Gaining better balance?

[Courbette]

I had a lesson on a equisimulator earlier this year and that was really enlightening and if I could find somebody locally who had one I would I be keen to use it regularly. I suppose they are only as good as the person teaching with them them but I found it really useful. I have also been advised to buy a gym ball as recommended above for developing better core strength

ETA - Just read you have tried the equisimulator, doh! I really enjoyed my session but also found it hard to keep up momentum schooling on my own afterwards

 

[zaminda]

I would firstly say you need to ride shorter. Having seen your videos that is one thing which would help hugely and I'm surprised no instructor has ever mentioned it.
Moving on, you say you used to be hugely fit and are now less so. Don't underestimate how much of a difference that makes. I have to work much harder to ride to the same level now I'm not as fit!! You may find working on strength and stability on the ground helps a lot. I do strange things like walking up and down poles in the school to help, and I'm not as good at it as I was but the effort is returning my muscle memory.
I will also say hacking helps, I know you aren't a huge fan, but it would help with both control and balance.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Thanks everyone! My most recent instructor dropped my stirrups by 2 holes!!! I have put them back up again. I nicked one of the twins lessons this week too instead of cancelling when she could not make it so I have had another one. Amber was much more rideable and as JFTD-WS suggested, the difference that makes is remarkable. So I think I have been lulled into a false sense that I am getting more balanced whereas in fact SHE is getting better which makes me look better, but as soon as she brakes or accelerates unexpectedly, I get thrown around again.

I asked her how to improve and she echoed a lot of your suggestions though did not think lunge lessons on Amber would be a good idea. Though would help on another horse. She also said that the main thing I needed was more time - if I just keep doing what I am doing then I will eventually improve. I guess I am just too impatient.

Thanks again. I will try a lot of these ideas.

 

[TPO]

Do you see a physio/chiro type therapist for you (I know Amber will have all that on tap!!)? It might be that you feel straight when you're not really. Only suggesting that as you posted a couple of pictures (Somerford?) jumping in opposite directions XC. Going left your left stirrup looks too long and in the opposite direction the right looks too short.

Have you had anyone (or do you have anyone who could) stand in front and behind of you (& take pics/vids) to see how level your stirrups/knees/hips/shoulders are in halt, walk and trot?

I think most of us who have spent years mucking out (& falling off in my case!) are very wonky but because all of our pennies go on the horses we just carry on and our squintness becomes our new normal and we feel straight.

If you stand in front of a full length mirror and look for "points" you'll start to see it. My shoulders are different lengths from the base of my neck out, the right side is contracted and my trapezius on that side is bigger. My left hip bone is higher than my right and I'm contracted down my left side. When riding that means I collapse and fall out to the right and then feel like I'm reaching for my left stirrup (also more likely to grip up on my left side). That's just the tip of my structurally unsound iceberg but I think you know what I mean.

Pilates/Yoga and stretching exercises really helped me along with some (painful!) physio visits. Using the big pilates/blow up balls help with core work too and are sorta horse shaped to work on opening your hips while engaging your core. There are lots of core and balance exercises that can be done with the ball too.

In the right XC photo and SJing pics it looks as though the knee blocks are hindering rather than helping you too and because you can't get your leg in the correct position this is forcing you behind the movement. Have you tried any different types of saddles? how do you feel yourself in the saddle? Do you hurt or have aches/stiffness when you get off? Tarr Steps Services on FB reposted a good article recently about a lady who was riding in a blocky dressage saddle and having real trouble; the change in saddle made a huge difference. It was a very interested read as this was rather an extreme example.

I'd say to make sure you get yourself right physically because you need "perfect practice" to get the right feel (which will feel wrong because you'll be a different shape and you'll be doing things differently!). Lunge lessons (on a schoolmaster), work without stirrups and without reins will all helps. All the old school things we used to do on the lunge like tucking legs up to jockey length, dropping the right down and then your legs find their correct position. Lifting legs away from the saddle to really sit on your seat bones and making sure that is even. Arms out horizontally and twisting from the waist while keeping your legs and seat exactly where they should be ...the riding lesson torture methods are all coming flooding back!

As a whole riders are really bad at doing no warm up or stretching before we get on. Really we should be warmed up and stretched before getting on so that from the get go the horse has someone "ready" on them.

 

[Northern]

Excellent replies, some more direct than others but sometimes that can be helpful

My advice is to keep at it, the regular lessons should improve you (even a teeny bit) every time and give you tools to deal with Ambers response to your position. I think sending her off for some schooling isn't a bad idea, I just did that with my pony and just a few weeks has helped enormously and I have been able to pick her up there and progress well I know how frustrating it is, it took me a good 4 years to get out of the habit of leaning forward. Only recently can I look at pictures of me riding and not cringe!

The saddle is another good one, any chance you can borrow/use a proper dressage saddle for her? While I ride a lot of my flatwork in my jumping saddle, the dressage saddle has ultimately helped improve my position. Stirrup lengths also have an effect, I too have recently shortened mine when I ride in the jump saddle and I feel less like an octopus with my legs now

Good luck!

 

[Trouper]

Coincidentally,during a clear out, (the things you do when you are horseless!) I have just been re-reading some notes on exercises for riders that I had squirrelled away. There was a lot of emphasis on how traditional core strengthening exercises tend to shorten muscles such as the Psoas when really we need them to be long and stretched for riding as this makes other abdominal muscles work harder. So lots of stretching was suggested as the key to developing a better seat. Perhaps that is why riding without stirrups helps so much. Just a thought.