Body awareness

FREESTYLER

FREESTYLER

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I suppose carrying on from lessons..... how aware are you of your body posture? Does your instructor say "leg back" or "lower leg back" or actually come and grab you etc....Are you taught about how to actually control your muscles and how much do you know about your muscles?

Do you do any other exercise apart from riding... ie. pilates, yoga, weights, running etc??? Do you do exercises "off horse"? Dont want to know much do I!!! Just interested really as I really do believe a riders posture, position affects the way a horse moves....and having taught riders many were not aware or remotely interested or did not believe that a good core stability could help with their balance... albeit a little bit of fat around it too!!!
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A bit off the subject, but Conrad told me that it is not good to do exercises like running ar weights in the gym etc, as it builds the wrong muscles up that make it harder to ride as well.. I suppose that pilates/yoga etc supple, rather than build muscles so they can only be a good thing!
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I'm too lazy to do exercise as well as mucking out and riding!
I think about my seat and back the whole time I'm riding, I try really hard to relax my lower back and become totally even on both sides. Especially in sitting trot and canter I have to really focus on not being tense anywhere as that makes my sensitive horse tense up too. If I tighten in the back, Moon bucks- just to let me know what I've done!!
I havent been taught to do it as such I dont think, just been talked through why having the horse even and responsive to the seat helps and then I've gone away and experimented for hours on end!!
 
Having been taught about core stability some years ago, I had an epiphany with my riding and thought I could further develop out of the saddle.

I underwent some pilates training but found it didnt really help me at all, so gave up.

I have an exercise ball which is a good way to practice, particularly the balancing exercises. Has anyone else found better ways of further developing their core strength?
 
My friend has just completed a research project on how core stability affects riding position. Couldnt tell you what the results were though!
I had a few alterations from a dressage riding i worked from, she came and pulled my legs about, was good knowing were they should be, exactly.
I think riding and core stability is a bit chicken and egg, good riders have good core but is the good core stability from riding well or do they ride well because of their good core!!!
My boyfriend has a sports science degree, im sure if i asked him he give me lots of exercises, but im far too lazy!!!
 
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Oh Really?? What about cariovascular though..ie running? Surely this is good for stamina??

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I reckon that riding enough horses a day probably gives you good cardiovascular fitness... he told me Top dressage riders shouldnt muck out either! Unfortunately I have to do that from time to time!!
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so it will be a while before I make a top rider
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(thats my excuse sorted)
 
One of my old instructors said that everything she did she thought about how it would affect her position, from sitting in a chair to her position whilst driving her car she said she tried to be balanced and keep her weight equal. Bit extreme if you ask me! But i suppose if you want to be a perfrect grand prix dressage rider thats what it takes!
Dont know if this counts but the dressage rider i worked for had a pair of stuffed long socks that she used to stretch her thighs out so she had a really long leg. It worked but it bloody hurt for the first few days!
 
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Dont know if this counts but the dressage rider i worked for had a pair of stuffed long socks that she used to stretch her thighs out so she had a really long leg. It worked but it bloody hurt for the first few days!

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How did that work? what did she do with them?!!
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I do pilates which really does help, but have let it slip a bit since having Alice. I know I have a problem with my right thigh being too tight due to a fairly severe spinal twist. Again having 7 months off riding to have a baby has made this issue come back especially as I'm now riding a 4 year old but I am aware of it so am trying to fix it, but I could really do with some serious lunge lessons to help resolve this, but finding the time and money woudl be tricky at the moment. I think lunge lessons are really by far the best way to sort posture problems.
 
I try to be aware of what my body is doing when riding but most of the time I don't notice me tipping forwards or my inside leg drawing up. I think this is because they are old habits that have never been corrected.

I would love to have an instructor that really focused on my position and help me understand what all my body does and how it effects my horses way of going.
 
She had two long socks, stuffed and tied together at the top, the knot sat near the pommel with a sock down either side which went under her thigh.
I think it was supposed to stretch the inside of your thigh to make the thigh hang down straighter. My legs certainly hung straighter and longer after doing it. Being 6 foot and riding a 16hh dressage horse i didnt need my leg to hang down any further past his belly!!! But it did improve my all round posture, had a deeper seat and it made me sit straighter.
The few alterations she made to my position made a vast difference in everything, including my horses canter, which had always been poor previously. Never had a bad position just had hindered my horses big movement with my "normal" riding school position.
Not a big dressage expert, i just assumed it was something everyone did!!!h
 
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he told me Top dressage riders shouldnt muck out either!

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He he - I might tell my mum this...
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I don't really do any other exercise other than that which goes with having a horse but I do think yoga would be helpful, not had any experience of pilates but from what I've heard that would be good too. When I was at school I used to walk home quite a long way and because of the different muscles I developed (it was mainly down a steep hill) my legs would hurt when I rode. I strongly feel that riding will keep you fit for riding (if you know what I mean) e.g. sitting trot can be painful when you first start doing a lot of it but after a while it stops hurting because your body adapts.

While we're on the subject: when I changed doctors I had to go visit the nurse for a check-up and she asked me what exercise I did, when I said riding she said something along the lines of "yes, but do you do any real exercise?"!!!
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I wanted to knock her head off!
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dunno I just do riding school things like around the world and half and full scissors, def helps with balance!
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lol. I'd like mirrors in my arena so I can see my posture and try and improve it, as well as a good instructor so I can try and achieve what I achieve in lessons on my own.
 
A friend of mine does a lot of running and she swears that now she can't do sitting trot at all !! Good excuse to stay away from the treadmill
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You do need to do the cardiovascular work to make the body leaner because the leaner you are ( i.e more muscle/less fat, therefore higher degree of muscle efficiency) the better you can ride but the more cardio you do the more stretching and pilates you should do.
cardio work reduces fat which helps build muscle but at the same time it can make the muscles tight and stiff so it has to be combined with loads and loads of stretching and pilates/yoga to increase flexibility as the muscles build up? Thats my theory anyway.

Im far too lazy to do any of the above work I keep saying that when my horse is at a reasonable level then I will start going to the gym but I do think that if I had the energy and time to go to the gym to do the right sort of workouts my riding would be 200% better because the body would be more supple and flexible and therefore able to be more at one with the horse
So yes Im very body aware because I know how much better I can ride when Im fitter because I feel like Im sitting on the horse more naturally and moving with him rather than feeling restricted. Am constantly thinking is my body in the right position is my back soft enough, legs/hips soft etc which often they arent!
 
I have played a lot of sport in particular rugby and because of this I think it has made me very strong in the back and torso. But at the same time my legs are really weak because I have suffered so many knee injuries. In fact I would say my legs are one of the worst things about my riding as they move far too much and I struggle with the flexion in the ankle because my achilles is tight. I was watching Doff ride on Sunday and her ankle flexes probably about 45 degrees futher than mine!
I think Jockeys prove that fitness in your riding can only be a good thing.
 
I cycle about 100 miles a week, which is both good and bad. My lower leg position is bad as with cycling you ride from toe horizontal to down and I lack flexibility to mount gracefully from the ground. On the good side, I have good stamina, back/leg strength, do not weigh much, am used to steering with weight/shoulders and my balance is pretty good.
 
My body awareness isn't all that great. I think I'm sitting straight, but in fact im usually crooked, which is also shown by the wear on my shoes from walking
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I can also be thinking that my right foot has its heel down and toe in, when infact it's gone into ballet position and heel is higher than left heel.
Guess I should probably get uncrookedified lol, and it's lucky I don't have my own horse cos I presume by now it would itself be severely crooked.
 
PMSL ! Actually Ive always been told off for having the heel far too down, it is baaad and actually is compensating for lack of balance cos I have wibbly wobbly legs!
Would be much better to have not quite so flexible ankles then the leg does stay in a better position rathen than getting too straight! Your leg position is great I do not know what you are talking about!
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I'm always trying to corrrect myself because I can usually feel when things aren't quite as they should be, but I'm quite wonky after a back injury and its quite hard to correct that
 
Every time I get on a horse I think "shoulders back" as thats the part of my position that wavers a bit.
I use a cycling machine at the moment to build up my stamina and do lots of abdominal work as was told to my osteo as my back muscles are too strong and abs too weak which is why I'm getting back problems!
 
Im very aware that my left leg has a mind of its own! Gin doesnt make it any easier as she pushes my left leg off her side. Its really noticable when you look at my half chaps. My right one is really worn compared to the left.
Im good at recognising when something isnt right and what needs to be done. My intsructor will make me aware if my position needs changing as I am also a firm believer that position is everything.
Im far too lazy to do any other exercise but I do a lot of walking.
 
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Every time I get on a horse I think "shoulders back" ........

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Me too. My instructor never mentions 'legs back'. because once I'm sat up straight, with my shoulders back - my legs come back underneath me automatically. I check my postion by looking to see if I can see the pommel of the saddle (- the day I found that, I felt as though I was lying on my back becuase I had been so hunched forward).

I have found that I have got much stronger in the core because of the correct riding position, and tucking my bum under to sit on my seatbones nearly broke me for at least a week LOL . There used to be an exercise programme called Callanetics which professed to correct a saggy bum (Pilates really). Riding with your bum tucked underneath is just as good. I had pulled muscles in my bum for a week, but after that I lost some inches off my hips..... Result!

I don't think you have to be very 'fit' as in cardiovascular fitness to ride, but I do think you have to be very strong in muscles which non riders don't usually use.

This is an interesting thread, because I have a friend who has a danish WB with an enormous movement and she goes running to give her the 'fitness' to sit that powerful trot - something she has real problems with. This might be her excuse to give up the running LOL
 
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