Many riders face mobility and flexibility problems in the neck and shoulder area, in the hip-flexors and posterior muscle chain and in the ankle-joints. Stress, tension and poor body posture experienced in our everyday life, affects our riding seat and our ability to stay supple and move with the horse when in the saddle. So, what has that got to…
Good timing and the ability to respond fast and precisely to every movement, behaviour or unexpected situation is essential to training horses – whether it’s handling the horse on the ground, training for a dressage test or competing on a cross country course. The right timing is key – for training your horse as well as your own safety. As…
In terms of fitness, both professional riders with eight horses a day, and the recreational rider with one horse a day, can benefit enormously from having a structured training programme. The recreational rider should concentrate their training on strengthening body tension and core stability, as well as resolving any small or large body imbalances that they may have. Routine daily…
The rider should be able to give soft rein aids at any time, regardless of the bit s/he has chosen, or whether there are two or four reins: because the rider is holding the horse’s sensitive mouth in his hands. There are five types of rein aids: asking, yielding, non-allowing, supporting, and sideways-guiding. The Lynchpin of the Rider’s Seat That…
The goal of under saddle training is to bring the horse into balance in motion, at the halt, and in the different movements. The prerequisite for accomplishing this is a rider who is balanced in the saddle him- or herself. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl explains: „It is important to me to be able to optimally sit all my horses so they…
The feeling of the sitting trot is a little bit different on every horse. Some horses have a huge trot and lots of impulsion, others have a flatter, quicker stride. The art of riding lies in the ability to adjust to each horse’s movement while sitting deep in the saddle, maintaining a stable position to allow for optimally developing each…
Having a desk job, sitting all day, is generally very unhealthy – not just for equestrians. That’s because our bodies weren’t made for sitting. “Sitting is the new smoking.” Fitness coach Marcel Andrä is on point with this statement. He explains what he means with this simple example: Someone has a classic desk job and starts their day having breakfast…
