OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 THE RIDER /47 Fitness Tip of the Month for Riders:


We have all seen the rider with the very rigid back and shoulders at one extreme, and the rider who is floppy and slouchy at the other. Obviously, neither extreme helps your ride.


Even though the pelvis needs to be quite mobile while riding, you would be challenged to maintain good posture without stability in the pelvis as well. It’s the difference between being a sack of potatoes, and being a self-carrying partner on your horse’s back.


mary relationship with the ground, stability in riding is dictated by the fact that you are in dynamic relation- ship with a moving base. To achieve what looks like lack of movement on a moving horse, your body needs to allow considerable movement within itself, without losing equilibrium. Maintaining your ‘frame’ or self-carriage as a rider involves both strength and flexibility: you can’t be either too flexible, or tight. Since tightness often comes from the body compensating for muscular weak- ness, building stability in your pelvis by building strength will actually help you with the kind of suppleness you need to ride.


While stability in some sports might equate to a kind of solid and fixed position due to your body’s pri-


A thorough training program will focus on flexibility and strength- ening in all four directions for the hips. Riding alone will create an imbalance in the inner/outer thigh muscles, and muscles involved in forward and back movement. The strength and tightnesses associated often lead to problems such as low back pain, sciatic pain, knee creep, tight hips and general rigidity which makes sitting trot difficult, and falling off in a spook or refusal much more likely.


Building balanced strength and


flexibility in all four direc- tions will enable your body to physically relax and allow your hips to properly absorb the multi- directional movement cre- ated by your horse. Another important aspect is rotational control. Rotational control is very important for moments such as turning your horse on a small circle or pirhouette, turning sharply after a fence and manag- ing a cross-country jump course without damaging your spine or throwing your horse off balance. We do not have space here to show exer- cises for stretching and strengthening all these areas. One multipurpose exercise that actually helps with most of them at once is the single leg squat with forward extension. To advance the exercise, you can also add rota- tion in both directions. The attached pictures show a fairly deep squat. You can start with a very slight bend in your knee, and should only squat


Show Jumping Champion Now Coaching in Grimsby


Grimsby, ON - Heather MacInnis, 2010 Jump Canada Talent Squad team member and Grand Prix win- ner, has become resident coach and trainer at Poplar Lane Farm in Grimsby.


“I think there has been a real void to be filled in the West Niagara Region,” stated MacInnis. “Until now, riders aspiring to compete at the national level in hunters and jumpers have had nowhere to turn for help. Grimsby is centrally located for the Hamilton to St. Catherines marketplace and there are a lot of horse owners in the area, plus univer- sity students at McMaster and Brock who may want to move their horses with them during the school year.” MacInnis moved up from the amateur to the pro ranks in show jumping eight years ago. Until recently she has been splitting her time between her job as a barn man- ager/trainer for Michael Grinyer Sta- bles in Campbellville and part-time coaching at Poplar Lane Farms in Grimsby. Now she is working full- time at Poplar Lane, building on a strong base of clients already there. “We are thrilled to have Heather join us full time,” stated Sue Perez, owner of Poplar Lane Farm. “Over the years as we have gotten to know Heather, we have realized that we share all the same values. Like us, Heather loves and respects her horses. She inspires our riders to work hard to be the best they can be, while ensuring they still have fun doing it!”


Heather has had success both as a competitor herself and as a coach. She and her Grand Prix mount, Shine


Improve Hip Stability


Single Leg Squat 3


Single Leg Squat 1


Single Leg Squat 2


as low as you can maintain without pain to your joints, and without any wobbly action in your knees, ankles, hips or waist.


also requires flexibility, so follow up each exercise with some stretches for the area.


Start out with a hand- ful on each side every day to build up strength in your ligaments. When you have more joint integrity, you can begin to load the larger muscles (quadriceps and gluteals) with more aggres- sive (deep) squats. 2-3 sets of 10-15 squats on each side every few days would take you under 5 minutes. Remember hip stability


By Heather Sansom, Equifitt.com Equestrian Fitness


Heather is a certified per- sonal trainer, and Level 1 Certified Centered Riding Instructor. You can get a FREE subscription to monthly rider fittips, or download rider fitness ebooks at www.equifitt.com/resource s.html.


Single Leg Squat With Twist


of Light, won a $40,000 Grand Prix in June this year and had a number of other top placings. She was named 2009 Ontario Rising Star Champion at the end of last season and after fin- ishing 2nd overall in Canada last year, became a team member of the 2010 Jump Canada Talent Squad. She also received the Doug Catto Memorial Award as leading Ontario horse/rider at the Royal Winter Fair last fall. As a coach, Heather has helped a number of students of all ages achieve major success at the national “A” circuit level, in hunters, jumpers, pony and equitation classes over the years.


“But it is not all about the rib- bons,” explains MacInnis. “I want my students to know they are improving week by week, that they and their horses are learning new


skills and taking pride in their accomplishments, whether they are at the beginner or the advanced level.”


In addition to coaching and competing, MacInnis will be offering horse training services for young, unbroken horses and retraining for ‘problem’ show horses.


“Poplar Lane is an ideal facility with great indoor and outdoor are- nas,” explained MacInnis. “The also have lots of paddocks so horses can get healthy outdoor exercise.” The farm’s 22 stalls are nearly full with just a few spaces open for new boarders who want hunter/jumper coaching or for horses to be brought in for training. For information, please call Poplar Lane Farm during business hours at 905-643-9553.


Toronto CADORA to induct Walter Zettl, Elizabeth Robinson, to Hall of Fame


Aurora, Ontario — Toronto CADO- RA has announced that Walter Zettl — rider, trainer, coach, author and valued contributor to the evolution of the sport of dressage in Canada since 1981 — will be inducted as “Builder” to the Toronto CADORA Hall of Fame.


The Hall of Fame is a perpetual tribute established as part of the club’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2009. It is designed to honour both past and/or present club members


and distinguished non-members who have, in their own way, contributed to the rich tapestry of the sport of dressage in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond during the club’s history. “We are very pleased to be able to honour Walter Zettl in this way,” explains Dorothy McDonall, Toronto CADORA President and Hall of Fame sponsor. “His impact on the sport of dressage as author, coach and clinician while established in


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