How many of you are totally straight when you ride?

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seabiscuit

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Just wondering how many people feel that they are a totally 'straight' rider, as I've never heard people talk about not feeling straight; but surely a lot of people must have the these sort of issues or is it just me?!
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I used to be terribly one sided when I was a kid, which meant that I could ride a horse well on the left rein, but could barely ride it on the right rein. On the right rein I could never get the same kind of connection because I couldnt get them completly straight; as my whole of one side of my body was so weak. Could not ride a right circle properly or get right canter- it was that bad !!

Have 70% cracked this now- but still struggle with it so as a result the horses I ride are not as good on their right rein as they are on the left rein.

I try and improve it by doing pilates and seeing the horses magic man osteopath Gavin who also straightens the riders out as well as the horses, but still feel like I have some way to go. Just been to see a physio as well and she noticed that one hip had less mobility than the other and that the pelvis was rather tilted. Very interesting!

Was wondering how common one-sideness is amongst everyone who rides/competes?
 
Im very weak on my left side due to back and hip problems, so when schooling i never get the same result as i do on the right rein. But as i was told last week, that untill they find out what the hell is up with my back i cant ride, for the time being it does'nt really matter!!!:(
 
Very few people are straight! I have to remember to lean outwards on turns to stop me collapsing on the hip, although to be fair I do this on both sides.

I also love looking at the ground on the right, which makes me lopsided!
 
I'm not straight in the slightest due to hip/pelvis/back/shoulder issues. Its not major major but its enough that I know I am out of alignment and it does cause me difficulties when riding as I find it hard to distribute my weight correctly and keep my shoulders in the correct position especially on the right rein.

I am aware of it though which is half the battle and my instructor is as well and will pick me up on it especially my shoulders. It doesn't (currently!) hurt to put myself to the correct position it just doesn't feel right due to muscle tension. It means I am almost always having to think about how I am sitting and I know even when I am I'm still not right but I'm much closer to how I should be than if I just ride in the position that feels easiest
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If you can afford to, a trip to a physio is well worth it, my physio told me my right hip was "locked" and stiff, she did some exercises to help and I noticed a difference when riding.
 
I'm not perfect - I go to a chiropractor when the horse gets done so we are both checked out twice a year or thereabouts. Right side tends to get more tense than left side.
 
I never thought I was perfectly straight but I noticed when I was driving the other day (manual car) that I rest my right leg by rolling onto the outside of my right ankle, and so collapse through my right hip, when i'm not using the clutch. I try to put my right foot on the angled foot rest now but i've got no idea how long i've been doing it so i'm probably pretty unlevel.

I'd go to the physio for a check if you have a spare £60 or so it's probably well worth it. I keep meaning to get myself done, I quite often click around my sacrum and it never feels quite 'right'. Unfortunately doctors are coming before physios at the moment.
 
I try and fail
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My old instructor used to shout at me to sit straight, but when you feel as though you are sitting straight, someone shouting at you doesn't really solve anything.
My right leg is also a lot weaker than the left one.
I always feel guilty about it.
 
I am totally wonky, but I'm aware of it, my left shoulder drops about 2" I had a one off lesson with the lady who taught me to ride as a child on a schoolmaster and she was really shocked at my wonkiness, I think of my hips as a pair and my shoulders seem to follow, I've had some physio and do excercises to help and a bit of yoga, I've noticed a big improvement over this summer it may be because Leonard is a relatively straight horse compared to what I've ridden previously.
 
Hi,

Interesting post - this is definately an issue I struggle with! I find it hard to always feel an even weight in both seat bones - particularly the left one seems to float around? Strangely I can ride shoulder-in on the left rein better than on the right yet should it not be the other way round? I find traver harder on the right rein, presumably because of left hip not being right?

I guess a trip to the physio would be good but have spent so much on horse (physio and saddle checks for her regularly) that I keep putting it off. Can anyone shed any light on this?
 
I am weaker since my accident def. I am also going to do a post in the next day or two about a session I had with Andy Thomas who does the physio for the GB teams. It was quite an eye opener!
 
I have had 6 months of physio and it has made no difference what so ever, but maybe that is due to the fact that my back is not sorted yet!!!!!!!!!
 
I am glad to see that I am not the only one!!

Sarah Jane- Really look forward to reading your post about Andy Thomas! Sounds so interesting!

Silent Echo- try Pilates/yoga, you can look up exercises on the internet or buy books. Its all about core stability, although obv if your body's out of alingment things are much harder until you can see a physio or osteopath. Working on core stability muscles should help lots tho.

I.E if you find it harder to do shoulder in on the right rein, your left low abdominal muscles will be much weaker than the right, so that will be a key starting point.
 
I am not straight at all, and would be interested to hear who's best to go see, a physio, a chiro, or an osteopath - I am not really sure of the benefits and practicalities of what all of them do (well physios do muscles, and the others do bones but thats about it.....)

My friend is going to lunge me without stirrups sometime soon to help me, I don't think I have ever done things ike that really.
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I maybe did when I was a kid, but thats mainly just bouncing round isn't it - well at least it was for me
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wonking as hell, as i have one leg longer that the other and pelvis out of line (had car accident as child). But have saddles adjusted to make me sit better, still not straight but getting better,
When i went to back lady at first she couldn't work it out as i don't walk with limp!!!
 
I'm never straight. I'm not even sat straight now on the sofa - I'm collapsing my right hip. The only time I ever sit straight and even is when I have a lesson on the mechanical horse (hard not to sit straight with mirrors and Tam peering over your position!
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It's quite interesting, kids are often straight, then as they go through school years they get less and less straight. I know how I used to sprawl across my desk and curl round my writing, I'm sure this affects us hugely. And I agree too with the driving thing, I think it's actually impossible to drive my car if I'm sitting straight. Anky said that in the build-up to this year's Olympics the dutch NF had them all checked out with a series of tests in the gym as to strength, suppleness, range of movement etc over the whole body, and how it was all measured and then targeted in exercises.

It was Janet T who got me really realise the effects of straightness, and I think even more importantly controlled mobility throughout the body. Shena KK also helped me alot with understanding about orientation of hips and shoulders when it comes to lateral work. Interestingly, the german guy I had a weekend of lessons from in the spring said straightness is overrated and doesn't have as much effect on our horses as we think.
 
I struggle with straightness due to an old injury, I have to really concentrate to keep my upper body straight and not let my outside shoulder come too far fowards.
 
I am totally and utterly wonkey! Until very recently I didnt even realise but I injured my back in August and needed some urgent chiro and physio and thats when I found out! I have one leg about 1.5inches longer than the other which has pushed my hips and spine out of alignment... lucky old me
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I am now walking with a really sexy inner sole to raise my shorter leg and sit with a wedge under my left bum cheek!

And none of this has anything to do with falling off or the horses! In fact my physio and chiro have said without it i would be in much more pain than i am now
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I put more weight down through my right leg. I have tried and tried and tried to get myself completely straight. I spent years going to physios, chiros and osteopaths, amongst others, and I have to conclude that I'm never going to be straight! Very frustrating. I think I sit fairly straight, but my lower back and hips are all stiff, with one hip much stiffer than the other. One leg is also longer than the other. I find it almost impossible to ride in a dressage saddle, no matter what I try, or even to stay in the same position for more than 1 hour (say out on a hack) because it becomes excruciatingly painful. And no I'm not old, I'm 24!

I agree that driving, sitting at desks, etc., really doesn't help. I do think that physio is generally better than chiro or osteo treatment, simply because I find all the clunking and relocating very painful and it simply reverts back to normal as soon as I get on a horse. Strengthening supporting muscles through physio has provided the greatest benefit. Different for everyone though.
 
SilentEcho, I have the same problem with weight distribution and my left seat bone "floats" compared with my right, as you put it. I also find left shoulder in easier, even though I do not naturally do it correctly and tend to lift my left leg. I think the reason lateral work on the right rein is harder is because the unyielding weight through the right seat bone (as opposed to the right stirrup) blocks the horse from using his inside hind to step through. In addition to a failure of the left leg to support properly because it not as secure.
 
Gosh its good to hear I am not the only one. I also struggle with all horses on the right rein!! I always thought I was crooked but not exactly sure how. I saw a physio for 6 months for sciatica and he said I wasn't crooked, however under his treatment the pain I had did not really get any better so I have just started seeing a chiropractor. He says that right hip and shoulder are higher than left and I have a stiff right hip and leg strength on this side is weak (therefore ties in with my right hand issue on horses). Started treatment and feeling better already and I am sure that I am not having so much of an issue on the right rein because I can now move my hip more easily! However, the chiro is alo very insistent that I do exercises as well as get treated. I am starting with some pilates and then core stability on a gym ball stuff.

I think both physios and chiros are good but you need to go to one who will give you exercises to stop you keep getting the problems. Only treating the symptoms of bad posture etc rather than curing the problem doesn't work.
 
I used to be straight until a few months ago !!!

I realised i lean to the left and my right leg was a lot weaker !! i find work on the left rein easy but not on the other - lateral work is a nightmare (my poor horses and i thought it was them)

Went to the physio last week as my lower back was hurting and found out my pelvis had rotated !!!! so no wonder i was sitting wonky and yes my right cheek was floating as someone put it earlier !!
 
I, very surprisingly, do sit straight. However I don't use myself evenly, like I always thought it was my left hand that I struggled with when in actual fact after this whole hip thing, I've found I keep my left hip closed. It's all very odd, but because it's something that has affected me for such a long time without knowing about it I have learnt to adapt.

So my answer is, I sit straight but I don't use myself straight (if that makes sense!)
 
I have been crooked as anything over the years, am making a big effort not to be now.

I have had McTimoney Chiropractor sessions which have been fantastic, and trying to be much more aware of the way I am sitting on my horse and its effects on the way he goes.

I had a trial on Becky Chapman's simulator horse at the Holistic Horse Show and learnt that in canter I bounce a bit, sit a bit to the left, and have a 'whoa' seat not a 'go' seat!!

I have a proper lesson fixed up on the simulator for next week!!
 
I'm surely not straight when I ride.
I think nobody is 100% straight and symmetrical.
Besides that, I’ve noticed that horses are left handed; left canter is easier for them than right canter. Well, at least in this part of the world.
With most horses, I also find it easier making exercises to the left side than to the right, therefore I increase training and exercises to the side I find weaker.
 
Now I may not be a brilliant top class jockey, howeve sitting striaght is one thing I can do!!! I'm 90% ambidextrous, I can do everything bar write with both hands equally well. I;m a gymnastics coach and as part of that I taught myself how to do one side lead movements on both sides PLUS my Dad is a chiropractor. Can you just imagine what he would say if I was riding crookedly...!?

What also helped me was learning to ride sidesaddle.
 
I tend to sit to the left & find it hard to keep enough weight in my right heel & seatbone. Prob due to cracked bone in r ankle & wrecked r sacroiliac joint. I can put more weight down the right side if I concentrate & I'm getting better at feeling when I'm crooked. But if I concentrate too hard on being straight, it makes me feel queasy. ????????
 
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