Developing body awareness to improve riding
Having proper biomechanics as riders requires effort, just like every other aspect of riding and training.
But developing better awareness of the body is a key first step for riders to understand their physical strengths and weaknesses.
Here, Stephany Fish Crossman, accredited LEVEL 3 Ride With Your Mind coach, biomechanics expert, and dressage trainer, explains how, by paying attention to everyday tasks, you can easily become more aware of how your body functions and feels.
Q&A Question: What exercises can riders do off the horse to help improve their biomechanics in the saddle?
Susannah C.
, Maryland Answer: That is a great question, Susannah.
The first thing is: pay more attention to your body.
After I broke my leg, I got back in the saddle quickly and it never really occurred to me (this was before Mary Wanless) that I wasn’t using my limbs in the same way.
I was teaching clinics and standing on my good leg for 8 to 10 hours with my other leg bent in front of me, and then I would go home and wonder why I couldn’t walk the next day.
The way you stand, sit, drive, all of these can indicate what your body mechanics in the saddle will be like.
Make sure that when you have been standing for a long time, your feet are positioned evenly.
Let your knees and hips be slightly bent.
When you get into the car, notice whether you are fully seated in the driver’s seat or whether you are still half-sitting and driving?
I am tall, and my husband always laughs at me when he gets into my truck because he has to move the seat back and says I drive like an old lady.
But I drive with all my joints bent evenly, except for my right leg, which has to press the gas or brake pedal.
But this is one of the biggest things all of us can do with more awareness of our bodies.
If you like crossing your legs, you probably do not cross them equally in both directions.
Let’s try this as an example.
Everyone, cross your hands in front of you.
Now you have probably gone into the way you usually cross your hands.
Now go the other way and cross with the other hand on top, and see how strange it feels.
That is better biomechanics.
So, it is just about paying attention to things like this.
I like to say that I am a bilateral collector, that I can use both hands equally for tasks, but that is not the case.
But sweeping and brushing your horse are other things that you can practice bilaterally.
I brush my horses with two brushes at the same time to really use both sides of my body.
These are things that everyone can pay more attention to throughout the day.
If you want to do another activity, you can choose any kind of activity that helps you use both sides of your body better.
I am a huge fan of yoga.
As you get older, the body becomes stiffer, and yoga helps maintain balance.
Yoga keeps the body’s movement systems working well and prevents stiffness.
Any activity that helps you to use both sides of your body well will help improve your biomechanics in the saddle.
For more articles with Fish Crossman, click here.
About our expert: Stephany Fish Crossman Stephany Fish Crossman.
©Sunsoar Photography Stephany Fish Crossman, who is a co-host of the Dressage Today podcast, began riding in the state of Maine as a child and has not been out of the saddle since.
Except for a short period in the hospitality industry, Fish Crossman has worked with trainers at all levels, from pony clubs to several different Olympians.
She studied at the International Academy of Equestrian Studies in Warendorf, Germany, and earned her national instructor certification.
She is also a USDF bronze and silver medalist and one of only two Level 3 trainers worldwide for Mary Wanless’s Ride With Your Mind biomechanics system.
She holds clinics across the country and has a small training business called Serendipity Dressage in Okeechobee, Florida.
Source: Practical Horseman – Training