Shoulders back tips!!!

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Hp87

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Ok, so I could do with a few hints and tips as how to keep my shoulders back please. I've been riding for many years but have recently had a break and since returning to it I seem to have forgotten how to ride! My general riding position is good but I video'd a schooling session with my youngster (who is very croup high and so is automatically on his forehand anyway) and my shoulders seem very closed (if that makes sense) especially when trotting. I know I'm doing it but can't seem to pull myself up! Thanks
 
Enlist a friend to yell at you whenever you start doing it. That's the only thing that works for me when I'm doing it unconsciously! The other thing that I find helpful is looking up at the sky, or closing my eyes, for a few strides - makes me concentrate on my body position rather than the horse.
 
Echo smja about closing your eyes (if you're horse is trustworthy!) I do this a lot when having lessons as it really helps me to feel the horse, sight is extremely distracting! Other thing is to check your position at say, A, E, C and B markers, a good way of making it a habit :)
 
Years ago I used to have great lessons with a fab dressage instructor (who was camp as christmas so was always coming out with stuff like this...) but he used to say imagine your boobs are car headlights. You want them on full beam so just keep thinking 'Dont dip. DAZZLE!'

I still repeat that in my head now waiting for the bell to go...makes me sit up and smile :)
 
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Torture
 
instead of thinking pushing shoulders back, think about sliding your shoulder blades together and down your back, all the way into where your back jeans pockets would be. This opens your whole chest up and out, making you sit more upright and more elegant at the same time!
 
check your seat bones are REALLY pointing down. I find my shoulders harder to keep back if I don't quite have my bum tucked under enough
 
I feel your pain. I've been a member of this club...still am due to stop start riding strategy. I rode the desk for a good few years between less wooden horses and developed terribly 'closed' shoulders. It was when I started riding again that I realised that I was becoming a bit of a slouch doing anything from driving the car to cooking the supper. I'd also developed a terrible forward tilt, too. I'm always telling my students 'Chin up, t*ts out':D but no one was shouting at me, and if they did, I soon reverted after a few hours at my desk. So, as fugly as it is, I invested a few squids in one of these:

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(About £15 from Bay of E). It's horrific and bloody uncomfortable but it did help. That and pilates to strengthen my core. What I particularly noticed was the more I pushed my chest up, the fitter I felt when I did have a lesson.
 
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Ooooooh that looks like a proper torture device! I have tried a different version of this and either I didn't have it tight enough or it wasn't supportive enough. Did you wear it for everyday stuff or just for riding? X
 
My instructor used to yell "chest up" at me which worked well. I also loved the "don't dip, dazzle!" one. The feeling you're aiming for isn't shoulders back as such, you want them to be relaxed and against your back, so you will have a decent space between them and your ears for example. To start, just roll them upwards and back to find the right position and feeling, then think of all the "chest up, dazzle" stuff to help you keep them there. Remember to keep your core engaged - this helps hugely.
 
Thread a riding crop through your elbows and behind your back, it's a bit easier with you on the hoss holding the reins and someone else can do it. That's what my instructor used to do to me and it was torture! Certainly made a big difference though!
 
I find it better to concentrate on having long collar bones as this seems to help with a whole variety of problems and my position as a whole. If I think shoulders back I stay slouched whereas if I think long collar bones I seem to end up looking more correct and elegant (elegant for a dumpy person!)
 
The danger if you think 'shoulders back' too much is it can make you over arch / stiffen your back and weaken your front. A biomechanics coach told me to think of ensuring my front line is 'straight', vertical and stacked up (so is your hollow at the bottom of your throat directly above your belly button and so on) rather than thinking about straightening your back. For me because I tip forward this feels like moving my chest back while keeping my front short and stacked, rather than stretched out.
 
another good analogy is to imagine your bouncing a ball on top of your head - cant remember for the life of me where I read it but it certainly helps when I think of it
 
Imagine that your shoulder blades are really heavy so that they fall downwards like they are two big, heavy dinner plates! Also, instead of thinking "shoulders back" think "hands up".
 
I think you just need to keep checking on your position. A good place to start is your head. If you are looking at the horse then you're looking too far down and your shoulders are likely to be rounded. Make sure you loot up at the sky, if your head is up your shoulders will need to be back and down otherwise you get a very painful neck very quickly. Thinking "tits out" is sometimes helpful as well!
 
Django Pony said:
Imagine that your shoulder blades are really heavy so that they fall downwards like they are two big, heavy dinner plates! Also, instead of thinking "shoulders back" think "hands up".
Click to expand...

This..plus or practice letting your shoulders relax and let them rest on your rib cage
 
I tend to think of lifting everything.. so like others have said - chest up, hands up, thinking of shoulder blades together - I just have to be careful to remember to put my head back into my collar otherwise I end up looking like ET!
 
I had this problem when I started back riding again last year. It was mainly caused by my slightly winged scapula which was making my shoulders round forward. I did 3 things to correct it:

1. had a sports massage to free up my shoulders. She worked on the chest muscles and all around the shoulder - I was so knotted up. Agony but meant I could actually get my shoulders back!

2. got one of these https://www.shouldersback.net/shouldersback.asp. Bought if off amazon. It has mixed reviews but really helped me. I could only stand it for 2 mins the first time I wore it! it was torture and made my neck and upper back click at first! I wore it for my riding lessons and it really helped.

3. Did these shoulder exercises: http://www.active.com/swimming/arti...3-corrective-shoulder-exercises-871379?page=2

The whole process of changing the position of my shoulders so they now stay permanently back and are shapely was around 6 months of daily exercises and use of the brace.

Hope this helps.
 
I always find it's easier to think of opening my chest than doing anything with my shoulders-keeps my head up too

instructor recently said to me "don't worry, I will tell you if your horses mane sets on fire, you don't need to constantly look at it" :D
 
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