John,
Funny you mention the horse riding. I worked to be in pretty good shape but my prior ride on a horse was in 1981 and a leisurely one at that. Hard to condition the ride if you don't have access to a horse (my lame excuse). My 30" legs, with multiple stirrup adjustments, just ached at the knees for most of the trip as the horses were pretty stout. The tailbone blister was not good either. All to ultimately make the trip my most memorable.
One of the other things I've suggested to folks going on their first horseback hunt, with relatively little (or even no) previous time in the saddle is hiking up and down steep country sideways. This exercises the inner and outer leg muscles far more than straight-ahead hiking.
My long-time friend Dave Petzal (who was born and raised still lives in the Northeast) also took along a sheepskin pad, complete with wool, to put on the saddle on the few occasions he went on horse hunts. This did a decent job of preventing butt-blisters.....
