11 Steps For A Perfect Horse Riding Posture for Correct Position
The perfect horse riding posture is a very basic part of horse riding training. Being the foremost thing before riding a horse, every rider must ensure the perfect horse riding posture.
In this article, I am going to talk about perfect horse riding posture tips to help you strengthen your core and base in the saddle, and then compare a bad presentation to a good one.
The perfect horse riding posture
A firm base (lower body) and core (upper body) are essential for excellent Western equitation/horsemanship, regardless of the breed of horse you ride, the level at which you compete, or even if you don’t compete at all. You can utilize your body efficiently when riding and be the best pilot for your horse if you have a workmanlike seat and body stance.
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1. Base and Core
After you’ve created your base, work on your core. To begin, position a riding crop behind your back and hold it with your elbows. Maintain a close relationship between your elbows and your sides.
This will assist you in envisioning pulling your shoulder blades back and together, however exaggeratedly. It will also cause you to sit taller, which I refer to as “raising your ribs out of your belt.” This positions your core in a strong stance while also maintaining your shoulders aligned with your foundation.
2. Elbow and Upper Arm
Your upper arms should hang loosely from relaxed shoulders with elbows bent. In order to keep your hands stable, your elbows must flex and absorb the horse’s movements.
The extent to which your elbows open and shut is determined by your gait and degree of collection. Bounce up and down with your hands on a stationary item to get a sense of how this elbow motion feels.
The same action that maintains your hands stable at the rising trot is the opening and shutting motion you feel in your elbow. Bounce from foot to foot to get a sense of how this action feels during the sitting trot.
3. Place your hands on the horse’s withers
Many riders assume that locking their shoulders and elbows would keep their hands steady, but this instead produces stress, causing their hands to bounce up and down.
Stiff hips can lead to tense elbows as well. Exaggerate the action learned off the horse in the exercise described above, or say ‘open, close, open, close’ while riding to release tight elbows.
To imitate the stationery item mentioned in the exercise above, place your hands on the horse’s withers. However, for riders with a long torso, this does not always work since it causes them to tilt forward. It is recommended that you attach a strap to the front of the saddle to grasp onto while practicing steady hands.
4. Consider the stronger side of the body
Consider which side of your body is stronger if you tip right or left of the midline or if your ribs collapse on one side. Because your stronger side’s muscles are tighter, you may find yourself lifting the seat bone on that side off the saddle.
You will be pushed to the weak side as a result of this. Because the muscles on your weaker side are simpler to stretch, you may discover that stretching the leg on that side down more readily takes you off the opposite seat bone.
If you’re right-handed, for example, you could find it difficult to retain your weight on your right seat bone and end up collapsing your right shoulder as you try to draw yourself back over to the right.
It’s possible that you’ll feel as though your right leg is shorter than your left. Stretching exercises on your stronger side may aid in the lengthening of that side.
5. Be like a gymnast on a balancing beam
While riding, imagine yourself as a gymnast on a balancing beam. The gymnast will fall off if her shoulders do not stay over her hips. To be balanced over your horse and follow his motion, your shoulders must be precisely over your hips, just as hers.
6. The Pelvis
The pelvis is where the upper body’s spine meets the lower body’s hip joints. This is the most crucial seat.’ You can’t properly affect the horse until you have the right sitting position. When we talk about good lower body posture, I’ll bring up the importance of the pelvis and hip position in influencing the horse.
7. Put shoulder blades drawn together
Maintain the position you created with your shoulder blades drawn together, elbows in, torso stretched, and back flat after the crop is removed.
8. Stand tall in your stirrups
To achieve this foundation alignment, stand tall in your stirrups with your shoulder, hip, and heel aligned. Then carefully lower yourself into the saddle’s seat, maintaining your legs in the same position as when you were standing.
This will guarantee that your foundation is firmly in place beneath your core. You may walk, jog, or lope while standing in your stirrups for a strengthening workout, then gently sit on your seat, rising and lowering as you go.
9. Position your hands
The position of your hands is determined by the horse’s structure. From your elbows to the horse’s mouth, you should have a straight line. Your hands will be lower if the horse is in a stretching frame.
Your hands will be a little higher if the horse is in a working frame. And, if the horse is in a collected frame, you’ll need to raise your hands even higher to keep that straight line. Always keep your hands within a 4-inch box in front of your withers, never crossing the neck or bracing downward.
10. Horse’s midline should be aligned with yours
When looking in the mirror from the front or rear, draw a plumb line from your nose to the center of your chin to the middle of your pubic bone. Your horse’s midline should be aligned with yours.
11. Your base and core must be solid and aligned
Your base and core must be solid and aligned. Your heels should be down, and a line should go from your heel to your hip to your shoulder; your legs should be on the horse; your ribs should be raised out of his belt; your elbows should be in, and your shoulder blades should be pushed back.
All of this combines to produce a workmanlike stance and a horse that is pleasing to the eye on the fence.
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