Biomechanics
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3 Position Warm Up Exercises to Start Your Ride Right
When you’re riding on your own, sometimes it can be hard to get a ride off to the right start. Getting yourself focused and able to use your body to get your horse to use his body gets you both in the best position (literally!) to progress towards your more challenging work as your ride gets going. It’s also the best place to start if you’re starting at the very beginning building a fitness and training foundation for yourself and your horse. Today I’ll share my 3 favorite warm up exercises that I use to begin every ride, and I’ll explain how they help me and my horse develop the…
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Develop Your Eye for Correct Connection in Stretchy Trot
I can’t understand the words, but I don’t need to! What a beautiful illustration! So many riders think putting the horse’s ears below the withers puts the horse on the forehand, but that is only the case if it’s done incorrectly, as the first three diagrams show. I also see plenty of riders performing one of the first three trots, totally unaware that it is incorrect work! The fourth picture shows a correctly ridden stretch where the horse continues to reach out to the end of the reins, instead of dropping behind the contact (often the result of a rider using a jiggle-jiggle aid to get the horse to…
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A Simple Trick to Deepen Your Seat
We all want a deep, adhesive seat that keeps us comfortably in the saddle and allows us to communicate effectively with our horses. Here’s a couple of steps you can practice that will help you find that deep seat feeling. With practice, the muscle you use to get this position will get stronger and you will build muscle memory, and you’ll ride “glued to the saddle” all the time without having to think about it! To start, at a halt or walk, lift your toes. This will help put your heel down, but will use a different muscle group to do it than pushing down against your stirrup to get…
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The Trick to Stretchy Trot and Topline Building
To begin to develop a horse’s musculature, it’s important to start slowly and take the time to create a solid foundation to build on later. This can be a young or green horse that’s never worked, or it can be a horse that’s had some time off or that is changing disciplines or repairing after incorrect riding. A big part of this means developing the horse’s topline and carrying power, so that he can carry you comfortably, and to make him a lighter, more comfortable horse to ride. When he carries himself correctly, he will move in a way that is easier on his body, helping preserve his long-term soundness. He will…
