I see loads of posts these days about riders needing to stretch their hips, I also have lots of ladies tell me that their instructor told them to stretch their hips as they were too tight and this is why they couldn’t sit to the trot, couldn’t move with the horse in Canter, where gripping with their thighs etc.

 

The thing is I’ve done lots of Biomechanics, Flexibility and Stability tests on various different riders and almost all of them have passed the flexibility test for hips.

 

Think about it, just sitting astride a horse stretches out your inner thigh a great deal, then the position of your leg will stretch out the front of your thigh-even more so if you ride in a Dressage Saddle.

 

This information sat in my brain for a while at the beginning of my journey training riders and I would do what everyone else did and stretch out riders hips (including my own) and see if it made a difference. I’ll be honest it usually felt a little looser but it didn’t actually fix the problem of my seat, legs, gripping etc.

 

Then further along my journey I started adding in Stability testing, and you know what? All those riders that claimed their hips were too tight when riding despite having more than adequate flexibility when tested……………..they failed the hip stability test!

 

So, how does this match up to the feeling of having “tight” hips?

 

Movement Specialist Gray Cook describes Stability as “The ability to demonstrate Flexibility under load” In this case the ability to remain flexible whilst absorbing the movement of half a ton of horse underneath you.Boom! That explained everything.

 

The reason many riders appear flexible when tested on a table is that they do have the necessary range of movement, however the minute they are put on a moving horse the hips are not strong enough to absorb all of that movement whilst in a lengthened state so they contract and shorten to make themselves more stable.

 

The rider then stretches the hips and of course it feels nice as the hips have been shortened for a time and do need lengthening back out, but this stretching does not cure the initial problem and the rider continues to struggle.

 

This lack of flexibility under load is just the bodies protective mechanism, basically it doesn’t trust you to be strong and flexible at the same time.

 

So, if this sounds familiar; your hips feel tight, you struggle to ride in neutral spine and get your leg long down your horses side or your instructor says you are gripping or not moving with your horse and so far stretching hasn’t fixed your problem other than feel quite nice at the time it’s time to change tactics.

 

I am huge on hip stability with my riders, we do loads of it in my classes -like every week!

 

What can you do to improve yours? Thinks like Glute Bridges, Single Leg Glute Bridges, Split Squats and Single Leg Deadlifts are all great hip stability exercises so why not give them a try and they might just help you deal with that “tight hips” problem.

I’m sure you will have noticed that rider fitness is gaining momentum. More research is being done into the effects of rider symmetry on the horse, as well as rider weight and I’m sure more and more will continue to be done.

 

It is also now common place for the top riders in many countries to have team physios and fitness trainers.

 

As perhaps an amateur rider you may be thinking this isn’t really relevant to you, especially if you don’t compete.

 

However being fit to ride applies to every rider.

 

Firstly for the aforementioned research projects that have shown that rider symmetry and weight has a correlation with horse lameness.

 

Secondly though being “fit for purpose” as it were will prevent you becoming injured and developing the general aches and pains I see lots of riders deal with.

 

You see, being strong, flexible and with a decent level of endurance makes everyday tasks become that little bit easier -carrying a bag of feed no problem! So when something happens like that crazy catapult jump your horse threw in during your lesson your body is better equipped to deal with it. It’s not already knackered from the mucking out you do so it’s still got some extra left in the tank to help you out. It also makes the demand of just riding easier on your body. If from top to toe you are mobile, stable and balanced there will be less chance of compensatory actions happening and the wrong muscles being over worked whilst others are not working at all.

 

I think one of the most visual examples I see of body compensation is Dressage Riders (sorry guys). How often do you see someone going into a “big trot” and lean back as they do it? This is under the impression that it makes them feel more stable and better able to ride that trot. What it is actually doing is stretching out the front of the abs and therefore not recruiting them properly and putting all the work into the lower back now into a very short contracted position. Strangely enough many of these riders will complain of back pain………Basically neither front nor back is doing its best work. Also as a side note they are also behind the movement because they are no longer over the centre of the horse so it’s a lose lose situation.

 

Unfortunately if these riders then try to sit up with equal front and back and sit to the trot they will find it wobbly and will struggle to ride it. This is because they need to re learn the muscle balance and be able to work the front and back equally. This takes time and effort but if they do it not only will they get less back pain but they’ll also find they have way more riding to give that trot-which then transfers to more complicated movements such as changes, pirouettes etc.

 

It’s not just the Dressage riders that are guilty of this, that was just a very common visual I think you will be able to identify with. I also see lots of Showjumpers doing the reverse and over rounding at the shoulders both before and over fences, plenty of hackers slouched etc. Let’s be honest we are all guilty of falling into bad habits.

 

So, next time you are riding have a think about your position. Is it level at the front and back so you can use both sides equally? Of course then ask yourself if you are level left to right so you know you are less likely to be crooked.

 

If you find yourself lacking in some areas…...well you could come and work with me and we can iron those issues out!

 

Of course there are also lots of ideas for things to help you out over on my YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iJf8kAX4yTw

 

And my social media.

 

Facebook. equestrianfitnessnicola

Instagram. nicola_equestrianfitness

Twitter. equestrianfitt

 

And of course all of the previous blogs over on www.equestrianfitness.co.uk

Conor Mcgregor said in an interview “precision beats strength “ Obviously he was referring to MMA fighting but I think this definitely holds true for riders.

 

If you are quite strong then it is easy to give a really strong leg aid, but for that leg aid to be effective needs to be given and the right time and place. The same goes for any aid given when riding. A strong aid is great but it needs to be clear for it to get through.

 

We work on this in my classes, it’s called Proprioception or as Equipilates™️ Founder Lindsay Wilcox-Reid calls it “Equiception”. So what is this mythical thing we’re after? Proprioception is knowing where your body is in space, so Equiception is knowing exactly what your right leg or left hand are doing, what’s that right seat bone up to and where is your rib cage. It’s essentially body awareness and I think it is a huge part of good riding.

 

These are the things that all add up to clear aids and they are part of the elusive almost invisible aids of the top riders. We’ve never seen Charlotte give a pony club kick to get her Canter have we? Although it would give us all a giggle I’m sure! A simple look at this is perhaps giving an aid with the leg ON the girth….do you know when you’ve definitely got that right? Or inside leg outside hand at EXACTLY the same time-this is way harder than you think.

 

So, how do you train body awareness? I could say well “come to a class and find out…..” but I’m not that mean. The truth is we train it in lots of different ways. One of my favourites is through Yoga Flows; linking balance, movement and rotation to train your brain to be able to control parts of your body you can’t currently see with your eyes-in short if you don’t do it right you’ll fall over-tough love!

 

We also train it through work with props such as small balls for leg aids, bands for rein aids and on unstable surfaces such as gym balls and wobble boards-again you fall off if it’s not right!

 

It can be as simple as performing a move to and either asking a friend to watch or videoing yourself-something like a Superman is a nice , easy start. Do you move both the arm and leg at Exactly the same time? Are you aware if you do or don’t? What does your middle do when you move? Does it stay still or does it dip? Can you feel it doing it? Noticing is the first step to correction as you cannot correct what you can’t feel.

 

Have a go and let me know how you get on?

 

The last couple of weeks my 1 2 1 Clients and the ladies in my classes have all been starting to think about upping their game and take on the 2019 season.

 

They have different goals in mind so different approaches to what they need to do to really smash it this year.

 

I have those who are already seasoned competitors looking to go up a level this year so their fitness is about fine tuning their muscles to be just that little bit stronger, to be that little bit more aware of what is happening from head to foot when they ride and how to control it a little bit better. I have no doubt that this fine tuning will actually see some great results for them this year. This means we work on any weaknesses and asymmetry, focus on the mind body connection and aim to be moving a little bit better, with a little more strength but an entire fitness overhaul isn’t needed it’s just a an hour or so a week to tweak those muscles.

 

I also have another little club of riders who have recently purchased bigger, more powerful horses that in reality they are going to have to learn to ride! That’s not to say they can’t ride already, they ride exceptionally well in fact but they have spent the last few years on a horse they are comfortable with and that perhaps isn’t quite as powerful as what they are about to let themselves in for! ( I think these ladies like a challenge!) In short these ladies are going to have to up their game massively and become an athlete; strong and stable enough to absorb all of that power and damn well Ride it! If you’re one of these…….then if you aren’t already pretty fit then you had better get started. To ride the equine equivalent of a Ferrari (it doesn’t have to be Valegro just your version of a Ferrari-mines 13H!) you need to have the body control to absorb all that power without injuring yourself.  I see a lot of back and hip pain in riders just because they are actually not strong enough through their back, hips and core to hold that horse together. I’m sure you’ve all also seen someone being an untidy passenger on a powerful horse and it’s frustrating when you can see the potential if the rider worked on themselves.

 

Once you can hold it together you then need to have the body control and awareness to make the finite aids that make you really dance. I’m sure you know that to make riding look effortless in fact takes a huge amount of effort! I hate to be the bearer of bad news if this is you but unless you’re already strong and fit and in the fine tuning camp it’s going to be a couple of hours per week dedication that gets you really riding like the sassy diva you are..

 

Then I have the other camp that for various reasons aren’t riding at the minute. For those that it’s due to horse problems it’s about staying in the game so when you’re finally back on board it isn’t a huge shock to your body but also that they are in the best shape they can be to give their horse all the support it needs to get back to fitness or if it will be a new horse so that they aren’t transferring bad habits. There is something slightly terrifying about having a newly backed youngster knowing that if it becomes one sided it was you that did it…….What are we doing-similar to the fine tuning camp, just ticking over ironing out the imbalances and keeping ship shape for when we are back on board.

 

If it is because of their own health and fitness problems then it is of course about getting them fit enough to get back on board and doing the sport they love. With these riders it’s slow and steady, but regular movement to bring back those basic movement patterns that eventually will make them able to put that foot back in the stirrup.

 

What camp do you fall in to? Maybe one of these categories of perhaps something else?

 

Let me know!