Biomechanics seems to have become the buzz word in the equine industry in the last 10 or so years. Everyone these days is a biomechanics coach, but what does biomechanics really mean and is biomechanics really important to you or your horse? Lets us look at the meaning first. If we look at Wikipedia, biomechanics […]
What is Rider Biomechanics? Read More »
“The application of one aid alone will never produce an accurate and correct movement. Only the correct application and co-ordination of all the aids can bring about perfection” Charles Harris – Workbooks from the Spanish Riding School. An aid can only be effective if it is timed correctly so that the horse can comply to
Isolating the Aids Read More »
A good seat is an essential if we want to be a good rider. Every book and every trainer seems to agree on this. How a good seat can be achieved or what constitutes a good seat, is perhaps a little less clear. Perhaps the first question we need to ask ourselves is why our
The Importance of the Seat Read More »
Contact is the third building block in the classic German Scales of Training pyramid following after Rhythm and Suppleness (sometimes shown as Relaxation). However, the question of what contact is, or more to the point, just how much contact is needed and how soft or how firm the contact should be, seems to be something
Contact & Rein Pressure Read More »
It has been a couple of months since I last wrote my last article, as apart from being on holiday and spending spent some quality time with my own horses, I have been thinking long and hard about what this article should be about. Then I had one of those light bulb moments – both
Last month I wrote an article about Starting Groundwork to improve your communication with your horse and help to gymnastise his body by using basic leading exercises. This month I want to take you a step further in your amazing journey of using groundwork exercises. If you tried the exercises mentioned in the previous article
Groundwork 2 – the beginning of refinement Read More »
I have written a lot recently about how we can use groundwork to help correct our horse’s asymmetry. Gymnastic exercises done in hand or on line help strengthen the horse so he can carry us, the rider, without detriment to his body. This is something that any horse benefits from, especially those that for some
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I originally wrote this post in 2018 but it is as relevant now as it was then. As anyone who has followed my articles for any length of time or attended one of my clinics or classes will know, I am pretty obsessed by asymmetry (both our own and our horses) and how being crooked
Correcting Crookedness Read More »
So far in this series we have looked at “the importance of straightness” and “the importance of the hips”. But just as you can’t build a house without a good foundation, we can’t correct the posture of either our horse or ourselves without looking at our feet. Both horses and humans will find a way
The Importance of the Feet Read More »
Our hips have a huge influence on our ability to ride well and the way our horse goes. Tight hips are a major cause of all sorts of problems, such as; bouncing in the saddle at a sitting trot, not being able to follow the movement of the horse, restricting the movement of the horse,
The Importance of our Hips Read More »
All horses and all humans are asymmetrical to a greater or lesser extent. The muscles on one side of the body are stronger than the other, one side may be more flexible than the other and we (and our horses) are more coordinated with one hand or hoof than the other. So if we are
The Importance of Straightness Read More »
Being able to feel the footfall of your horse and knowing at any given time where each of your horses legs are, is or should be, the foundation of good riding. Unfortunately, for most of us, it isn’t something we are taught when we start learning to ride. Indeed for a lot of people, feeling
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Rider Biomechanics is not just about sitting in a pretty position It is about understanding the forces put on your body by your horse’s movement and how to match those forces in the proper directions at the proper times. Sitting well on your horse is much more difficult than one imagines. The most important thing
Rider Position & Biomechanics Read More »
The question of what contact is, how soft or firm the contact should be and whether one should always ride with contact or only use it sparingly is something that gets asked the whole time. Every person seems to have a different view point as to actually what is meant by contact. When I ask
When and how we apply our aids can make a huge difference to the way our horse responds. Our aids should be virtually invisible, soft and subtle but all too frequently they are anything but and are blindingly obvious and harsh. When we first start riding we are pretty much told to “kick ‘em to
More and more middle-aged and older people ride now. In fact there are more of us than ever before. And although some of them will have had horses their entire lives, many of them are only just coming back to horses now their children have grown up whilst others are achieving a lifelong dream and
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One of the most common problems I see with riders when I am doing Posture Assessments and Awareness Clinics on PI are tight hips. This can manifest itself as an inability for the rider to turn their upper leg at the hip, toes turned out, problems with adjusting their pelvis to implement weight aids or
When done properly the “Turn on the Haunches” or “Pirouette” is one of the most effective gymnastic exercises for your horse that you can do. A correctly executed pirouette is a thing of beauty, a masterpiece of collection, impulsion, suppleness, strength and balance. In canter, it is one of the most physically demanding movements we
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The stifle is the largest, most complex joint in the horse, and probably one of the weakest. The bones that make up the stifle are the femur (thigh), tibia (shin), and patella (kneecap). A thin capsule surrounds the entire stifle joint that has a specialized fluid to help with shock absorption and lubrication. There are
Whether we are talking about humans or horses a strong and supple core is required to support the spine and reduce wear and tear on the joints. For riders a strong core is essential, as an engaged core holds us in lateral and longitudinal balance and gives our seat stability. Pilates, yoga and Swiss Ball
The Importance of the Core Read More »