women found every part of the lesson in the moderate range of 3 to 6 METs, and its authors concluded that regular riding can help people meet activity guidelines³. Riding is also popular later in life: in Sport England data cited in the same report, 37% of women who ride were aged 45 or over².
A Note on Accuracy
Horse riding is harder to estimate than most sports, because the horse does the moving and the rider's effort depends on balance, position and how forward or lazy the horse is. Measured values in recreational riders were lower than some compendium rows: trotting came in at about 5.0 METs in the Brighton trials, below the compendium's 5.8, and individual riders varied a lot². For a typical ride, see the result as a fair estimate rather than an exact count.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories do you burn horse riding for an hour?
A 70 kg (154 lb) rider burns about 385 kcal in an hour of general riding with mixed gaits, from about 265 kcal at a walk to 630 kcal jumping¹. Heavier riders burn more.
Is horse riding good exercise?
Yes, for most of a lesson. Studies of recreational riders found trot and canter work in the moderate intensity range, though riding at a walk alone was lighter² ³.
Do you burn calories grooming and mucking out?
Yes. The compendium rates grooming, saddling and maintenance tasks at 4.5 METs, about 315 kcal an hour for a 70 kg person, and the British Horse Society report counts mucking out as moderate activity¹ ².
How accurate is a horse riding calorie calculator?
It gives a reasonable average, but real riders vary. In measured trials, trotting cost about 5.0 METs, lower than the compendium's 5.8, so your own number may be lower or higher¹ ².
Sources
2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, Herrmann et al., 2024
The Health Benefits of Horse Riding in the UK, University of Brighton and Plumpton College for The British Horse Society, 2011
Oxygen Cost of Recreational Horse-Riding in Females, Beale et al., 2015