Charlie Spence, a member of the physiotherapy team at Cleve Chiropractic, explains why riders must look after themselves – as well as their horses.
As riders, we’re all guilty of spending a lot of time and money on looking after our equine friends – but what about us? The human element is a vital part of the partnership that helps us enjoy the sport we love.
Investing only in the horse can be detrimental to our own progression so, if we put a little time and effort into the rider’s health and well-being, we’ll make both ours and our horses’ lives a lot easier.
That’s why, at Cleve Chiropractic, we have the expertise to help you get in trim for your horse riding, whatever your age or level of fitness.
Unfortunately, when it comes to injuries and rehabilitation, there’s no ‘one programme fits all’. That’s why we offer one-to-one assessments and online consultations to identify any asymmetries, weaknesses and mobility restrictions, to ensure our clients receive the best possible care and advice.
Our horses can be in tip-top condition but we are often frustrated by physical shortcomings, despite taking on board what we’re being asked to achieve by our equestrian instructors.
Do you ever get to a point where you want to yell: ‘I’m doing my best!’
Do any of the following sound familiar to you?
• Your weight is shifted to one side
• Collapsing on one side
• Uneven shoulders
• Fixing with one arm
• Falling in front of, or behind, the movement
• Better dressage scores on one rein compared to the other
So why is this happening?
The rider’s base of support in the saddle is the pelvis and inner thighs. The pelvis receives every movement of the horse and every movement of our pelvis is directly communicated to the horse. Therefore, we can act in harmony with one another.
All riders should understand the importance of weight distribution and control of our seat. But, if you’re not prepared well enough, questions have to be asked. If you have an anteriorly tilted pelvis, or ribcage rotation when you stand, how on earth are you meant to sit straight in the saddle? If you have poor hip internal rotation, how can place your leg behind the girth?
Of course, you might not realise that you have any of these problems. But one or more of these ‘faults’ might be the reason why you’re desperately trying to follow your riding instructor but you can’t, for example, get the correct canter lead, or bend in that shoulder.
If you would like to improve your performance, it’s well worth investing a little bit of time and energy in yourself – give us a call at Cleve Chiropractic to find out how we can help.
Meanwhile, here’s a couple of examples of common issues we see with local horse riders.
INTERNAL ROTATOR MOBILITY
The movement riders require for good mobility at the hip joint. A fundamental aid on the horse is to put our leg on behind the girth. To do this effectively, we need good internal rotation and extension at the hip.
If this muscle is weak, or we have restricted mobility, it becomes difficult to use the correct aid to ‘ask’ the horse what we want to achieve – for example, canter transition or lateral work requires the leg to go behind the girth. This exercise will help improve your hip mobility and muscular strength.
THE CLAM
Hip stabilisers are responsible for maintaining the correct biomechanical function of the lower body to prevent injuries at the hip, knee and ankle.
When you’re riding, weakness through your hip stabilisers can produce excess movement at the pelvis. In turn, this can cause miscommunication between you and the horse, if your weight is changing from one side to the other. Or you might always be sitting to one side due to a unilateral weakness.
If any of this sounds familiar, or you need some expert advice on any aspect of personal fitness, call Cleve Chiropractic and Physiotherapy Centre on 0117 957 5388 – we’re here to help!
Photo by Marko Blažević on Unsplash
