14/ MAY 2022 THE RIDER Fitness for Riders: Follow Your Horse’s Motion and Multi-Task Better


wanted to know how to follow her horse’s motion better. This person is a competent


rider with


decades of experience in Eventing, managing the challenges of riding over 55. They noticed that they


By Heather Sansom;


Hi Everyone! This month’s tip comes


from a reader and client who


were able to ‘follow the mo- tion’ of their horse’s sitting trot and canter, but seemed to ‘forget’ to do so when things got busy. When they found


themselves more mentally fo- cused on training or executing a technical task, they found that their hips became more stiff and blocked the horse’s motion. To add to the puzzle, the rider has been very dili- gent with the stretches usually recommended for tight hips, so their joints are not stiff and their range of motion is other- wise good. Problems like this are a


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little along the lines of the phenomenon of ‘rubbing your belly and patting your head’ at the same time. The body and neuromuscular connections are faced with the challenge of two tasks at once. I see similar concerns with riders who notice that their core strength seems to dissipate when they are focused on ma- noeuvres or aids with the horse- right when they need their core or their seat to co- operate the most. A common cause that I notice does have to do with tension, but not necessarily passive tightness (e.g. from a muscle like the psoas or hamstring being chronically ‘tight’ or ‘short’). Instead, it is more like the brain forgot to keep stirring the pot while reading the recipe. We know that automatic


or unconscious muscle en- gagement happens with either instinct, or with training that moves a ‘command sequence’ into ‘auto-pilot’. Usually, this means repetitive training. For example, hunter/jumper riders repeat exercises in flat work so that certain sequences are more automatic and easily ac- cessible in the critical mo- ments in a jump course, such as turning a corner, half-halt- ing, or a flying change. Those patterns are not trained ini- tially in the jump course itself. When the horse is green, they need lots of time to regroup and re-balance to execute these tasks while busier, more demanding things are going on. With riders, especially


middle-aged and above riders, ground training helps train the brain to easily ‘fire’ the core muscles, while the rider con- sciously focuses on some- thing more demanding. In the case of the seat that stopped following, the rider’s neuro- muscular connection or firing command kind of switched off when the rider moved their conscious attention to something else. This suggests that the rider was having to be conscious about their seat fol- lowing the horse’s motion in the first place. Second, following the


horse leads to and means that the rider is always slightly be- hind the horse’s motion. Thus, when a mental interruption momentarily


interrupts


awareness of this action, the rider finds themselves out of synch with the horse. Being out of synch with the horse is naturally unbalancing, and the natural reaction is to tense up- even for a rider with other- wise mobile hips. Rather than worry so much about con- sciously following, riders can be more mentally efficient by finding their centre, having a positive but automatic en- gagement of their core, and positioning themselves where they are able to stay slightly ahead of the horse, or ‘catch’ the recycling energy with their seat. In practice, this looks and feels more like the rider grows tall from the top of their head to their heels to lighten their seat, while sitting a little more toward the front of the saddle in the ‘sweet spot’ of the horse’s centre of gravity where the horse’s back motion is less dramatic. In this position, provided the rider has trained their body to centre in this way, the rider can focus on their other aids while the horse’s back is freer to move forward. There are a variety of


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methods for training the body to hold core tone and a cen- tred posture while moving conscious focus to other tasks. Centered Riding © methods typically like to make use of a small trampoline (easily pur- chasable where toys and exer- cise equipment are sold, or online). The rider would prac- tice jogging on the trampoline in a light fashion where they can feel their heels reaching down with each step, and feel their upper body loose and


flexible. I like to throw in ad- ditional activities for the hands such as catch and re- leasing a ball. The initial soft but straight posture allows you to have consistent rhythm in your jog, and uses the same soft core engagement as a seated rider allowing the horse to move under them. The added ball exercise can be done for just a few seconds at first. You would aim at in- creasing your repetitions, and at slowly increase your time spent double-tasking like this. The exercise trains your body to maintain rhythm and pos- ture with core engagement (part of your brain ‘holds that thought!’ with those muscles), while doing an additional di- rected task with your hands. If you do not have a


trampoline, you can still prac- tice the exercise with some music or a metronome that helps you to keep a steady rhythm. You can use varia- tions of the ‘hand demand’ portion of the exercise, such as exchanging a ball between your hands, having a person toss and receive a ball from you, performing lateral strength exercises holding an exercise tube or Theraband in your hands, or manipulating an object in your hands while lightly ‘trotting’ or ‘cantering’ on the spot.


Safe and Happy Training !


© Heather R. Sansom, PhD. www.equifitt.com


Personal Trainer, Riding Coach, Therapist Fitness, biomechanics and riding instruction. Personalized Coaching Avail- able online Check out the leading 9


week rider fitness plan book (complete with anatomy illus- trations)- available in print or as


a www.equifitt.com/fit2ride/


© Heather R. Sansom, PhD. www.equifitt.com


Leading Equestrian Fitness since 2007. Fitness & Biomechanics Spe- cialist. Personal fitness. Riding in- struction. Clinics. Mindset coaching. Books Online Coaching Available online almost any- where


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