nBY BOBBIE JO LIEBERMAN
HEALING A RIDER’S BACK PAIN FROM A CHRONIC IMBALANCE
I
have been riding endurance for over 30 years and 5,000 miles. A lit le over a year ago, I began to
experience severe back weakness and pain both riding and in everyday life. Chiropractic, Reiki and myofascial release all helped, but the pain always returned. I oſt en felt as if an ice pick was jabbing me in the side, and sometimes I would literally buckle over, unable to support my upper torso. Determined to keep riding, I wrapped a pair of
racetrack bandages around my middle and carried on. But I would come home nearly crippled and spend weeks recovering from those eff orts. Liſt ing and loading tack, feed and supplies to prepare for the rides was just as debilitating as the ride itself. T e roots of my imbalance go back many years.
I have long had a slight spinal scoliosis, and in 1978 I incurred a compression fracture of the fi rst lumbar vertebra. More recently I lost a great deal of muscle tone, bone density and body weight due to type 2 diabetes. I had competed for the last three years on a silky-smooth gaited mare, so was able to “get away with” my twisted torso and glide down the trail without paying a price. T en the Morgan mare Annakate came into my life. If I could keep her at a medium speed, all was well, but when she hit that big, powerful road trot, the concussion became very painful. Despite my infi rmities, we completed 780 miles last
year and were off to a great start with 410 miles this season, including two three-day “pioneer” rides. But the pain just wasn’t going away. Rather than continuing to grit my teeth, I decided to launch an all-out at ack on the problem. Here are some things that have helped me straighten up: Feldenkrais (
www.feldenkraisguild.com) uses subtle
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exercises to activate unused neural pathways to shiſt the musculature and coax contracted muscles back into balance. Aſt er my fi rst four sessions with Bonnie Angelie, a certifi ed Feldenkrais practitioner in Tucson, I was able to walk straighter, lower my center of balance, gain fl exibility from side to side—and the ice-pick pain in my side receded. EquiBalance (
www.julieleiken.com), a Pilates-based
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riding technique developed by Julie Leiken of Boulder, Colorado, helped me reposition my pelvis in the saddle to open my hip angle and be in a more neutral posture. Immediately I could feel my back muscles sigh with relief. Before the clinic it had been painful to trot even a short distance; from that day on things were get ing bet er. With my new awareness, we worked on trot ing circles to the right; Annakate soſt ened, “telescoped” her neck and could bend through her rib cage on that side. Julie suggested adding a canter to Annakate’s repertoire to reduce the level of repetitive stress on my bones. She also recommended Pilates to strengthen my abdominals. Stacey Kollman (
www.deserthorseinc.com) of Tucson, Arizona, weaves elements of Connected Riding,
µ 32 June | July 2010 •
WWW.TRAILBLAZERMAGAZINE.US
Bobbie and Annakate completed the Valles Caldera 50-mile ride in northern New Mexico in mid-June. Both horse and rider fi nished with happy backs “fi t to continue.” Photo by Scot Valentine
photos.lightningsymphony.com
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Centered Riding and the Alexander Technique into her own unique style of teaching. T e essence of her work is to get the human really grounded before asking your horse to do anything, whether it’s from the ground or in the saddle. As my sacrum “grew roots” and my sternum liſt ed, my oſt en-braced mare responded by lightening her forehand and picking up a soſt , smooth sit ing trot. What’s beautiful about Stacey’s approach is that—as with other biomechanically based teaching methods— there is no “right” or “wrong.” When we can balance, move and wiggle our own bodies and posture, we invite our horses to respond without tension or bracing. We need only be patient and willing to let go of old habits. During my lesson with Stacey, Annakate and I received a vast amount of sensory data, clearly apparent by my mare licking, chewing, taking a deep breath and lower- ing her head and neck with a dreamy look in her eye. Michael Beesley (intouchwithorses@at .net), of Port
St. Lucie, Florida, quickly grasped the specifi c muscle groups conspiring to create my misery. He suggested several exercises to “unkink” the muscles in spasm along with judicious use of heat and ice. Doing them every day, along with free weights, has made a diff erence! Slowly but surely, all of these giſt ed teachers—keen observers of equine and human biomechanics—are helping me and my horse work bet er together. T e old pat erns are beginning to break up as new possibilities for posture and movement take hold. In the last month we have picked up the pace, including a training ride with a climb up to 9,000 feet. But I now know that “do- ing my homework” to encourage my mare and myself to stay in our new posture is what will ultimately lead to more pain-free riding days, be they a jaunt on local trails or a multi-day endurance ride.
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