Water skis and soccer balls don't care if the human body's not symmetrical, if one side's stronger or more flexible than the other side. A thousand pounds of horseflesh, on the other hand, can feel a housefly land on his rump. Unlike a pair of skis or a ball, your horse has known for years that you write with the right hand, start down the stairs with the left foot, carry water buckets with the right arm, and swing backpacks over the left shoulder. He also knows that it would take you standing in an alligator-filled pond for you to be able to mount from the right side.
Perhaps your horse would actually like to send you to a professional trainer to help you overcome your preference for the right lead or your stiffness on the right rein! Better yet, bring a team of experienced instructors and physical therapists into your living room to guide you through a series of exercises that help you find and overcome asymmetries and imbalances.
The latest Mary Wanless video, A Rider's Guide to Body Awareness, does just that. You will discover which side of your body is stronger, which is more flexible, and which way your body likes to lean or collapse. The video shows you how to develop the strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination that you need to be an effective equestrian.
The video begins with Anne Howard offering an in-depth look at the preferred posture of the upper body. Leading you through a series of exercises (both with and without a Swiss ball), she teaches you how to sit with your spinal column properly aligned, find muscle imbalances, and strengthen the muscles that stabilize the upper body and improve balance. She also shows you how to keep the back in the right position during the sitting and posting trots (her neutral spine theory).
During the middle portion of the video, Mary Wanless helps you find bones, muscles and tendons you never knew you had. She shows you how to create pictures in your mind that guide you in contracting and relaxing the right muscles to stay balanced and effective in the saddle.
The video ends with Catherine Hamber walking you through more than a dozen exercises that first identify and then improve the areas of the body that are less flexible. The exercises focus on the pelvis and legs--areas of the body that become less flexible due to horseback riding.
Before you pop the popcorn, however, make sure you have a partner to help you with some of the exercises, a Swiss ball, and an understanding of what and where your trochanters, hip joints, and iliopsoas muscles are.
© 1998 by Johanna L. Harris. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.
Johanna L. Harris has an M.A. degree in Physical Education, Exercise and Sports Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the editor/publisher of The Equestrian Athlete, a monthly newsletter providing equestrians with exercise and sport science information. You can also reach her at (800) 404-8514.
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