Are you a bee? Does your horse…..

• Hollow or duck their back away from you?
• Stiffen their back in response, making you bounce more?
• Show resistance, raising their head, putting their ears back swishing their tail?
• Would you rather float like a butterfly?
• Horse and rider move as one
• Sit in a balanced position that is effortless and rhythmical, easily remaining in the seat
• Have the ability to communicate with your horse using your seat
• Have your horse soften and use his back, come through from behind and really swing through?

Although this is a seemly basic move in riding terms, the body needs to have the capacity to:

• Stabilize the body so you can soften into the saddle
• Follow the horse’s movement through your lower back, absorbing the motion through your pelvis
• Be able to open and close the hip joints
• Keep your glutes and hamstrings relaxed
• Breathe rhythmically to avoid blocking and stiffening  
• Stabilize through your core, allowing absorption through your hips and stable shoulders

How do you know if you have the capacity to absorb the movement during sitting trot, enabling you to make it look so graceful and easy? If you are unable to breath rhythmically, develop relaxation in any specific part of your body, or have the mobility in your joints, it doesn’t matter how hard you train, you still won’t function efficiently.

When working with a biomechanics coach like myself, we work together on a meaningful task to assess your capacity to achieve the task, in this example, sitting trot. Then we start on the journey as everyone’s body has a unique makeup and it will respond differently. Past injuries, current health and lifestyle all influence how we move differently. We peel back the layers and assess each potential issue in its own right.

As part of this assessment, we look at whether the muscles can actually perform the task at hand. If they can’t, we then perform very specific soft tissue work to improve its function. We also develop corrective exercises to assist the restoration of correct function. In some instances, a wellness log will be used to further support you returning to full function.

So why sting like a bee when you could make a few changes to your own biomechanics and improve your beautiful relationship with your horse. Book a Biomechanics assessment today.

Core stability versus core strength

Has a riding instructor said you need to strengthen your core? If they have most people go home google core exercises then start doing crunches and planks or go to a gym to do a core class.

My question is how can a plank which is a static exercise improve your sitting trot or canter?

Crunches which is a flexion exercise and if we have a sitting or driving job you are already sitting in a flexed environment so your training your body to be more flexed does not make sense – in dressage you may lose marks for your shoulders being rounded forward.

A riding instructor means core stability; which is to optimise the stability of the spine, pelvis and hips that then maximises the control of movement whilst you are riding (moving)”

It is important to realise that the core muscles might not have the correct physiology, biomechanics or biochemistry make-up either, due to adaptation. Adaptations can come from injury, trauma, physical overload or repetition, poor nutrition/digestion, illness, and emotional trauma, Such adaptations inhibit successful conditioning work.

Your need a meaningful task from your riding coach eg to improve my sitting trot

Then assess your current situation; what you doing and how should it be done and why am i not achieving this?

Eg: Meaningful compliant: not achieving a sitting trot? Not staying connected to the horse ie bouncing.

Biomechanically how is it achieved? How it should be done? Are you doing this? If not why are you not achieving the sitting trot

So in order to achieve a correct sitting trot the rider must be capable of achieving a supple, balanced seat this allows the rider to use their legs and rein aids separately from the movements of the upper body. This is core stability and is key to achieving good aids.

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What is a supple balanced seat?

Its understanding where your sitting bones are so that they can sit inline and in the deepest part of the saddle, your weight evenly distributed through either sitting bone with the inner thigh muscles supporting and are free from tension.

This is where it can go wrong as lots of people hop on a horse without this awareness.

Some riders may not be able to achieve this due to muscles having adapted to injury, falls, pregnancy, poor nutrition, illness or apprehension/fear.

Any issues in this area will cause you to pop out of your seat; uneven weight distribution, sitting bones not to be inline, thigh muscles to be adaptively shorten or stretch weakened. (Not behaving how they were designed dysfunctional).

These adaptations may be pulling your body out of alignment but can also be caused by other areas of dysfunction in the body from muscles in the abdomen, spine, rib cage shoulders, arms, jaw or legs (anywhere in your body).

That’s why it is important to get assessed before starting a conditioning program for your riding as no amount of core condition or strength/mobility training will help until the adaptations are reversed.

If you are unaware of how your body is moving, how do you know you are biomechanically doing the task set by the instructor and giving the correct aids to the horse?

Do you ever think I am doing it and it’s just not happening at this point most people think its the horse or get told to strengthen your core.

My tips for the rider always check you have a good seat, leave life stresses in the tack room as riding is your time it should be enjoyable but with a meaningful purpose, always question how you should be moving and am I achieving this?

My tips for the instructor if they are not following your instructions ask if they understand the task in hand. Do they have the capacity to do what you ask from coordination, seat balance and body alignment and suppleness perspective. If they dont you may need to align yourself with someone who can assess their issues if your normal coaching is not achieving the task in hand.

Teresa has clinics in the Manawatu, Greytown and is available to travel if the numbers allow.

How we move off the horse influences how you move on the horse.

A riders effect on their horses movement

Training Objectives

As a rider, you spend countless hours ensuring your horses are fit, strong and supple enough to carry out whatever task you require of them. Undoubtedly, your feed room is something similar to a pharmacy, and little expense is spared ensuring your horse is not only fit but also nutritionally balanced. You spend thousands of dollars on shoeing, massage rugs, body work, supplements, but has it ever occurred to you that no matter how much money you spend, you are still only treating half of the equation?

You would never dream of getting on your horse and getting straight to the krux of your training plan that day – the potential injuries and subsequent time out of the competition arena as a result of overstressing cold and unstretched muscles, ligaments and tendons are a riders worst nightmare… so why would you get on your 500kg, unstable based, thinking, breathing horse without taking 10 minutes to warm yourself up first? How could you possibly ensure your horse is warmed up, supple and ready to begin a rigorous training session if you yourself are stiff, one sided and unprepared to support your horse during this session?

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How your body affects your horse’s body

Have you ever considered that the perfect 20m circle to the right, and the wonky, falling in egg shaped creation on the left are actually as much your own physical issues as they are your horses? We all know horses have a hard side, but when was the last time you identified and tried to work on balancing your own hard side?

Poor movement off the horse can create riding issues such as;

• Inability to keep your heels down
• Knee gripping, an unstable lower leg feet flapping
• Bouncing in the saddle during sitting trot
• Coach always repeating the same issue e.g. elbows sticking out
• One stirrup longer than the other
• Easier to leg yield on one side than the other

A lot of articles I read on rider fitness focus on core strength, and don’t get me wrong, but it is core stability that is crucial to maintaining your position while riding, but nobody seems to focus very much on your hips. Think about it, which part of your body makes the most contact with your horse? Absorbs the movement during sitting trot? Must move in multiple different directions to facilitate that large, over tracking walk all dressage riders aspire to, sit fluidly to an extended trot and glide effortlessly into canter? Without hip mobility, core strength has nothing to base itself on.

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What this means for you as a rider

Without taking into consideration how you and your horse move together as a pair, and only focusing on how your horse moves and what your horse must improve on to reach your goals, you are only addressing part of the puzzle. How can you gain the most marks in the Collective Marks in dressage for Impulsion, Submission and Rider Seat and Position (all coefficient marks), if your seat is blocking your horse from being able to come through from behind, or your shoulders are locked up, which means your hands are not allowing your horse to ride positively forward into them?

Do you have a horse who constantly picks up the wrong canter lead? Who struggles to bend more to one side? It doesn’t matter what level you compete at, what discipline you choose, or whether your enjoyment with your horse is trekking, endurance or having fun – having a stable, secure seat and engaging the correct muscles can make the difference between you and your horse having a harmonious relationship.

Think about it – every rider, regardless of the discipline, requires an independent seat. This independent seat then lends to a stable lower leg (do your legs flick back when you are jumping?) and independent hands, things that many riders struggle with.

Riding, whatever the type, is a sport. Horses are athletes, and so too are their riders. Can you think of any other sport that doesn’t require some form of sport specific fitness?

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How I can help you

As a movement coach I understand how you move and how your body is influencing your riding – a riding coach understand how to get you and the horse working together but they rarely look to see if you have the capacity to perform the task. They assume you have the capacity!

Having trained for years, and worked with numerous different elite athletes alongside their sport specific coaches (including Olympic level dressage riders), My point of difference is that I have the ability to work with your coach and identify areas within your body that might be preventing you from getting that elusive 8 in your trot half pass, or taking that extended trot from a safe 6 to a solid 7. Once these areas are identified, I am able to put together a plan to improve these areas – these will include hands on manipulation such as massage, kinesiotaping, exercise programs and warm up plans along with qualified nutritional advice.

When I watch someone ride I can the work alongside the riding coach to get the body doing what its supposed to be doing.

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Success Stories

One of my clients was struggling with shoulder in. Rather than turning her shoulders from the ribcage to follow the horses shoulder movement, her body found an easier way to achieve this, and instead rolled the outside shoulder forward. Rather than providing a clear body cue to the horse, instead she was blocking the horse with her outside rein as that shoulder rolled and locked. I was then able to work with the rider, while her coach focused on the correctness of the movement, to identify why her shoulder wanted to roll, rather than be able to complete a fluid movement with the upper body as a whole, and resolve the issue she had been having with shoulder in.

Another client was always being told to keep her heels down, but on assessment we discovered nerve tension  which meant the brain did not want to put this area under considerable strain  With some simple corrective exercises and physical treatment, this issue was quickly resolved, and there was no more yelling “put your heels down” from their coach.

A bit about the author:

I am a qualified Health and Movement Coach with over 20 years experience in the health and fitness industry. My love of learning and how the human body functions drives me to help others be the best they can be.

My love of working with equestrians started in the UK where one of my clients was Angela Weis (Great Britain National Para Dressage Coach) and her students (both para and able bodied). During this time, I met GB Paralympic Gold  Medalist Sophie Wells, with whom I worked alongside for many years, including in the all important lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, where Sophie won Gold and two Silvers.

Since relocating to New Zealand, with bases in both Masterton, Greytown and Palmerston North, I now work with a number of top New Zealand riders, from racehorse trainers, through to show jumpers and Grand Prix dressage riders.

As well as riders, I also work with many other sporting codes including squash and hockey as well as people wanting to move better, I work with coaches and sports psychologists and other rehabilitation disciplines to ensure my clients achieve their full potential, and in my spare time I love to walk and we keep bees we love growing our own this keeps us very physically active.