Breathing
Everyone knows that tension (as in negative tension) is a bad thing for riders. We all get tense when we are nervous, but tension also frequently occurs ...
Contact & Rein Pressure
Contact is the third building block in the classic German Scales of Training pyramid following after Rhythm and Suppleness (sometimes shown as Relaxation). ...
Core
Most of us will have heard trainers talking about the importance of core strength, but what do they really mean by this. Very often the expression core ...
Correcting Crookedness
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 ...
Fitness & the Older Rider
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 ...
Hands
Hands are so important when we ride. One often hears comments like “oh, she has such lovely hands” or “he has got awful hands” but what is meant ...
Hips
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 ...
Hyoid
Like so many instructors, I have asked my students to look up, raise their chests, drop their shoulders, etc. etc. for years, with varying results. I ...
Neutral Spine
Neutral pelvis and neutral spine - what are they and why should we care? As riders, I suppose the main reason we should care is because we need ...
Posture & Alignment
Posture is the position in which we hold our body upright against gravity while standing, sitting on a horse, driving a car or sitting in a chair. Good ...
Posture & Balance
When I first started teaching Rider Biomechanics it was perfectly clear to me, standing and watching, whether a rider was sitting straight in their saddle, ...
Posture, Position and PI
As a Rider Biomechanics Coach, I know that the way a rider sits on her horse influences the way the horse moves. Obviously, there are lots of other reasons ...
Psoas
In the human, the psoas muscles lie deep inside our body, basically behind our internal organs (stomach, intestines etc) and in front of our spine. The ...
Rib Cage
Although we know we need to ride in alignment and know the importance of good posture, most of us don’t automatically think about our ribs when it comes ...
Seat
So why is a correct and independent seat so important? As Bent Branderup wrote in his wonderful book The Academic Art of Riding, the seat is “the ...
Side to Side Issues
We are all asymmetrical to a greater or lesser extent; we may have one ear lower than the other, carry one shoulder higher or have one hip further forward ...
Spinal Misalignment
Our position has an enormous impact on the way our horse moves underneath us, and our spinal alignment influences every aspect of our riding. One of the ...
The Importance of our Hips
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; ...
The Importance of Straightness
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 ...
The Importance of the Feet
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 ...
The Importance of the Seat
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 ...
The Knee
A correctly placed and aligned knee prevents knee injury, whether we are on or off our horse. While in the saddle, a correctly placed knee can be used ...
The Periformis
Many riders suffer from lower back pain that spreads downward to their legs and sometimes even their feet. This sort of pain is frequently referred to ...
The Shoulder
The shoulder is one of the most complex joints in the human body and as such is vulnerable to all sorts of problems and injuries. It is a relatively shallow ...
Uneven Pelvis
No one sits on a horse in perfect symmetry. Everyone favours one side over the other to varying degrees, ranging from nearly imperceptible in those who ...
Vision
Anyone who has attended one of my clinics will have heard me talk about vision as one of the key elements for improving our riding. However just how important ...
Why worry about the rider?
Biomechanics is the study of the functioning of the body in movement using mechanical principles. It is highly relevant to riding because in riding the ...