New Years Day: Start with some insight into riding!

I attended a clinic with a *Grand Prix rider from Florida last month -- he was an extraordinarily intense and focused clinician--always moving, whether walking at the rider's side or trailing after them. He achieved quite a bit with each rider.

One enlightening metaphor he gave us had to do with the use of seat bones to control a horse's balance. He asked us to consider a large piece of plywood standing upright. It is easy to keep a piece of balanced upright plywood perfectly straight up, using only minute adjustments with the tips of the fingers to hold it up. Once it begins to fall one way or another, however, fingers aren't strong enough to  hold up the plywood. You need to use your hand or arm to grab it and bring it back to an upright position.
This is so for for riding as well. It is easy to keep your horse balanced and upright with minute adjustments with the seatbones and through ab control. Once a horse has lost his balance and is falling in or out, you have to use more dramatic adjustments with your knees, thighs, and lower legs. And because the horse is reacting to grosser, less precise adjustments, it's more likely that s/he will overcorrect and require more adjustments.

So why no video or even the clinican's name? Well, I was going to ask to videotape it, and as we were milling around prior to the clinic, I overheard someone else ask if they could videotape their spouse. He smiled and joked, "Sure -- just don't post it to Facebook."

I have to assume Youtube was also out of the question, and left my camcorder in the car.

The big sitting trot: do we stand a chance?

We might, if we watch this video from my favorite equestrian video site,  Horse Hero [unpaid endorsement which I'm happy to provide]. Fiona, the good-natured HH interviewer and event rider,  takes a lesson on a big-moving dressage horse Walero with Nicola McGovern.   Fiona is a hoot, and I love Nicola's teaching style. Watch the video to find out what "inside bottom to outside bottom" means.

Rider position with Ruth Poulsen and Jane Savoie

I love that this video tells you why these common exercises are useful and what they can tell you about your flexibility and position...

Sitting trot wiggle: Help at last!

This footage from a Jeffrey Moore clinic (see biographical info) offers some nice nuggets of wisdom for riders who do the "waist wiggle" during sitting trot.

I tried his suggestions and they helped. I have come to understand that the  waist wiggle is not necessarily from core weakness but from other things -- not engaging the right muscles, bracing/clutching at the knee, or stiffness at the hip or shoulders for example.  My waist wiggle is greatly diminished when I open my hips and soften at the knee.

Thanks to barnbynoteswatch for posting this video...

How to fall off a horse

"Flying is simple. You just throw yourself at the ground and miss." Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I've known a couple of adult riders who have injured themselves badly from what should have been a minor fall. Here are some hints to prevent injury:

• Keep your appendages close to your body (tuck and roll). The most common in injuries are in the wrist, elbow, and shoulder
• Roll away from the horse
• Ride (and drive, for that matter) on an empty bladder to avoid bladder damage.
• The two best places to land are on your rear end or your feet. Bend at the knee as you land if you land on your feet.
• Wear a helmet of course!
• Don't hold on to the reins.
• Make sure your boot size and stirrup size are compatible.
• Avoid clothing that will "catch" (I always wonder about hoodies).
• Remember that 20% of injuries occur on the ground (not riding-related).
  

One tidbit that I have heard, but not read in any article, is do not "fight" the fall. Once you become unbalanced, let go. Of course in show jumping and eventing you see counter-examples of this every day.

RESOURCES

Strides Rider and Volunteer Newsletter (focus on falling?), May 2007 issue

Learn how to fall off a horse from Equisearch.com

Falling off a horse from youngrider.com

Horseback riding injuries from Hughston Health Alert

Rider position and individual variation

I wonder if Heather Blitz ever imagined that sharing wonderful Paragon videos with the world might have a down side. Specifically, would she ever have predicted she'd get picked apart by some cheeky blogger who is perennially "schooling second level."

Disclaimer! Disclaimer!
This is not so much a critique (I greatly admire her riding, actually), as a blogger wondering aloud. The question: must my position fit the classical mold 100%, or might there be room for individual variation?I love Heather's riding, I love to watch her hands, and I appreciate her quiet influence and tactful authority. She looks more like an all around horsewoman than a dressage rider per se -- like she could transition easily to show jumping, hunters, or reining.

A matter of style
I have pondered HB's position, and to my amateur eye, her dressage position differs from what I have come to believe is desired/ideal. Her stirrups seem a bit shorter, and there is more angle in her knee, than other dressage riders at her level. While her upper body is erect, her shoulders are -- well -- almost a little rounded. She does not seem to sit quite as deep as other dressage riders. Compare Heather's position to Courtney King-Dye. Different, yes?

Heather

Courtney King-Dye

Maybe I haven't seen enough upper level riders, and they differ more in their position/style than I realize. Again, I don't mean this as a criticism -- she's obviously very talented. Then why do I pose these questions?

For selfish reasons, of course!
As a tall rider I find myself tending to continue a lifelong habit of hunching while I ride. I have to fight it with every stride. Also the classic long dressage leg, with the ball of the foot just barely reaching the stirrup, is difficult for me -- can't keep my leg quiet. Could Heather's position be an adaptation for a female rider who is especially tall?

So, am I looking for a good excuse to continue my slouching ways? Am I imagining these position traits? Help me out here!

"Show us your worst hunter/eq pix"

Delaneythehorsegirl started this soon to be legendary thread on the Chronicle of the Horse bulletin board. You really should visit this 11 page thread, but here are a few highlights (the ones I consider the winners of this dubious competition). Since the owners posted their pix to COTH, I hope they won't mind me linking to them here. I'll remove them if requested.

BTB Awards first place to
2DE Photography, Dorytuo of COTH

Rider Sandra Donnelly at Rolex

Second Place, COTH's Affirmed Hope

Honorable Mentions to the following
(with their anonymity preserved..

"Always ride to the back rail of the oxer" says COTH contributer

"He hesitated, I didn't"

One reader comments, "How sweet to give your horse
a supportive hug in the middle of a course."

This one's really good :-)

I loved this video on core stability, not only because I learned new exercises but because it's fun to watch trainer and rider interact. Dry humor alert! And of course, the Brits have a lock on cool accents...

Improving your stability in the saddle with John Pitts

Equestrian acrobatics for the rest of us

Things I doubt I can do...

• I can't mount a horse bareback (I can mount w/o a mounting block, but then I'm tall).
• I doubt I can do a flying dismount--you know, where you swing your legs over the rump, click your heels, and exit stage left? I won't even try it.
• I can't post the trot w/o stirrups . Take some jello cubes, put them in a sandwich bag, shake gently, and squint at it a bit, you'll almost be able to see my likeness at posting trot, no stirrups.
  

Since I watched this video below on Youtube, I can add one more thing to a growing list of limitations.



I saw an interview with the jockey. He was highly motivated to hang on -- when he started to fall he saw the thundering herd behind him and thought it would be safer just to dangle. And besides, I think he got some prize money!

Rider position from Jane Savoie

Jane Savoie is one of my favorite clinicians, and she has a series of videos she shares on Youtube. I think this is a few months old, but I'm always looking for advice on rider position. Hope you enjoy!

Sitting trot video: My eyes! My eyes!

Every six months to a year I get Bob to take a video of Harv and I doing sitting trot. Today it was cold and rainy and Harv felt a little stiff/uneven, but the indoor ring was EMPTY on a Saturday at 10am. So we got some footage. We took it easy on the Harvster and you'll notice he's lacking in forwardness. I tried to concentrate on a) a straight, upward-stretching spine, b) shoulders back, and c) a relaxed lower leg. To this list I should have added d) lose the piano hands. Geez.

When I review the footage I'm not horrified; at least Harv looks happy gimping along. Maybe there's some improvement. Maybe.

Please be seated: A sitting trot progress report

My goal for this year is to develop a passably good sitting trot. Oh dear. Less than two months to go, and this goal is by no means a slam dunk. However, I have learned more about sitting trot and what it should look and feel like...

How much do you really sit in a sitting trot?
Either Rainer Klimke or Charles De Kunffy (I forget which) wrote somewhere (I forget where) that one of his great epiphanies in riding was learning to sit lightly. Unfortunately whichever of them wrote it provides no detail (that I would have remembered). How lightly do you sit? How deeply? Can you sit lightly and deeply?

How much muscle?
We're all doing ab crunches and Pilates for better sitting trots, but we're told to relax relax relax. Some of my favorite riders have an extremely powerful seat with a lot of contact. They're obviously effective and in harmony, but the softness/relaxation is less obvious. I experiment with trying to be more or less influential, and I'm not always sure how much is too much. I try to base my riding on Harv's reaction. If only I could feel what it is like to be a Heather Mason, or a Michelle Gibson, for just one ride!


What I think about when I ride
I read the Richard Weis article The Posture Does the Riding a month or so ago. Weis says that sitting trot is a little bit sitting and a little bit standing. Thanks to this article, and to my trainer (who has requested anonymity :-), I have a stronger sense of balancing on the horse rather than just plopping on his back.

Generally speaking when I sit the trot I think about..

• Supporting my own torso -- rather than letting it drop onto Harv's back, let some of the weight go through my leg to the stirrup.
  
• Feeling weight in my stirrups and most importantly, evenly weighting of the stirrups.
  
• Being aware of my seat bones resting on either side of Harv's spine; staying balanced over the spine, not sliding to one side or another.
  
• Trying to stretch up through my spine while my seat bones "keep a feel" of Harv's back (not perching).
  
• Using my seatbones to help Harv adjust his body to stay under me (not the reins, not my leg).
  
• Keeping my inside shoulder back on circles, shoulders back and down.
  
• Keeping my hands low and slightly apart -- for some reason that helps my seat stabilize.
  

I have no idea of these concepts are correct or mistaken. What do you all think?

Importance of body position and awareness

This is an interview with Heather Blitz. If you don't know here, here is her bio. But I enjoyed this video...

Richard Weis: "The posture does the riding"

Just read an article by Richard Weis: The posture does the riding. The article is a handout from a demonstration given in Germany. The Horse Magazine did a summary of the demo, with pix, that I also recommend.

Weis emphasizes the importance of the rider's position, or more specifically the rider's balance, and how it affects the horse. I've more often thought of rider aids as hands, seat, leg, etc. Weis makes it clear that the rider's weight is at least as important. If we cannot balance ourselves while riding, the horse cannot be balanced. Sobering news for those of us who battle the "chair seat."

Here are a few of the quotes that I found helpful...

"Before we can control the horse we need a high degree of control of ourselves. Gaining this is our first responsibility."

"Directing the horse becomes a whole body experience... Eventually the horse learns to follow the rider by keeping his center of gravity under the rider's weight."

"The rider makes himself a good load to carry. To be a good load we must stay in balance, i.e., keep our head over our center of gravity over our feet."

"When we sit on a horse we take an attitude between sitting and standing. We support some weight through our seat and some through the stirrups so we are neither sitting or standing, but doing a bit of both at once."

"All our weight travels through the horse and and is supported ultimately by the ground and the pull of gravity... The center of gravity is over the feet at all times."

"[At the trot] the horses back not only comes up, it travels forward. The rider needs to spring his torso forward just enough to land his seat over his feet where the legs act as shock absorbers, softening the jar on the rider's back and the horse's back."

An example I think Weis would approve of...
Some time ago I saw either this video, or one like it, of an Iron Spring Farm horse and this rider (Janine or Mary Alice?). I was struck by how clearly this rider is adopting a position somewhere between sitting and standing, as Weis advocates. Her perfect balance is easy to see. If you watch this video, make sure to watch the trot work. Click on the image to go to the ISF Web page, and play the video...

References
The posture does the riding A presentation by Richard Weis and Susanne Miesner. This was a handout given to around 2000 participants at the DOKR in Warendorf, in Mannheim, and in Berlin.

Dressage Technique.

Sit the horse on the bit from hoofbeats.com

Riding: Are long legs always good?

Well, I guess the short answer to this question is yes. But it hardly tells the whole story, as riders like Debbie McDonald and Isabel Werth can attest. There are more of them than there are Ankys and Guenters.

Years ago I was reading one of the George Morris clinics in Practical Horseman. He admired one young rider's perfect riding conformation, especially her long legs -- but he specifically said "long from knee to ankle, short from knee to hip." I wondered which I was. Standing in front of a mirror, it was pretty clear -- I'm all femur (knee to hip), as are most tall women.

Then recently, I saw this article...

Leg length: how it influences your position by Jochem Schleese of Schleese Saddlery. He talks about leg proportions in relation to saddle fit, but not necessarily riding ability. The long-thighed woman used as an example in the above article was 5'9" with measurements of 55 cm fro pelvis to knee, and 51 cm from knee to floor. The saddler recommended stirrup bars set further back than normal.

I'm 5'10" tall. My knee to pelvis measurement is about 56cm, and my knee to floor measurement 50cm. This confirms the article's assertion that the taller the woman the longer the upper leg.

Why does upper/lower leg proportion matter?
Disclaimer: This is my own perspective/understanding of others' theories. I'm not trying to present it as fact and I'd be interested in others' opinions/corrections.

I think that a short thigh assists with balance and maintenance of position. Consider the example of the posting trot. While ideally you don't grip with your knee, your knee is a relaxed pivot point when you post. Your pelvis creates an arc as you rise up and down/move forward and backward. The knee is a relatively stationary point around which your pelvis arcs.

If your thigh is short, this arc requires less effort, and moves a shorter distance, than if your thigh is long. A short-thighed person will be closer to the center of the saddle when seated, and the thigh/knee will have a greater tendency to point downward in alignment with hip and heel. The weight of the body will tend to fall in the straight line more easily. Take a look at the photo below to see these points illustrated. The rider's thigh is short relative to her lower leg. See how her downward-pointing thigh helps her body align correctly.

This rider below, shown (I think) in rising trot, shows how a short thigh facilitates an easy arc and maintenance of balance. The arc is shallow and the pelvis does not have to travel far. Neither of these riders is especially long-legged but both show a super position.


What if your thigh is long? First let's look at an accomplished professional rider with a long thigh. Now granted, his stirrups are short, but imagine how long the stirrups would have to be to open the knee angle. Imagine the arc his rising trot would create. In my mind, the arc would be bigger and the upward thrust would be steeper, requiring more effort.


Now look at this rider with longish thigh and more dressage-y stirrups. This is an upper level professional rider, with a beautiful upper body position. She has a longish thigh -- her hip angle is open but she does have more knee angle than the short-thighed riders above. Her style is different, perhaps influenced by her conformation?

Finally, if you can stand it, take a look at these pix of yours truly. In the first photo I'm in the seated phase of rising trot. For the record, I know I'm being filmed and I'm trying very hard to be correct in my position. Not every moment looks this bad, I picked the moments that illustrate the issue at hand.

See how my butt is in the back of the saddle? I feel a longish thigh creates this chair-seat tendency and encourages more closed knee and hip angles. I have to work hard to open the hip angle when I arc upward into my post, and it creates a lot of unecessary motion and strain -- doesn't look effortless. My leg position here is not great, heels and knees lifted, which puts me even further in the back of the saddle. If my heels were down and my weight was dropping through the lower leg, I would be sitting more in the center of the saddle, and more weight would be dropping into my heels. I don't know how much the longish thigh contributes to this chair tendency, but if I could lower my heel and knee in the sitting phase these position problems would be mitigated. It ain't for lack of trying!

Now I'm in the up phase of the trot. My knee is driven down as the weight of my body sinks into my heels, and my knee and thigh angles open. Look how far out of the saddle I am even with a fairly long stirrup. It took a lot of effort to get up that high, and it'll be harder to control the descent back into the saddle. My weight will tend to fall back to the cantle rather than dropping straight into the heel.



I guess the solution for the long-thighed rider is to work on lowering the knee and dropping weight into the heel. With the thigh pointed downward, the position is more balanced and easier to maintain.

Conclusion
So, I'm now trying to stretch my hamstrings, hip flexors, and lower leg tendons to stabilize my lower leg in the classic position. This should mitigate the longish thigh and make it easier for me to balance without a lot of moving and shaking.
It's easy to feel defeated by one's conformation, and it's also easy to overstate the influence of body build in riding. I suspect athleticism, fitness, and balance are really what makes a gifted rider -- not conformation.

Dressage seat and position: Clinic with Richard Davison

The beginning of this video seems basic, but stick with it! Davison offers some insights that were very helpful to me, and the segment with the spine was totally new. Davison is a natural in front of the camera -- everything he says seems unplanned and spontaneous, but also very organized and easy to follow. Notice this footage is available from Vimeo -- trying to find non-Youtube videos as I recently learned Youtube is banned in some countries. This video is from Vimeo, which offers high definition videos...

.

Now that's a sitting trot!

If I don't have a good sitting trot, at least I know one when I see one...