AUGUST 2010 THE RIDER /39


Fitness Tip of the Month for Riders: Fitness Tips for Riders: 6 Easy Ways to Improve Your Riding (with hardly any time)


shines’ also applies to ‘ride while you have day- light’. And yes- most are cramming everything in between hay cuts. The last thing you want me to tell you is to take time to exercise. So I thought I’d share 6 easy tips n’ tricks anyone can do to help your form and comfort in the saddle. This is an exciting competitive year for Canada because of the World Equestrian Games for the first time in North America in Kentucky. Even while very few of us are involved, it lends a special quality to everything we do- somehow we are all participating by getting on our own horse, in our corner of the country.


time of year, many people are in full swing of the competi- tive season. Even those that aren’t are busy trailering to rides and other activities. ‘Make hay while the sun


At this


come home to your horse’s eye that says ‘yes I’m ready to work’, and to yourself- who you’ve become and what you’ve learned by preparing for and taking on a new challenge.


Remember to encourage the competitors you know, including yourself. Everyone’s mile- stone is important to them and represents count- less hours of dedicated hard work. After all, competition isn’t about how high you go- it’s about how you get there because the thousands of hours that get you are, make you. It’s also about building the sport. Competition sets standards for riding, which makes coaching and training better, which should make riding better—which ultimately comes down to making horses happier, and everyone safer. The ribbons and trophies get dust on them. Even a podium medal. But you


When you think of competition as part of a process that makes you a better rider, it can help with decisions about which shows to go to, at what level. One of my coaches always said ‘bet- ter a year late than a year early’, because when you ‘overfence’ yourself and your horse, you open a door to tension (not good for your ride) and possibly injury (strain he wasn’t ready for, or more serious injury if you are doing fences). Prepare seriously, compete with a smile. You’re not in control of who else shows up who may be better than you, but you can influence the teamwork that gets you there. Remember that all a moment in competition does, is show what you’ve been doing (or not doing) for months at home. As part of a process, the challenge of competition isn’t so much about who places over who, as it is a personal challenge: can you be dedicated and disciplined enough to forego some things, so you can do the work you need to do before and during competitive season? Can you juggle all your other responsibilities such as fam- ily, job, personal crisis etc… and battle fatigue, inconvenience, lost social opportunities and so on, to bring your best self to your partnership with your horse? To help your horse be ready? At such a busy time of year, here are six easy ways to squeeze the fitness elements that help you ride better into your life:


1.


Practice breathing. Deep breathing relaxes your muscles and signals calm to your horse. Being able to use breath strategically at a compe- tition will really help both of you. Especially at in-gates or at ‘x’. If you are not practiced at


using breath to centre and relax yourself and get tension out of your muscles at a moments’ notice, you will not be able to magically develop this ability on the show grounds. So, practice breath- ing deeply into your abdomen and relaxing your shoulders in ‘down’ moments like when you are driving to work/barn, when you need a mini- break at work, or during your warmup and ride at home. 2.


Sit tall. Slouching all day cannot be undone magically when you have thousands of other thoughts going through your mind at competi- tion. If you are desk bound for most of your day, or sit down at any point during your day, practice sitting tall with a long neck, and seat bones directly under you. Engage your core, and hold the engagement for a few seconds. Your spine will like the ease of pressure, and you will get in some core work at the same time. You will also be teaching your body to memorize straight, so that it comes more easily in the saddle. 3.


Stand on one leg. Ever get stuck waiting in line, waiting for a kettle/microwave or just paus- ing between activities? Standing on one leg (do both for balance) will help strengthen your hip stabilizers, and improve your posture and bal- ance. If you think you have great balance on the horse but it’s not so great on the ground- don’t be fooled. Balance you don’t have on the ground, you don’t have on the horse either. Feeling like you do comes from a false perception: your body will engage in all kinds of compensating patterns which effectively make your horse compensate for your lack of balance. 4.


Stretch. All the time everywhere. If you have a desk job, getting up to stretch regularly will help prevent the muscle shortening that hap- pens from sitting all the time, and which is coun- terproductive to your riding. Personally, I think


spontaneous acts of stretching should be more prevalent than they are: I’d rather be knot and tension free, and not have to pay lots of money for massage or other therapy, than worry about what people think. Keeping your muscles and joints supple will be one of the biggest factors in keeping tension out of your ride, and helping keep your horse sound as you move freely with his motion. Joint mobility is one of the biggest factors in balance. 5.


Visualize. Take micro-moments such as when you are driving, warming up, or just taking a sip of tea or water in the middle of your day to visualize you and your horse doing something perfectly. See it, feel it, remember it. You are actually helping your body develop muscle mem- ory. 6.


throw them overboard. Don’t succumb to defeat and guilt about missing a ride. If you have a day you just don’t have enough time to get your ride in, then re-allocate some of that time so that it still contributes to your riding: set aside twenty minutes for a long stretch to address issues, some core work to give you better posture, or a quick walk to mobilize your hips. Then go guilt free for the ride you missed, knowing you were still contributing to the process. ---------


By Heather Sansom, Owner, Equifitt.com Eques- trian Fitness


EquiFITT.com offers personalized fitness coach- ing through clinics and convenient online coach- ing available anywhere. You don’t have to be near a gym to get in shape for your riding. Sign up for a free subscription to monthly rider fittips or download the rider fitness ebooks: Complete Core Workout for Riders and Handy Stretching Guide for Riders at www.equifitt.com .


What Do Healthy Horses and Healthy Fish Have in Common?


By Patricia Lowe, Central Lake Ontario Conserva- tion Authority


What do healthy horses and healthy fish have in common? More than you think. Conserva- tion Authorities across Ontario, typically develop big picture aquatic resource management plans for local watersheds that identify what they and private landowners alike need to do to improve the health of local land and water resources. This plan pro- vides a foundation upon which to make environ- mentally sound decisions that balance growth and urbanization with local natural resources, rural communities and their businesses.


establish priorities for enhancement and protec- tion of sensitive aquatic resources. These plans often get to a level of detail whereby Conserva- tion Authority staff and their partners, can identi- fy issues that are prevent- ing the system from achieving its optimal health. Given that the majority of land within the average Ontario watershed is privately owned, they recognize working with private landowners on their lands is key to addressing these issues.


ter health. We know the replacement of pasture or other natural vegetation communities, with imper- vious surfaces like paving found in urban areas, con- tributes to disturbed and contaminated runoff. Sci- entists have found that when 10 percent of a watershed is covered by these impervious sur- faces, there is a rapid decline in fish habitat and an increase in erosion and loss of bank stability of creek systems.


Aquatic Resource Management Plans are developed with the knowledge of past and present fish communities, water quality, and physi- cal conditions like drainage area and geology that define the system’s current state of health. It provides long term guid- ance to biologists, as they


A fisheries biologist often points directly to the equine landscape as a positive contributor to healthy watersheds and fish communities. Most equine establishments sustain many acres of well managed pasture. When pasture is grazed on a proper rotation, frost seeded in early spring to increase plant production and small depressions or wet areas are drained using French drains, the horse and the fish in near- by streams, maintain bet-


Well managed horse pastures improve water quality by capturing sedi- ment and recycling nutri- ents before they enter a local creek. They also allow water to filter back into the ground, replen- ishing groundwater resources, which helps to sustain creek base flows and water temperatures for resident and migrating fish populations. Quite simply, these pastures contribute to a better ratio between pervious and impervious surfaces on a watershed scale, con- tributing to that critical guideline of less than 10


percent imperviousness. While not every equine establishment has a direct relationship with a stream or resident fish community, the fish you find “down watershed” are directly affected by your actions, positive or negative, wherever you are. You could compare fish populations to the canary in a coal mine, acting as an indicator for watershed health. For example excessive nutri- ent loading in a creek that hosts breeding and resi- dent brook trout, will cause water temperatures to rise to a level that is not tolerated by that fish species. Breeding, spawn- ing and nursery habitat will be negatively impact- ed and eventually that population of fish will disappear. What it tells us as horse owners, is that if you look after the health of your horse and its sur- rounding environment, the fish will quite simply, look after themselves. So fish and horses do have a lot in common.


Most Conservation Authorities have a team


Correction: Last issue the title of our Iron Horse Equestrian Centre story


in error. The word “Had” should have been “Has”. We apologise for any inconvenience. The proper title is as follows:


Iron Horse Equestrian Centre Has Big Plans


of staff who can tell you about your local aquatic resources, what fish species are present and how you can implement a stewardship project that will benefit horses and fish alike. Not sure which of the 36 Conservation Authorities you should contact, check out the provincial map and con- tact listing on the Conser- vation Ontario website ( http://www.conservation- ontario.on.ca/ ) .


This article has been prepared by the Healthy Lands for Healthy Horses Steering Committee, which is comprised of


representatives from the Ontario Equestrian Feder- ation’s Horse Facilities Council, Uxbridge Horse- man’s Association, Ontario Trail Riders Association, Equine Guelph, University of Guelph, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and various Conservation Authorities.


Funding for events organized by this commit- tee has been provided by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association from the Nutrient Man- agement BMP Demon- stration Grant funding


project.


For more informa- tion please visit: www.equineguelph.ca/he althylands.php


Equine Guelph is the horse owners’ and care givers’ Centre at the Uni- versity of Guelph. It is a unique partnership dedi- cated to the health and well-being of horses, sup- ported and overseen by equine industry groups. Equine Guelph is the epi- centre for academia, industry and government – for the good of the equine industry as a whole. For further infor- mation, visit www.equineguelph.ca.


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Re-allocate non-riding days. Don’t just


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