**4. Discussion**

Results of the present study evidenced that twelve weeks of training restrictions due to the COVID-19 emergency and lockdown decreased the fitness level of young recreational horse riders. Even though pupils were instructed by coaches to practise home-based physical activities, it can be argued that either general and unguided exercise assignments of 45–50 min 2 days per week were insufficient to retain adolescent physical fitness or that assignments' compliance was not respected, if not both. It has been demonstrated that more experienced athletes of the same regional area (4 years of experience or more) who have had the opportunity to be remotely assisted, guided, and monitored by their coaches were more engaged in home training than their recreational counterparts, being able to keep high physical activity levels even in an extraordinary situation such as a nationwide lockdown [44]. It can be suggested that during training restriction periods, recreational athletes may need more thorough fitness programs with more detailed instructions and stricter surveillance than high-level athletes in order for home-based training to be effective. Moreover, due to the possibly more pronounced detraining effect on novice and recreational than on professional athletes, their training resumption should be even more carefully managed before returning to full training intensities and volumes.

Anthropometric measurements of our group of young riders showed no differences in height but significant increases in body weight and BMI. It can thus be argued that equitation training apparently allowed the subjects to keep weight and BMI under control before training restrictions intervened. Since BMI is generally related to an increased risk of various diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease and can have an important influence on adults' health conditions, horse riding exercises can be suggested to be associated with people's health management [45].

It has also been put forward that, together with the athlete's physical fitness, their mental well-being can be affected by training restrictions [46–48]. The role of psychological components in equitation disciplines is considered vitally important and athletes are required to always be in control of both their body and mind [49–51]. The cooperative effort of two non-related species, horses and humans, is essential to continually adapt to

various unpredictable situations. The horse's nature is governed by its instinctive reactions, by the different gait employed, and by the characteristics of the land where the practice is being carried out. Hence, a positive interaction between the horse and its rider when coping with the emotional and physical challenges of equestrian tasks is a prerequisite for success not only for competitions, but also for recreational activities [10,52]. Further supporting this, in competitive horse riders, 8 weeks of training restrictions decreased the performance outcome for up to six weeks following training resumption with a significant rise in anxiety and rate of perceived effort during competitions [17]. Athletes with higher levels of anxiety, such as those who do not respect sufficient recovery times, can suffer a higher risk of injuries [53,54]. When training restarts, great attention should be paid not only to the training workload but also to athletes' physical and mental conditions, perception of exertion, signs, and symptoms of anxiety [55]. For a safer and more efficient way to resume training, young novice riders can begin practising in conditions of reduced anxiety, such as on mechanical horse simulators [56,57]. Such simulators have been proven to be effective and sufficient indoor workout equipment for people with limited time and chances for outdoor activities and for enhancing neurologic functions in patients [6,58,59]. A study aimed to examine the energy expenditure and postural coordination of horse riders and non-riders on a mechanical horse indicates a change in the energy system from an aerobic mode at a low oscillation frequency to a lactic anaerobic mode at a high oscillation frequency for both groups [57]. Horse riding simulation training can thus be a fun and interesting alternative practice tool to resume equitation practice which allows the avoidance of the interference of emotional distress, which may increase the fitness level and the motivation to participate in exercise programmes.

Concerning horse riding training effects on physical fitness, medium-to-high training loads in various equitation disciplines have been reported for general competitive riders, for college females, for sedentary young female adults, and for healthy children, suggesting that it is possible to achieve health benefits through accumulated horseback riding exercise, particularly if riding is performed at the more intense gaits [6,52,60–65]. Olympic equestrian athletes have been reported to have high values of muscle strength and balance, good physical functions, and good maximal aerobic power [16]. Results of the present study on recreationally trained young horse riders indicated higher hip mobility (−82.8%) and hand grip (17%) with respect to age-matched reference values of the same geographical region. The latter could be expected since the greater effort in horse conduction relies on the upper limbs and hands, particularly in novice riders that depend on rough and taut controls of the horse, with the use of excessive muscular force of the arms and hands [63]. This is also confirmed by the significantly higher arm strength showed by the show jumping group, being the discipline that requires the most directional control by the riders as compared to endurance and pony games. High hip mobility can be explained by the fact that all coaches participating in the study included mobility exercises in their usual sessions, which is not a common practice of horse riding trainers.

On the other hand, our fitness test results indicated lower values, except for handgrip, than those obtained by teachers in the same school district from age- and sex-matched nonathlete students that we used as reference. However, it must be noted that reference values were collected fifteen years earlier and could be irrelevant for the present puberal and adolescent population [30]. Indeed, accelerometery data show that sedentary behaviours of adolescent girls (12–15 years old) are increasing over time from 2003, with higher rates reported in recent studies [66]. Consistently, in recent years, two thirds of European children and adolescents were categorized as not sufficiently physically active, with lower physical activity levels in Southern European countries and girls who are less active and more sedentary in all age categories [67]. Therefore, outdated values referring to a possibly more active population of the past may lead to an underestimation of the horse riding training effect on the contemporary young population. Indeed, values measured after the 12 weeks of forced restriction from equitation training indicated a significant loss of hand grip and abdominal strength and 5 × 10 m shuttle, and Copper 12 min test results and

a significant increase in body weight and BMI. Moreover, our results showed that more experience in horse riding was significantly correlated with higher hand grip, leg strength, and hip mobility, and with the better results in the 5 × 10 m shuttle test and the Cooper 12 min test. Therefore, recreational equitation practice could be presumed to be a physical activity that offers some training effects suitable for improving the fitness level of young recreational riders.

With regards to the equestrian discipline that best suits fitness enhancement purposes, values of the three groups are consistent between them, indicating similar training effects. However, endurance riders appeared to achieve higher aerobic fitness involvement and lower abdominal strength, whilst show jumping riders showed the highest hand and arm strength. This could be ascribed to their opposite metabolic requests and different needs for precise guidance of the horse. It can thus be supposed that each of the two disciplines can be more suitable than the other if either cardiometabolic fitness or muscle strength is the main goal, whilst pony games could be envisioned as the least specialised equitation activity out of the three.

Limitations of the present study are represented by the lack of a control group, which does not allow us to determine if pre-test fitness levels were attributable solely to horse riding or if other aspects might have been involved. Additionally, during training restrictions, physical activity was entrusted to individual responsibility, giving rise to different sorts of fitness outcomes. Further limitations were the small number of subjects for each equitation discipline, the all-female subjects, and the sample of items chosen to be part of the test battery that could not represent the actual horse riders' training effects. It could certainly be useful to discriminate which physical attributes are most pertinent to equitation training and performance by broadening the motor fit test items and by correlating test results with performance outcomes.
