Ride Fit 1-2-3: More on soft hands and the 'training scale' for rider fitness

Hi,
I just had the privilege of auditing a clinic with Jane Savoie this weekend. Now I'm in a kind of overfed state of sleepy shock...a little like you feel after Thanksgiving dinner because last weekend I also worked at a clinic in Nova Scotia as co-clinician with Lisa Wilcox. I don't know if my poor brain can handle any more rich input for a few days at least!

From a fitness point of view, last weeks' blog entry on light hands and proper use of the back really came back to me as I watched two of North America's top trainers and riders work with rider after rider. Muscle memory, firing patterns, back and core engagement. It came up again, and again, and again.

So, rather than change topic this week, I thought I'd add to the last blog on light hands and back engagement. It's a topic relevant to all disciplines really, as we seek to guide our horses with minimal interference to their mouths- hopefully not hauling on them, or having to yank at the bit. It's really almost as if we should be able to guide our horses without the hands at all. Some of those amazing demonstrations of bridleless reining and dressage come to mind. Yet, our hands and hand aids are not only top of mind a lot of the time, but also the first aid we apply. We humans are so handy!

It just seems to be human nature to use the hand first, or dominantly for almost any task. So we see a lot of hand riding.

Last week I talked about how shoulder and upper back strength remove the need for clenching or using arm strength when the horse is resistant to aids. I need to refine the discussion a little bit. The first aid the horse feels is the seat. The upper back and shoulders are separated from the seat by our torso. Using an idea from the late Sally Swift, we can see our bodies like a little tower of building blocks. The base is our seat. To have an effect higher up the tower, we need to take care of the bottom first. Literally in this case.

So the down transition or half halt that last weeks' rider was doing from her hands, starts with the seat. It also requires almost simultaneous engagement of the rider's core. We must understand core as all the muscles surrounding your middle, and not just the abdominals. Many riders pay insufficient attention to their back and the muscles used in rotational movement- they focus only on the abdominals which are about 1/4 of the whole set of core muscles. I have never seen a rider with weak lower abdominals, who did not also have a weak lower back. They are paired and work together to keep your torso erect, or to brace such as when you want to still your seat to apply a half halt. Split seconds after the core engages, the upper back engages. Actually, even though testing has shown athletes of all disciplines firing their core muscles before other muscles, it really all feels like it happens at once.

Those upper back and shoulder muscles might be able to help keep you from gripping with your arms, but your upper body would still have a tendency to shoot forward in a down transition or half half, if you did not support it with a properly engaged low back/ab muscle group, and middle back.

So, I have to amend the comment 'strong shoulders equal soft hands' and say that if you want the soft hands and ALSO the ability to hold your position, you need a very strong core. This brings me to my next point.

In the discipline of dressage, we work to a training scale. For those of you who are not dressage riders, it's still helpful to understand the training scale because it's the basis of all good flat work. Even in disciplines like reining. At the beginning, are 'Rhythm, suppleness and contact'. The next three are 'impulsion, straightness, and collection' . Let's make it really easy. The first three layers have to do with steadiness, and a nice combination of flexibility and tone or self carriage with connection to your aids. The last three involve power, symmetry and a high degree of controlled energy- not to mention stamina. For dressage riders, I'm being way over-simplistic. But if you're not a dressage rider, I'm sure you can appreciate that your young green horse needs to learn to have steady paces, flex in both directions, and accept contact with your aids before he can learn to go with power (over fences or on the flat) or get into seriously complicated or weight bearing activities.

Now I'm going to draw a parallel to your training. In just about all my clinics I tell participants to think of your fitness as a rider, in a similar way to your horse's training. First, some intense work matched with little rests in between gets better results that insane intensity for long periods of time. Secondly, small chunks count. Thirdly, consistency is more important than big long sessions once or twice a week.

Holding those rules of thumb in one hand, let's go back to the training scale. As a rider, you need to have a complete program for yourself covering flexibility, cardio-vascular stamina, appropriate strength training, and other muscle memory work. Rather than worry about where you're going to find the time for it all, or take an all or nothing approach, or guilt yourself out for what you're not doing, you'll have a lot more success if you take a layered approach similar to the training scale.

Think about it: if you don't know what muscle does what, how can you engage them on the horse with ten million things going on? Using downtime such as waiting in line or driving your car, or waiting for the microwave to heat your coffee, you can do little movements that help you establish whatever muscle memory you are trying to obtain while riding. For example, you could practice shifting your shoulders back without also shrugging them. Or rocking one seatbone forward and back without tensing your legs. The list is as long as your imagination or need.

When you do such exercises, it's useful to do them in a rhythm. In fact, things like pelvic movements to simulate flying changes are something you could do rhythmically standing on the ground or sitting in the car. If you can't do them there, chances are you're throwing off your horse's rhythm as well because you aren't staying rhythmic in the saddle. It's interesting to know that in sport conditioning, maintaining a steady rhythm with an exercise is as important as the exercise itself (yes, even something like a bicep curl), because the neuromuscular connections (brain to muscle) are formed much more quickly when the brain can anticipate what's coming next, which it does when rhythm is introduced. This connection is required for quick, almost automatic engagement of the muscle under appropriate conditions, and also muscle growth.

So, do a little movement with rhythm whenever you can. Next is suppleness and contact. For you, this has to do with flexibility, and engagement of your core. Get the flexibility down with a little daily stretching. If you think about it, tight or knotted muscles cannot perform, so why get on your horse if you're tight? Plus, he'll feel it and interpret it as tension, even if you are not actually mentally tense. You're setting yourself up for issues you'll have to spend time working out, which could have been avoided. If you have tight muscles and ligaments, you block the motion of your joints, which in turn do not absorb the horse's motion, and make things like sitting trot really difficult. So your suppleness is next. If you don't have time for anything in the way of exercise at all, at least stretch. In fact, if your life is THAT busy, you could probably use the de-stressing value of taking a few moments here and there to stretch. Even if you don't feel tight, if you spend more than a couple hours a day in a seated position, you are tight because the seated position shortens certain muscle areas.

Next is contact. Remember the comment above about how lack of abdominal tone ultimately meant a rider couldn't engage the upper back properly either? That's because those muscles further up that stack of building blocks have nothing to anchor to. They have no contact or connection with anything solid. You need that connection there for anything else to be effective. Think of your torso as a bridge between your limbs and everything you're trying to do with them. No torso tone= not much of anything else working effectively either. So, once you have the flexibility habit down, pick your favourite upbeat song and do some abs and back work for a few minutes several times a week. Pilates is also an excellent choice. So is kickboxing done properly. Hey- you would have sat in the couch eating ice-cream for the song anyway. Why not improve your riding in a week or two with something that only takes 3-5 minutes at a time, doesn't require equipment, a trip to the gym, or even any special clothing or a personal trainer?

Only after the base is laid with your awareness, flexibility or lack of tension, and good core tone, does it make a lot of sense to pile on the finessing stuff: the strength training and cardio work, or special exercises to help you tackle specific issues. Those give you the strong self carriage under any conditions, effective aids, and stamina for long show days where you have to maintain your position sometimes against a 1000lb opposing force of livestock under you.

So, don't tackle your rider fitness plan with the all or nothing mentality. Layer your activities in with purpose just like you would train your horse, praise yourself for a few strides in the right direction and reward effort with breaks just like you would your horse. Consistency is worth much more than fits and starts or weekend warriorism. Think of how a steady drip of water over centuries can bore a hole in granite. No matter how old you are, or what conditions you have, you can improve from where you are at if you are as persistent and planned as you are with your horse's training program.

I invite you to comment on this blog entry- or previous Ride Fit/Ride Better blogs. If you have questions or comments, I'm always happy to respond to them in the next blog. I'd also like to remind you that you can post photos or video with your questions for a free 'online clinic' assessment and feedback.

If you're really into the fitness topics, you can also sign up for a free subscription to rider fitness tips at www.equifitt.com/resources.html

Happy Riding!

Heather Sansom, sports coaching and fitness for riders

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Comment by Heather Sansom at Equifitt.com on June 11, 2009 at 10:41pm
LOL ROTF. That means Rolling on The Floor. OOps. I hope you aren't taking that wrong. Now I know why readers don't want to post their photos. I understand because honestly, I probably wouldn't post MINE if the shoe - er- i mean fluffy slipper- were on the other foot. BRAVE YOU for doing so Ottilie. Thank you so much. I have some ideas from your riding comments, and see some postural points in these photos which are mirrored in the saddle. I'm looking forward to posting next weeks' blog with all of this great information to work from. (I'd be tempted to post right this minute, but have very few hours of sleep before leaving for a fitness weekend.)
Sincerely, Heather Sansom
Comment by Ottilie on June 11, 2009 at 4:12pm
ps sorry about the fluffy slippers! and i didn't realise that top was so baggy across the back...
Comment by Ottilie on June 11, 2009 at 4:09pm


eeeeek!

...and I'm right handed :-)
Comment by Ottilie on June 9, 2009 at 11:49pm

sorry they're all in action, but probably telling nonetheless!
Comment by Ottilie on June 9, 2009 at 11:48pm
OK ... my week usually consists of a few hours each day at a desk/computer. One hour per day driving. A few barn chores: mucking out, sweeping, grooming the sides of the arena, but not every day... At the moment I have one horse, the one in the photo. We usually do about an hour of work (including stretching) 5 times a week.

I haven't had any serious injuries, and don't get severe aches and pains - my hip joints tend to 'pop', and through yoga classes I know i have poor flexibility in my lower and middle back, hip flexors and tight hamstrings, and I can't go very far in the spinal twists. (HAven't been to yoga for a few months, but fully intend to start again..soon...)

Historically - as a Young Rider I did much more riding, up to 10 horses a day (dressage all levels) for a year when I was 18, then I took another position for about 5 years where I was doing a lot of barn chores, and riding or warming up several horses a day (mostly upper levels). During this time I would often experience achy hips that would pop. I took about 5 years off while I was studying, during this time I did gym workouts and walking/running. I am more sedentary now, though I do try to go out running or cycling at least once a week. (Having said that, at this very moment I am restricted due to an inner ear condition affecting my balance - this is why i have become so interested in working on flexibility off the horse, so it's not all bad!)

I am competing at FEI level, training towards Grand Prix. Our left half pass is more difficult than the right, I would say my right leg is less effective in the half pass and pirouette (both ways: quarters stay out in the left piro, come too small in the right piro). My horse is reluctant to take the left rein forward.

Comment by Heather Sansom at Equifitt.com on June 9, 2009 at 11:11pm
Hi Ottilie, I forgot to also ask whether you are left or right handed.
Comment by Heather Sansom at Equifitt.com on June 9, 2009 at 11:02pm
Hi Ottilie, would you be able to post a few more riding photos from different angles,and if you are brave..some postural photos of you standing on the ground? (Side and facing away and to). These are the type of thing I look at when working with a client through online training, so I thought rather than shoot in the dark, I'd get more information from you before commenting. Incidentally, fill me in a little on what you do in a week: ie: work at a desk? hours driving? barn chores? other activities? hours riding? Have you had any injuries, or do you have any structural issues which affect your posture and carriage? What level are you riding? Clearly at least L4, so you've been doing some things right to get that far! What movements are difficult? ie: is half pass or canter pirhouette one way more difficult than the other?

Looking forward to being able to provide some tips.

Sincerely,
Heather Sansom
ps. if you'd also like to sign up to get monthly fittips (free) you can do so on my website at www.equifitt.com/resources.html
Comment by Ottilie on June 8, 2009 at 5:16pm
eek! it came out really big! *cringe*
Comment by Ottilie on June 8, 2009 at 5:07pm
Wow! Great post Heather, thanks!

I would like to specifically address a pet hate I have noticed in myself - forward head position. I thought I was aware of the problem, and dealing with it, but when I saw some photos from a recent competition it was all too clearly still happening! (

...and as you will see I am also prone to shortening in the hips and knees, and losing my seat from time to time, etc, but I have found great exercises for these issues in some of your previous posts). I also have a naughty left hand which unconsciously comes up sometimes... anyway, please comment on whatever you feel most relevant. The forward head thing is of concern to me both on the horse and off - I would like to nip this one in the bud.
Thanks,
Ottilie

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