Are You Checking Form?

One of the reasons many of us exercise off horse is because we want to work on our own asymmetries and weaknesses. That means it's really important to make sure everything you do is with good form, otherwise your just further instilling those bad habits and not improving your riding!

Do you regularly check your form and straightness when you exercise off horse?

How do you ensure that you're actually working on your own asymmetries and weakness?

Here's a simple but very effective exercise that has some easy markers to help ensure you're in good form.

The Goblet Squat.

You can do this with or without a weight.

Feet hip width apart, hands clasped in front of you -or holding a weight with your elbows pointing down-kinda like a prayer position. Keeping your chest open (don't round your shoulders) squat down to touch your elbows to your knees.

Do both elbows touch your knees at the same time? That's your first clue if it was level!

Once you've got that, check in to whether your feet feel equally weighted left-right-front and back. Do you stay level all the way up and down? Is your chest still lifted at the bottom of the squat?

Squats are a great exercise for strengthening the big muscles of the glutes and legs, which creates stability in the pelvis and spine, the action of keeping your chest open works your abdominals and back muscles then when you add in the focus on form you're training your body awareness, symmetry and feel-maximum bang for your buck!

What aids are you giving?

As you’re riding your horse you’re communicating with your seat bones. If you’re tuned into them you can give precise aids without looking like you gave any aid at all.

However as often we aren’t necessarily tuned into our seat bones they could be giving aids without us realising. Or if we are using them but aren’t necessarily fully tuned into exactly what they’re doing they could be doing different things right to left.

So, here’s a little exercise for you to try out on a gym ball.

Firstly sitting on the ball, can you feel which direction your seat bones are pointing? Forward, back, different each side? Ideally they should both be pointing straight down as if you could plug yourself in to the ball with them. 

Then imagine there are pencils on the bottom of them, draw a circle with them one at a time. Are your circles the same? 

Now, sitting on the ball imagine a set of buttons in front of you. Slide alternate knees forward to push the button-or start to move your seat bones as if you’re in walk on your horse. Are your left and right seat bones doing the same thing? 

How about in trot?

Then move on to Canter. If you’re on right canter just follow the canter with your right seat bone, how does that feel? What shape does it make?

Now try the left. Is that the same or is it different?

By this point you’ve probably realised you’re more asymmetrical than you thought…….

Think about how that impacts your horse, your riding and your saddle. Of course no horse and rider will ever be 100% symmetrical but being as close as you can get will have a huge impact on your riding aids, as well as your horses symmetry and the wearing of your saddle. 

What did you find when doing this exercise? 

It’s for your horse

I, like many of you watched Badminton last weekend. Anyone else need a stiff drink to cope with all the drama so early on?

What I think is clear, is to get around Badminton you have to be a serious athlete! Having a good horse isn’t enough, even if that horse is at peak fitness you still need to be a stable ninja (new project name there maybe?) to ride that course. Strength, stability, quick reactions and endurance are some of the most obvious qualities required. Having done some social media research/stalking I'd say most if not all of those riders do work off horse to be fit enough to perform at their best.

Then I saw a post from a friend who had been to a yard demonstration at Carl Hester’s. All of the riders; who were pupils of Carl’s did work off horse to perform their Dressage best for their horse. 

These are the people many of us are aspiring to. 

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “ dress for the job you want not the job you have” we could flip that for riding (or any sport) to say “Train for the level you want not the level you have” I will say that’s a little more complicated with the riding bit but I’m not talking about that. 

If the people competing at higher levels are busting their ass in the gym, or doing Pilates, Yoga etc then surely that’s what we should be doing too if we want to improve our riding. 

If you’re not naturally inclined to do any exercise other than horse stuff, just think of it as an extension of that. 

It’s about ensuring you are fit and balanced enough to support and manage your own body weight, that you are as symmetrical as possible to prevent asymmetry in your horse and you’re fit enough to help him out if he needs it. It’s about your horses welfare. This isn’t about how you look etc, it’s about appreciating the fact you are sat on top of your horse and it is your job to make that as easy for him as possible. 

What do you do to make help your horse carry you?

Can you connect the muscles

Something I ponder when writing programme for clients is how this will benefit their riding.

I think that it’s possible to become very fit and it not improve your riding that much. Once you’ve reached a basic level of fitness and stability I think you need more than just more fitness. 

It’s not just as simple as building the muscles. You’ve got to know how to connect to them and how you want them to work when you’re riding.

If you’re exercising mindfully and really focusing on the muscles as you work them you’re a step ahead; but I also think it’s important to understand what role those muscles play in your riding position.

I often explain to my clients why we’re working the obliques or the rotator cuff for example- and if I don’t they can definitely ask and I will have an answer!

So, if you don’t already really connect with all of your muscles as you’re working them, check in on how different parts of your body operates singularly and together. Then ask yourself- or your trainer if you have one how the work you do translates to your riding and I’m sure you’ll start to see those little annoying riding habits tidy themselves up!