Exercises to relax shoulders, arms & hands?

Twizzel

Twizzel

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I have a really bad problem when I school, in that I tense up the whole of my upper body- shoulders arms (especially through the elbow) and my hands... as a result the horse I ride gets very tense. I know I'm doing it but no amount of telling me to relax helps, so was wondering if there's any exercises I can do which would help me relax? It's so frustrating like I said as I know where I am going wrong but can't rectify it. I am fine when warming up as ride on a long rein and use my seat and legs to move around the school, but I get tense when I take up a contact.

Any ideas? :(
 
Think of the warm up as being for both of you, holding the reins in one arm circle your arm (down by your side, pointing forward, up past your ear and back as far as you can), circle your head to release your neck, and for your hands make tight fists and hold it for five seconds then let them go loose and shake them to get all the tension out. I have a similar problem when I ride after work as my posture is shot after eight hours on my feet in front of a computer - so I´m going to try fifteen minutes with a fitness ball before riding.
 
I have the same issue, I tend to fix my elbows and so the contact becomes tense and fixed. I have written 'contact' on my hand so everytime I glance down it reminds me to breathe and relax! sounds odd but works for me! Try gently wriggling your fingers, like squeezing a sponge-releases tension and encourages the horse to soften.
 
Brilliant, thanks guys, will definitely try all those exercises when I next ride.

Sarahjane that's interesting what you said about being tense after work, I'm currently doing a lot of work for uni and at the moment am glued to my computer, I wonder if that's not helping things? I desperately want to nail this one on the head though, so am having a couple of days off and then will crack on after the weekend and sort it out!!
 
Whether sitting at the computer, or on your horse (making sure you're not going to jab horse in the mouth with the reins), simply shrug your shoulders 2 or 3 times periodically. Raise your shoulders up towards the ears and drop them again. You can also circle your shoulders both forwards and backwards (with or without the arm extended). Also, squeeze your shoulder blades together behind your back and release a few times. All of these, which can be done any time (as long as it's safe to do so) will help to release tension. And when you feel the tension building up again - just repeat one or more of these things again.

Simple, but it definitely works for me. (Just don't do it in the middle of a dressage test!)
 
I used to be the same but now when I mount up and start warming up I roll my shoulders a few times and do a few circles with my arms and it makes the world of difference.
 
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