If you think you have hit the gym to stay fit, think again. Country artist and true cowboy Trent Willmon says the best workouts just require a little horse sense.

“I had a job exercising racehorses for a couple of years, and I was in the absolute best physical shape of my life,” says Willmon. “I think a lot of horse activities, from starting colts to riding cutting horses, can be quite strenuous and can keep you in shape. Just the everyday maintenance of feeding, watering, cleaning stalls and riding will keep you in shape.”

Willmon should know. He worked as a ranch hand and a horse trainer before he hit the road as a country artist. He rode and roped on a regular basis until excessive touring and long stints away from home forced him to give up his horses. “I currently have no horses, and no time to tend to them if I did have them,” he says. “I sold my last horse a couple years ago. Occasionally, though, I do get to borrow a horse to rope or just ride. I have a few good friends who understand my predicament.”

Touring with his latest album, Broken In, means Willmon doesn’t get to ride as often as he’d like, but he has made other changes in his life to stay fit. “I despise working out,” says the 35-year-old singer/songwriter, “but I do try to eat healthier than I have in the past. I don’t drink much anymore, and I take these vitamins from Usana that are the bomb — I haven’t been sick in two years, and I feel like I’m 18 again!

“When I get horseback nowadays it’s purely for fun,” he says. “Even if it’s a working situation, like working cattle, I’m doing it because it’s something I enjoy and don’t get to do near enough of!”