SEPTEMBER 2019 THE RIDER /47 Rider Fitness: Why a Hip Hinge is Important for Riders
by animal and portrait artist Marg Henderson, published by Trafalgar Square in my book Fit to Ride in Nine Weeks
You can think of your ro-
tational bias like a coil. When pressured, coils natu- rally corkscrew in one direc- tion. A quick internet search on Tom Myers and myofas- cial chains or his book ‘Anatomy Trains’ will pro- vide you with ample infor-
By Heather Sansom I just got back from a won-
derful two-days-and-one-evening Equifitt clinic at an Icelandic horse facility. While my clients and clinic participants have all kinds of breeds of horses, that was my first clinic with only gaited horses. Even though the horses had extra gaits, I found that the riders had the kinds of challenges I regularly work with, such as a dropping shoulder or hip, or a tendency to rotate their body a little in one direction. If you find that it is easier
to get bend in your horse going in one direction instead of another, your saddle slips, you have trou- ble getting a particular canter lead, or one of your legs seems longer than the other, you might have a ‘rotational bias’. Essen- tially, just as everyone has a weaker and a stronger side of their body, we also have a normal bias toward rotation (think of your spine as a pole around which your body rotates). Under pressure (such as a faster gait, fa- tigue, or bearing a load), the bias can become more pronounced. It occurs because the cross-body muscle chains (from one shoul- der, across your body, and down the opposite leg) are asymmetri- cal in strength.
Cross Body Connection Rear View
© Heather Sansom. Illustration
mation about these interesting connections that hold your body up and help you move.
Riders work with this con-
nection pattern all the time (i.e., different aids from your shoul- ders and your legs on either side), but are often unaware of it. Un- fortunately, being unaware often results in riders ‘getting after’ their horse for not bending cor- rectly by applying stronger aids.
Cross Body Connection Rear View
other way). This problem leads to many possible issues for your horse: confusion, asymmetrical muscle development, soundness issues, or a tendency to tune out aids unless they are ‘loud’. Sen- sitive horse may develop behav- ioural problems when they experience chronic conflicting messages from their rider. Two frequent exercises
that I recommend are a hip twist stretch on the floor (to loosen the overly strong spiral direction), and rotating strength exercises (to strengthen and balance the body). Both approaches are needed be- cause you can’t use strength to undo tension. Also, you can’t rely on stretching either because unless you train the weak side, your body will just revert to its old pattern when you are tired or riding hard. Stretching the spiral bias:
In the hip twist stretch, the goal is to keep your shoulders flat on the floor (one arm outstretched helps) while rotating your hips and legs to one side. If you are very stiff (the leg ro- tated over will not touch the ground), you can prop up your leg with a pillow or footstool. Hold yourself in the position longer on the side that is tighter.
© The photos at middle and
Stretching Guide for Riders” on
Amazon.ca Strengthening the weaker
sides: Each of the three exercises here have two things in common. First, your goal is to keep ab- solutely even weight in your hips and feet, with your knees, hips, and toes pointed forward. Also, your arms should start by holding your object or weight directly in front of the midline of your torso. Use your core to turn your rib- cage instead of just shoving your arms over to the side. The easiest exercise to start with is the stand- ing twist, followed by the seated twist. The lying twist in a crunch position requires the most bal- ance, co-ordination and core strength.
© Photo above right by Heather Sansom, first printed in her book Killer Core for Riders , available as a pdf download, or paperback and kindle ebook at Amazon. Search “Killer Core Workout for Riders” and “Handy Stretching Guide for Riders” on
Amazon.ca
Happy Riding and Training! © Heather R. Sansom, PhD.
www.equifitt.com
Leading Equestrian Fitness since
2007. Fitness, Wellbeing, Biome- chanics. Available for clinics & individu-
Hip Twist alized online coaching.
Meantime, the rider’s body is telling the horse to counter-bend! Horses then have to deal with two sets of input: the one the rider is sending them without realizing it, and the exasperated ‘loud’ sec- ondary input (where the rider is trying to tell the horse to bend the
bottom right by Heather Sansom are first printed in her books Killer Core for Riders and Handy Stretching Guide for Riders, available as pdf downloads, or paperback and kindle ebooks at Amazon. Search “Killer Core Workout for Riders” and “Handy
ANCASTER SADDLE CLUB
September 15, 2019 Raindate; September 29, 2019. English Hunter and Western Performance Classes. Shows held at Ancaster Fairgrounds. For information contact: ancastersaddle-
club@gmail.com
SCHOOL OF EQUINE MASSAGE & REHABILITATION THERAPIES
October 05-11, 2019, Ottawa, ON 7 Day Massage Course October 14-November 22, 2019, 6 week Advanced Massage Course, Guelph, ON|.
www.equinerehab.ca
RUSTY GAITS SADDLE CLUB
Shows held at the Aylmer Fair Grounds: Shows - September 17. For more information contact us at
www.rustygaits.ca or find us on Facebook.
KAWARTHA REGIONAL APPALOOSA HORSE CLUB
Upcoming Shows: September 14th - North American Appaloosa Championship (NAAC).English Country Acres, Norwood. Judge: Rick Warne
www.kawarthaappaloosa.com
ONTARIO BARREL RACING
ASSOCIATION
Date/ Show/ Location October 13 - Erin Fall Fair, Erin ON October 18-20 - Grand Slam Finals, Clinton ON For more information visit
www.obra.ca
Oct. 11-14, 2019 - Rockton World’s Fair For more information visit
www.rocktonworldsfair.com
ROCKTON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 2019 EVENTS
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info@aldistributing.com
2019 East Schedule $2,000 Fall Finale Hunter Derby, Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park - Sept 25-30 $60,000 Canadian Hunter Derby, National Championships Royal Winter Fair Nov 1-10
2019 NATIONAL GOLD COMPETITIONS
Competition Name/ Location/ Date/ Website Autumn Classic, Caledon Equestrian Park, Palgrave, Sept 11 - 15,
www.caledonequestrianpark.com Canadian Show Jumping Tournament CSI2*, Caledon Eques- trian Park Palgrave, Sept 18 - 22,
www.caledonequestrianpark.com Fall Finale, Caledon Equestrian Park, Palgrave, Sept 25 - 29,
www.caledonequestrianpark.com The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, November 1 - 10,
www.royalfair.org
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