Sitting high in the saddle, steering a 1,200-pound animal and teaching it tricks and jumps — horseback riding holds great fascination, and not only for children. Many adults enjoy riding for fitness.

        Rebecca Meador, owner and instructor at Cross Creek Equestrian Center in Hamilton, says there's a common misconception about riding: “People think that the horse is doing all the work and that the rider is just sitting, but that's not true.”

        Good riding technique encourages good posture and improves muscle tone of the thighs, buttocks and stomach.

        “You use an enormous amount of abdominal muscles for riding,” Ms. Meador says. “People think everything is in the reins, and that you simply pull the horse's head the way you want him to go. But it's your body movement — the way you turn your pelvis, squeeze your legs and shift your weight — that really directs the horse.”

GET READY TO RIDE

What to wear: Boots with slight heels and fairly smooth soles; a helmet certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials, and riding breeches, such as stretch jeans or heavy leggings that are fairly snug without big seams on the inside leg. Riding gloves are optional.   Exercises: (recommended by Rebecca Meador of Cross Creek Equestrian Center in Hamilton):   • Stretch the Achilles tendon by standing on the edge of a step with the balls of your feet. Gently lower your heels and raise them back up to stretch the back of your calf. Repeat.   • Sitting on the edge of a hard stool or bench, become aware of your hip bones and shift your weight from one to the other.   • Stand in front of a mirror with legs a shoulder width apart and elbows at your sides.   Hold up your hands as if you are holding the reins, bend your knees a bit, and pretend to turn your horse left by turning your whole hip so your body follows. It will be as if you are pushing your outside knee into the horse's shoulder, the outside rein slightly against his neck to “go left,” your inside leg into the horse's rib cage so he bends around your “inside” leg, and slightly pulling his nose to the left with the inside rein. Return to the starting position and repeat on the right.

        One popular form of English-style riding is dressage (rhymes with massage), which refers to a horse's three basic gaits: walk, trot and canter. It's often performed in a show ring to demonstrate one's ability to make the horse move in a smooth and flowing way.

        The roots of dressage go back 3,000 years. It was used by the U.S. Cavalry to test mounts, and later became an Olympic sport. Today, men and women compete in dressage on an equal footing, and competitors ride into their 70s, Ms. Meador says.

        “As long as you can throw your leg over a horse, you can do dressage,” she says.

        But proper riding technique can be demanding.

        “You're using a lot of muscles that I think have no other purpose than to ride a horse,” Ms. Meador says, “and if you ride for an hour and have never ridden before, I guarantee the next day you are going to feel it.”

        Bobbi Hageman, 34, of Colerain Township is a bridal consultant who started learning dressage about four years ago.

        “I love horses and it's good exercise,” she says.

        Riding her horse, Dallas, at a trot for 15 minutes “can really get the heart pumping,” and if you are not used to it, she says, “you can get out of breath pretty quick.”

        Dressage is therapy for Dr. Nancy Nicholson, 61, a professor at Miami University who's been riding horses since childhood. She is recovering from a spinal cord injury and, through riding, is regaining her strength.

        “I do complicated moves in dressage, like the "trot in place' ... working with the horse and an instructor on my (posture). And riding, sweeping the stalls, cleaning the horse — all phases of it are aerobic.”

WHERE TO RIDE

Look in the Yellow Pages under “Horseback Riding & Rentals,” “Riding Academies” or “Stables.” Many places provide horses for lessons.   Horseback riding can be expensive. For instance, Cross Creek Equestrian Center charges $30 per hour for lessons. Some stable owners will exchange lessons for your help with the care of horses and stalls, Ms. Meador says.

        Then there's the mental health aspect of riding.

        “Its very peaceful,” Dr. Nicholson says. “It's like an extraordinary art form held between two widely different species. (When riding) you are someplace else, and whatever the rest of the world is up to, it doesn't matter.”

        Is riding a horse difficult to learn?

        “We instruct a lot of women who always wanted to ride or to own a horse, and finally got to a point with family or work where they are able to do it,” Ms. Meador says.

        If you rode a horse in childhood, you may pick it up more quickly than if you did not or if you are not athletically inclined, she says. But anyone can learn.

        “Dressage is a good base for any kind of riding because it teaches you to be aware of your body and how to get the horse to move with the least amount of resistance and awkwardness,” she says.

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