You must be relaxed,
your center of gravity must be balanced over your horse's center
of gravity and you must be able to follow the horse's motion before
you can master applying individual aids correctly or coordinating
a sequence of aids.
All of your joints connect in sequence so all of your joints need
to allow some movement in order for you to follow your horse's
motion. However, since the seat bones (the lowest point of your
bony pelvic girdle, which also forms your hip joint sockets) directly
contact the horse's back, your hips absorb more of the horse's
motion than any other joint.
Your core muscles, those that support your lower back and abdomen,
must be firm and strong enough to lift your mid-section so that
your hips can swing with the horse's movement in an upward tipping
motion. Your thigh muscles must be long and relaxed which requires
complementary stretch in the hip flexors and strength in the hamstrings.
Your knee and ankle joints must also be relaxed. With complete
relaxation of the muscles from hip to toe, you enable your hips
to move, following the swing of your horse's back. Muscle tension
anywhere in the body, such as grippy knees or locked ankles, will
lock the hip and cause the rider to bounce.
When your hips are in a neutral position at the halt, your spine
should be straight and your back should be flat. The hips should
neither tip forward (an arched back) nor tip back (a rounded back).
From this neutral position, the hip simply swings in a forward
and upward motion toward the hand with every step of the horse.
The hip swings in all three gaits, with each gait slightly different
in the amount of swing and rhythm. It is easy to line up your
ear, shoulder, hip and heel in a line perpendicular to the ground
when your horse is standing still. Maintaining that alignment
when the horse moves off at the walk, trot, or canter is the challenge.
Since, as previously noted, all of the joints are connected, you
can develop awareness of hip motion by moving other body parts
such as the head or the leg. To feel the motion of swinging and
tipping your hips forward from the ground, stand with your back
and heels against a wall then try to simply move your hips forward
by contracting your upper and lower abdominal muscles.
This may seem like a simple exercise but many riders cannot swing
their hips forward without contracting other muscles. Riders with
weak abs or strong gluteus muscles often try to use their gluteus
muscles to swing their hips. Tight gluteus muscles cause the rider
to bounce. If your core muscles are weak, learning to swing your
hips will be difficult. Strength training exercises for your core
muscles, separate from your riding exercises, are helpful.
Do not confuse strength with tension. Tension usually comes from
two sources. First, riders who are fearful or insecure may tense
their muscles and grip in an attempt to keep themselves from bouncing
and feel more in control. However, this tension causes more bouncing.
Ironically, they would be more secure if they could relax their
muscles because this would allow their joints to flex so they
can swing their hips and stay in rhythm with the horse.
Second, riders with weak muscles often tense them as compensation
for their lack of strength. Strong but relaxed muscles can flex,
allowing the rider's hip joints to absorb the horse's motion while
maintaining a balanced position over the horse's center of gravity.
Weak or tense core, hip and thigh muscles are stiff and inflexible.
This creates telltale bounces in the saddle at each stride.
Stiffness can also be a matter of age or genetics. We all start
to lose flexibility around 16 years of age if we do not actively
stretch every day. The good news is that, with daily stretching,
anyone can regain his or her lost flexibility with time.
Some people are just stiff or tense by nature. Have you ever known
someone who made you tense just being around them? Even these
riders, however, can gain greater flexibility by doing stretching
exercises off their horses. Yoga is a particularly helpful stretching
program that also teaches rhythmic breathing patterns that can
help people relax and release muscular tension.
Ironically, extreme flexibility can also work against a rider.
Some riders tend to be very flexible while lacking strength. These
riders are relaxed enough to swing with their horse, but they
lack the strong, firm muscles necessary to stay organized while
coordinating and applying the aids. All riders have strengths
and weaknesses which they struggle to overcome. With practice
and hard work, however, any rider can learn to follow the motion
of their horse.
Each of the horse's gaits has its own distinctive hip swing and
rhythm. Once you learn to follow the motion of each of your horse's
individual gaits, you can then master the use of one of your most
influential aids—your seat. We will discuss these distinctive
swings and rhythms more in future articles.
See also:
Riding Balance at the Walk
Riding Balance at the Trot
