Ignite Your Equitation Empowering Riders to Set Their Riding on FIRE! ThistleRidgeStable s.com Unit 3 – Are My Shoulders Square and My Eyes Up
Ignite Your Equitation
Empowering Riders to Set Their Riding on FIRE!
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Unit 3 – Are My Shoulders Square and My Eyes Up
Unit 1 & 2 Recap
• Unit 1- Riding in Balance
ThistleRidgeStables.com
•Unit 2 – Lower Leg– Chair seat– Exercises to improve lower leg – Correct saddle and stirrup length
Rider’s Upper Body• Your upper body is a function of your
base of support.
• Our balance and position influences our horse.
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Rider AlignmentStraight line•Ear•Shoulder •Hip•Heel
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Why our Body Alignment is Important
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Rider Asymmetry Rider leaning left and/or right.
– Can lead to horse challenges– Back pain– Uneven joint wear– Uneven muscle development– Can twist your saddle.
ThistleRidgeStables.com
How to Tell if You are One Sided
• Your saddle slips• Horse has trouble with a lead• You ride with one stirrup longer than
the other.
Consider Your Stirrup Length
Check to see if your stirrup leathers are matched.
Check to see if your stirrup holes are the same but you ride on different lengths.
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Check Your StirrupsRemove your stirrups from your saddle
and line them up side by side. Do the leather holes match up?
ThistleRidgeStables.com
How to Improve Your Symmetry
•First is to know you are not straight.
•Stretch.•Do strengthening exercises.
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Action Items – Do These Exercises
The slouching rider – rather than “sit up” think of raising your rib cage.
Pinched raised shoulders – relax, breathe and raise shoulders up to your ears and then push them down to your “back pockets”.
The leading/leaning shoulder – relax, breathe and put the hand of their leading shoulder on the cantle of the saddle fingers facing forward.
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Eyes Up!• Your head weighs a lot and if you
look down it will pull your shoulders and upper body forward.
• The horse will follow your eyes.• If your eyes are down:
– You don’t know where you are going.– Your head is down and it will pull your
upper body out of alignment.ThistleRidgeStables.com
Action Items – Eyes Up!• Ride with a crop upward in your hand
and look at the end of your crop rather than looking down.
ConclusionRiding in balance includes keeping
your upper body in alignment. Simple exercises can help keep you in balance and in alignment with your horse.
Laura – [email protected]
ThistleRidgeStables.com
Unit 4
• Moving on to Unit 4 – What are you doing with your hands.
• Action items - Exercises to help keep your hands still.
• Why your hands are integral to your position.
• Slide 2 http://cdn.morguefile.com/imageData/public/files/t/trestletech/06/l/1402165331eopfr.jpg• Slide 3 – Laura Kelland-May• Slide 5 - http://mrg.bz/Xaz8cD • Slide 6 – Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/fneg/5498356326/in/photolist-9nSvM1-9y5QoH-8uaYEi-8ue4Fm-
9y4u7h-4oQAkG-8uaZeP-9nSESC-9VkW7P-a1hcSd-fae5on-9nPsmp-9y1vtP-9y48v1-9y14mp-9xZVY2-9xZWE2-9y48g5-9y42Ko-9ymQfV-9ypn9m-9y9JRp-9y4Gej-9y4tCs-9ycGFU
• Slide 8 – Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/forslunda/4727357506/
• Slide 13 &14 - http://cdn.morguefile.com/imageData/public/files/j/jade/preview/fldr_2009_07_05/file7071246818534.jpg