It’s been dark when I’ve been starting and leaving work this week, which means Autumn has finally set in. I’ve already started to think about how I’ll fit in training my ponies over winter and how I will fit that all in around the lack of daylight, weather changes etc.

That also means I need to consider my own training.

Once the weather isn’t so nice we tend to not be outside on the go as much and prefer to spend evenings and weekends snuggled up on the sofa, usually with snacks!

However winter onset is no excuse to slack on your fitness regime. In fact if you’re riding less that’s even more reason (and time) to focus on your own fitness.

But I get it, going out for a run when it’s dark, wet and windy doesn’t seem so appealing.

Of course there are certain forms of exercise that I think would be more beneficial to your riding than others. Including some resistance training and some body awareness would be top of my list. However, in reality any exercise that you will actually turn up and do consistently is beneficial.

If you like a social element why not join a class (There’s space in my classes if you’re interested…..)

If you really want to do that run, walk or cycle outside buy yourself some good warm and waterproof kit so it doesn’t feel so grim- I reward myself with a hot bath and a hot chocolate if I do this!

If you want to make time to commit to the gym you can be really tactical at improving your riding performance with weights and cardio equipment available.

And if you really can’t face leaving the house there are lots of online workouts you can do. Just a hint I’ve got an online programme that’s only £5 per month….

So, there are lot’s of options to keep yourself in training alongside your horse through the darker months. You’ve just got to find something you’ll stick to and remember that 2022 season you will thank you for your efforts!

How hard are you trying?

How much time do you put in?

Ok, so this one comes from both my recent horse training experiences and from years of both my own training and training other people-both on and off horse.

How much time do you give to trying something before you give up.

Try it once, decide it’s too hard and don’t bother again?

Give it a couple of goes and if you don’t get it properly then give up?

Or do you keep trying, hopefully making tiny incremental gains along the way, so that one day a little in the future you have got it?

It’s something I’ve had to do with pony training recently with both Gwydion and Panda, but if you’ve seen my other social media you’ll see that Panda has gone from scared, aggressive and Panda to a little scritch obsessed sweetie finally learning the arena isn’t a scary place. Gwydion has gone from being a total anxious wreck just being tied up to having a rider on his back again, and I can assure you that even a few months ago I wasn’t sure we’d be getting there! But I just kept chipping away……along with some tears and tantrums!

The same goes for riding. I’ve had new things taught to me that I’ve really not been able to get the hang of the first few goes but I’ll just keep chipping away and eventually it clicks. It might take days, weeks or even months but I’ll keep trying.

Then with my training, there are loads of exercises that I couldn’t do at first. Olympic lifting definitely a case in point! You didn’t lift heavy on your first session, you start low and add a little more as you get stronger.

When I’m training clients whether that’s on or off horse often they can get frustrated and want to give up when they try something for the first time and it’s hard. But you didn’t learn to ride in your first lesson did you? If you want to keep getting better you’ve got to keep pushing yourself to do things that seem hard at first.

Just think if you started exercising now and did a couple of session a week, you might feel useless at first. It might not immediately fix all the problems you thought it was -you don’t stabilise your seat in 1 Pliates class!

However if you just keep turning up and leaning into that uncomfortable place where it feels like you can’t quite do it and aiming to get just a little bit better each time; you may well just look back in a few months time and not be able to believe how far you’ve come.

I want to talk to you about being present, in the zone of whatever you call it.

It’s not just a skill we should practice whilst riding but also on the ground with our horses; and as I’ll go on to discuss other times too!

This is something I’ve had to really focus on lately as my Fell pony Gwydion really requires this from me as we’ve restarted him with groundwork. If I’m not fully present and in control of my energy and emotions he isn’t engaging in the process. Basically, I’m all in or he’s all out. It’s been frustrating but it’s an important lesson to learn.

When riding we should be fully present, not just in what we’re asking the horse to do, but also how our horse feels and how our own body feels.

Being able to tune into how your body feels and moves as you ride is a skill that takes practice. As does being able to feel how your horse responds to your own movements as sometimes these can be really subtle.

This is why I suggest mastering it off horse first.

Of course, there’s practicing it whilst doing ground work with your horse, if that’s something you do together. In fact it’s a great way of testing out how you can change your energy by changing your body language; can you back your horse up or move him sideways with just a change in your body language and movement but without actually touching him? Can you get him to stand still doing this?

However, I’m a fitness professional so let’s look at this from an exercise perspective.

If you can learn to fully focus on your body, it’s movements and how it feels during exercise this will tell you a lot about your body. Being on the ground means you can fully focus on your body without the complication of the wild animal with a mind of its own.

If I ask someone to move, then ask them to check in with what they’re actually doing often they’ve no idea they weren’t fully engaging all the muscles required.

If I ask if they have equal weight in the feet, are their shoulders level, can they feel their abs engage etc. They often need to really concentrate when they do this.

Then when we move onto a riding specific exercise and I ask them if they can now feel their abs, back, outer hip etc. they may be surprised to find these muscles are supposed to be involved!

Are you fully present when you ride? Do you focus on the muscles you should be using, how it feels, how your horse reacts and how your energy and body language can change that?

Give it a go both on and off horse and see if it changes some things for you. I’d love to know if it does.

Do you ever check in with your body?

When you’re riding do you ever mentally check in with how you feel today rather than just checking in with your horse?

Does everything feel stacked up the way it usually does, or feel as mobile or stable as always?

I reckon the answer lies somewhere between no I don’t, and everything hurts!

It can be easy to fall into this system of just plodding considering how your horse feels day to day and whether he might need some physio, a massage, a different workload etc. But never considering how your body feels and whether it needs attention.

Your body has a huge impact on how your horse feels and moves being ridden and then of course than may impact on his overall wellbeing.

There are a couple of ways you can check in with your body.

Sometimes at the beginning or end of a Yoga session in my online programme we just lie on the floor or stand still and do a mental check in of our bodies from top to bottom.

Try lying on the floor, taking some deep breaths, and then starting at the top squeeze then relax each part of your body and see how it feels. Which areas of your body feel like they don’t relax? Those areas might need some more attention.

In my in person classes, we do regular stretch weeks where the sole purpose is to reconnect with your body and deal with those areas of tension. We do this with movement patterns such as opening and closing the chest, mobilising the spine etc. and self - massage with physio balls and foam rollers.  It gives everyone a chance to check in with their own bodies and deal with any niggles that may be affecting their riding.

If you put time into making sure your horse’s body is in tip top shape surely it makes sense to make sense yours is too.

Whatever your chosen Equestrian discipline they all require the same fundamentals from you as a rider.

Yes, there are differences in your position if you’re doing Dressage as opposed to Jumping, however there are many principles that remain the same whatever actual position you may be in.

1. Straightness. Whether trotting the centre line or approaching a fence, being able to ride straight makes a huge impact on how successful that will be. Obviously in Dressage lack of straightness will affect your marks. When jumping, the line to the fence can have an impact on whether you clear it and then the line following landing sets the success for your line to your next fence.
2. Stability and Self Carriage. The ability to support your own body weight gives your horse the space to manage his own balance. If you’re unbalanced your horse has to manage your weight as well as his own. If your horse is a little unbalanced being able to support him with your own stability can help him to achieve his own balance with time. Again, the ability to remain stable over a fence makes the job a lot easier for your horse, as well as stability being able to hopefully keep you out of trouble if it goes a little awry.
3. Proprioception. This is just a posh way of saying body awareness. It’s really helpful when riding to have good awareness of what your body is actually doing.  For example, if you ask for go with your legs but say whoa with your hands that’s not a clear aid to your horse. Or perhaps you’ve no idea you always slide your left leg further back than your right and it’s affecting your Dressage scores. A good level of body awareness can help you identify and then address these asymmetries.
4.  Shock Absorption. Riding of any style requires your body to absorb the movement of the horse underneath you. In flatwork this enables you to move with the horse, maintaining good, relaxed stability.  Over a fence this enables you to land well and in balance. This has two benefits; firstly in preventing you from distorting your horses balance on landing and secondly setting you up well to ride away from the fence and possibly onto the next one. It is also vital for helping you ride pain free. A body that isn’t able to  absorb the movement underneath it will overuse some muscles and under use others. It will also place more strain on the joints and ligaments again potentially causing pain.

These are the things that whatever your chosen discipline you should be considering in your off horse workouts.

I’m pretty sure you know that Symmetry is super important for your horse, so I’m sure you also know it’s important for you as a rider too.

Your own symmetry affects how your weight is carried by your horse and how effectively you give aids.

That asymmetry will affect your horses’ symmetry and therefore his way of going.

If he’s falling in on one rein or always getting a better score for movements one way than the other that could be down to you.

We all know we have a better rein, but do we ever really address it?

Perhaps you aren’t sure which leg is the strongest?

Or you do but you don’t know how to fix it?

Training your body off horse is an effective way of addressing asymmetry as patterns can be spotted and then addressed on the ground which will more than likely be representative of what is happening on when you ride.

Here’s a couple of exercises to try to both identify and then help to correct asymmetry in your lower body.

Standing on one leg-Surprisingly you might find one leg easier than the other!

Single Leg Bench Squats. Standing up from a seat on one leg is firstly more tricky than you think, secondly it’s a great way of training a weaker leg.

Give them a go and see if with practice you can even yourself up.

Nicola x