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Rider's tight upper body

From: Christine

Hi again Jessica! I was at my lesson last night and I wasn't doing too well, my lower leg was wiggling, I was sitting too far forward, my shoulders were forward and my hands were down too low and spread wide apart. Halfway through the lesson my teacher got fed up and told me to make my hands touch and to bend my elbows. (Apperently they were straight) I did as I was told and my postion completly fixed itself. My legs didn't move at all, my seat and legs were independant, I sat up and back and my horse's head went down. My teacher said the difference was incredible. Although this was all good, I felt too much tension in my upper body, it became ridgid and unmovable. I was wondering how I could keep this position without being so stiff and tense. BTW I tried to relax a little more but then my hands went right back down and my position went all bad again. What can I do? Any help would be appreciated!

Christine


Hi Christine!

Good posture is the secret -- on and off the horse. I think that you would REALLY benefit from the Joni Bentley audio cassettes RIDING SUCCESS WITHOUT STRESS. She's a riding instructor who incorporates the Alexander Technique into her lessons. The tapes are reviewed in my web pages, in case you're interested. They're worth the investment IMO.

In the meantime, here are some things you can think about.

The first thing you need to look at is your seat and legs, because you can't do much about your hands until your upper body is where you want it, and it won't stay where you want it until you've managed a solid, steady, relaxed position with your seat and legs.

If your instructor has a longe horse, or if your horse is reliable on the longe line, ask her to give you a lesson in posture and exercises on the longe. It will let you work on your upper body while your lower body follows the horse's movement. Sit straight and tall, stretch your upper body UP, do arm circles, torso twists, neck rolls, shoulder rolls --- and anything else that you or your instructor can think of.

If your instructor doesn't do longe lessons, or if your horse isn't suitable or experienced, it's better NOT to try this. But with or without longe lessons, you can improve your posture dramatically just by doing things to help yourself at home, off the horse.

If you ride with round shoulders and your head dropped forward, this has several effects on your riding, and all of them are bad. First, it pulls your seat out of your saddle -- you can't sit deep and relax onto your seatbones if you are tipping forward. Even DROPPING YOUR HEAD will shift your weight in the saddle and rock you forward. Second, it shifts your weight forward where it tells your horse to speed up -- and that's usually NOT what you had in mind, and you end up fighting with the horse, which makes you even MORE stiff and tight. Third, it takes away that lovely soft leg contact that goes all the way from inner thigh down to inner calf, and rolls you forward onto your knees, which then become pivot points, and your lower legs start to swing. Fourth, it makes it impossible for you to sit straight, breathe deeply, and look where you're going...

Does this sound familiar? ;-)

The solution sounds simple: sit up, and stretch your legs down around your horse, your upper body UPward, and look up. But if you're in the habit of keeping your head down and shoulders rounded, it's very likely that your back muscles have become weak from constant stretching, and your chest muscles have become tight from NEVER stretching. Your riding will improve much more quickly if you'll do some exercises at home -- with no weights or light weights at first, then with slightly heavier weights as your muscles develop.

There are a lot of good books out there -- buy one, or get one at the library, and take it home. Anything involving resistance training will help. Or -- this one's reviewed in my web pages -- there's a new book out that's specifically for riders. It's THE TOTAL RIDER, by Tom Holmes. I have a chapter on rider exercises in my book, too -- the information IS out there!

ANYTHING that strengthens your abdominals will improve your strength and your posture and your back and your riding: do pelvic tilts and all the various curls that work on your obliques

Lat pull-downs are wonderful for your back, shoulders, and arms, so if you have access to a machine that will let you do lat pull-downs, that's great!

For arms, shoulders, chest: you can begin these with one-pound weights Flyes: seated or incline Arm raises Triceps rows Extensions Curls

Even ten or fifteen minutes of this, every other day, will make an incredible difference to your riding, and do it very quickly. Be sure that you always warm up FIRST, then stretch, then do your resistance training, then stretch again, then warm down. You want to condition and build your muscles, not tear them!

Posture is something that you can work on at home, at the office, on the horse -- and every little bit of work will have a BIG payoff. And not just for YOUR position -- you'll be surprised how much a little more strength and flexibility, a slightly straighter back, and a bit of deep breathing on your part will do for your HORSE'S performance.

... and no, I didn't forget about your hands. Don't worry about them. Focus on strengthening and suppling your abs and back and chest and shoulders and arms, and on keeping your legs long. Keep your eyes up, your chest OPEN, and breathe deeply -- and you won't HAVE low, pulling hands anymore.

Try it for three weeks and let me know how it goes, okay?

- Jessica

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