Comments and questions recently posted to my last blog were really excellent. I've copied them here, with some answers. Remember- you can post questions, comments and even photos for analysis to the latest Ride Fit blog. I try and respond in the next blog posting.

QUESTIONS FROM BARNMICE MEMBER, 'SIT_THE_TROT':
OK, I totally agree with this:
"we do look for alignment from the elbow through the forearm to the bit, regardless of discipline. A rider should also have softness in the elbow so that the elbow angle can open and close a bit as is required. In dressage, the elbow moves closer to being placed directly under the shoulder. However, regardless of discipline the main idea is to have soft arms (not clenched forearm muscles, tight trapezius, or contracted biceps)."

But I'm curious about these other statements and your solution. Actually I'm confused, can you explain the biomechanics of this? To me it seems the rider has a balance issue and over tense shoulders.

ANSWER: Hi STT, You're right on the money with the idea that a rider who lacks balance has a tendency to ride with their hands (ie: balances with hands, or grabs the reins). They may also do so if they have fairly good balance, but lack the back and shoulder strength (particular back of shoulders) to maintain posture and provide direction without resorting to pulling.

When I see a rider who lacks balance, their body reactions by trying to create stability elsewhere than their seat. The result is often either or both of a) clenching or pinching legs, b) tension in the upper back/trapezius and chest/bicep areas. Unfortunately tightened inner leg signals 'go', and so the rider with squeezing legs also finds themself in need of signaling 'stop'. Since they aren't doing so through effective seat/half halts, they do so through the hands/arms. One problem feeds the other.

One of the most common issues I see in a clinic is a rider attempting to make themselves have correct posture. This usually results in visible tension in the upper back/shoulders, and stiff arms. Tension isn't needed except where there is also weakness, because you can apply strength without a lot of tension. An example of the difference, which might also explain what I mean by soft hands, is the difference between a 130lb female and a two hundred pound well muscled guy lifting a bale of hay. The former will have a very good hold on the ropes, maybe even white knuckles, stiff arms and tightened shoulders. The second person won't need to recruit all those muscles: they could fling the bale without tension in the arms and using one finger of each hand only, because the power for lifting comes from the legs, back and shoulders, leaving the arms as simple levers. this is actually very similar to the way a well conditioning horse can lift his forelegs off the ground for extended trot or passage, or a large fence: he does not need strong front leg strength.

Many people mix up soft hands with 'floating all over the place' hands, or 'firm as wet toilet paper' hands. If you are able to hold your back in place (core strength), and then your shoulders stacked on top of that solid base (strong rhomboids, deltoids, lower trapezius), then your hands can stay in position without you having to pull or clench your fists. They won't give either, but the reins can play and tug through them with give like bungy cords as they are supposed to. You can open and close your fingers, play with the reins, flick your wrist, or choose to give your forearm forward and back again, or out to the side and back again as and when you wish, without tension. That is soft, effective, guiding hands.

QUESTION 2:
"strong shoulders equals soft hands"
I don't think a weight lifter would have soft hands, nor a deep tissue massage therapist, nor a farrier. These people don't typically have soft hands & elbows, but they tend to have very strong shoulders. Can you explain more what you mean?

ANSWER: I hope I've answered some of this question above. We don't mean pastry/baby bottom/hand-lotion soft when we talk about soft hands for riders. I need to be cautious on the example of a weightlifter, because all weightlifting is not equal, and produces different sorts of body types, and issues. However, let's take the massage therapist or farrier who are functionally strong (as opposed to often isolated and 'bound' musculature of many weightlifters). They actually have incredibly sensitive hands that can apply pressure in fine degrees. Especially the massage therapist. They can shake your hand and choose to squeeze it like a vice-grip....or extremely gently. If you held their hand and played a tug of war, they would win, while being able to hold your hand almost like the mouth of a golden retreiver: soft, just not letting go, or opening or closing any more than they intend. You on the other hand, might be forced to grip and haul to compensate for lack of relative strength in your back.

Many people often do not realise that most of a muscle's movement is not pulling: it's resisting force. Resisting the pull of gravity or other forces. When we ride, we aren't pulling on the horse, so much as hoping to have the strength to remain gentle and apply direction, while resisting being pulled forward ourselves. The horse's tendency is to bear on the forehand. Ours is to lean forward and shift the centre of gravity somewhere onto or ahead of the pommel, rather than right over our two seatbones and heels.

I am of course talking mostly here of carrying your arms relatively close to your sides as we do for most riding. If you are bringing your arms out like 'human sidereins' for part of your training, or using arm motions such as reiners use, rear and middle deltoid (shoulder) and mid back strength is even more important if you want to avoid clenching hands at the same time, or creating repetitive strain injury in your rotator cuff muscles.

QUESTION 3:

"hands and forearm trying to bring the horse's head down and perform half halts, or else a more horizontal hand position with contracted bicep where the same attempt is being made, but through the bicep in the upper arm. Both problems stem from weakness in the upper arm/shoulder area, and shoulder muscles in the upper back (rhomboids, between the shoulder blades)."

If someone is "trying to bring the horse's head down " or using their biceps (to pull basically) the problem to me would be a lack of understanding of dressage and a backward thinking hand (brain) not necessarily "weakness in the upper arm/shoulder area, and shoulder muscles in the upper back (rhomboids, between the shoulder blades)."
If the rider has what dressage folks call forward thinking hands they won't pull down and/or back on the reins, period. Strong or weak they won't do it. If they are using the reins for balance they need to develop balance, no?. And if the rider uses the reins for balance and support would the problem be weak shoulders or something else? A very strong shouldered rider could have this exact same posture and habits of balancing on and communicating with their horse. Couldn't they?

ANSWER: I hope I've already answered this question to some degree. Yes, of course a very amateur rider will be the one with more tendency to use arms to bring the horse's head down. That said, the majority of dressage riders for example, are amateurs riding under level 2. That's a large group of people. Secondly, what the mind understands from reading about dressage, and what the body actually does based on strength, muscle memory, balance, compensating patterns and other things affecting biomechanics is another. Also, there's often a marked difference in the way a rider uses their body in the first 10 minutes of their ride, versus the last 15 when their body is fatigued. (Unless they are conditioned.) So, most of the clinics I do with dressage riders, even those training under top coaches, I still see a lot of default muscle firing patterns and use of the rider's strong areas. Usually women, and especially middle aged women, lack sufficient back and shoulder strength unless they are training those areas deliberately. So often they will use muscles the body likes better and uses more often: trapezius (tension in shoulder/neck area) and biceps. And they may at that very moment, still be thinking 'drive from behind' and be actively driving their horse with full mental understanding that movement comes from behind.

I'd say that in a clinic, the riders that don't have grippy hands, often have hands and shoulders that give away too much. Maintaining your frame to guide your horse, without tension or pulling is not easy. Whether I had a rider concentrate on back and shoulder strength, or on more basic balance exercises, would depend on the degree of the issue. Some riders start with a nicely balanced seat, but due to lack of mid and upper back and shoulder strength, 'lose it' forward from the waistline up. Then the body compensates with things like hard hands, pulling hands, shoulders scrunched up to the ears.

You've asked some very good questions- thanks for posting! It's really important to remember that with rider fitness, there are no quick answers: every rider is individual. There are some rules of thumb. I really enjoy working with riders in clinics and doing assessment that includes watching them ride, because it's almost impossible to fully assess riding biomechanics, from a gym floor.

If you have your own fitness questions, you're more than welcome to post some photos and questions on this blog.

Until next time,
Happy Riding!

Heather Sansom
www.equifitt.com Equestrian Fitness