Equine News - EquiPilates - How can I be the best rider for my horse?

How can I be the

best rider for my horse?

It goes without saying that having a fit, healthy and happy horse to ride will give you the best possible outcome of a happy riding partnership.

But what about the other half of the partnership? Do you look after your body? Do you exercise regularly? Do you eat well? Do you care for your body as well as you care for your horse’s body? If the answer is no, then how can this be the best partnership when half of the equation is not getting the attention it deserves?

It is not uncommon for horse riders to spend thousands of dollars on feed bills, vet bills, therapists, dentists, saddle-fitters and so on, but when it comes to ourselves, we are unaware of the huge impact that our own body and our riding has on our horse’s ability to move freely. We as the rider also need to be at our very best to contribute to our 50% of the riding partnership and ride our horses in a biomechanically helpful way which develops his training mentally and physically.

This can be achieved in a number of ways, including exercising, making healthy food choices, seeing therapists when needed and ensuring that we have a healthy state of mind. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a complete lifestyle overhaul, but that you simply make small, manageable changes to your day-to-day life.

The first and most important step is to ensure that you can move in the way that is required in the saddle. Your position and ability to move in all areas of your body (particularly the pelvis) has an incredible impact on the way your horse can move underneath you. Your spinal alignment influences every aspect of your riding, from where you position yourself in the saddle, to how you can apply your aids.

Sometimes instructors struggle to correct their client’s positions because the underlying biomechanical cause is not addressed, which can be frustrating for coach, rider and horse!

To help you make the necessary changes, a specialist knowledge of human anatomy and movement AND how you use your body whilst riding is required.

Equipilates™ is a program that has been developed specifically for riders, by riders.

It involves assessing each rider individually for areas of the body that show restrictions and addressing these restrictions with prescriptive exercises, which allow the muscles, joints and nerves to begin to function successfully again. A program is then prescribed to activate areas that have “switched off” and strengthen areas of the body which haven’t been working properly. This system focuses heavily on promoting a heightened level of awareness in the rider and improves the riding experience for both horse and rider.

Zoe took part in the Equipilates™ program and by making changes to her posture, releasing restrictions in various areas of her body and slowly strengthening weak areas, we were able to create a much more harmonious partnership between her and her horse “Utah” Above: Before Equipilates™ training Right: After approx. 12 weeks Equipilates™ training

Pilates itself is defined as “physical fitness system” and it encompasses nine principles that are synergistic with horse riding:

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9. Stamina Whilst Pilates is sometimes thought of as a difficult and intense form of exercise, movements can be modified to be of low, medium or high intensity, depending on your skill level and how you feel on any given day. It can provide amazing results in improving core strength and stability, improving upper body position through recruitment of the correct muscles and as an added bonus, gives you increased flexibility and range of motion in all of your joints, as well as an improved state of mind.

The following exercises are some of the most beneficial STRENGTHENING exercises for riders. You will need a Fitball (these retail for approximately $25 and can be purchased from any good sports store), a set of reins and an open space. Before beginning each exercise, ensure that you are comfortable on the ball, as it requires some additional balance. It is also very important to begin each exercise by activating your “T-zone”.

To do this, put your fingertips on your hipbones at the front of your pelvis and aim to feel the space between them narrowing by drawing the belly button toward the spine to activate your deep abdominal muscles and draw up the pelvic floor (as though you are stopping yourself from going to the toilet). Ensure that you are ONLY contracting to 25% of your maximum effort. Continue all exercises for a minimum of two weeks for best results.

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Latt. Openings with a set of reins (or a Theraband) This exercise is useful for riders who give the picture of having “chicken wings”. The elbows sit out from the sides of the body and the rider finds it difficult to keep them to their sides. This is also helpful as an awareness activity for riders to “feel” the sensation of elbows to sides and once effective, can contribute to a much more stable upper body position.

Oblique curls over the Fitball: This exercise is particularly useful for riders who give the picture of being “collapsed on one side” due to weakness in the waist area, particularly the oblique abdominal muscles.

Begin the exercise by lying sideways over the ball, with the point of the hip in contact with the ball and the legs extended out straight. The top foot rests in front of the back foot up against a wall or solid object.

Interlace the fingers and place them at the base of the head, with the elbows wide.

Activate your T-zone and exhale as you draw the top rib towards the top hip, lifting the upper body. Inhale to release back down. Continue for 15 repetitions on each side or to your point of fatigue. Repeat on the other side.

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Sit in the centre of the ball, with feet flat on the floor in front of you at hip distance apart. Place the hands in rider position, and hold on to the reins (or theraband) so that you are holding one rein between your two hands (see photo). Ensure that the reins/theraband has mild pressure so as not to have a loop in it. Activate your T-zone.

Exhale and press both elbows to sides, widening the hands slightly and turning the palms up.

Inhale to release back to start position. Repeat for 15 repetitions.

Do you feel too tight, stiff or immobile to even get INTO the position you need to be in order to make your horse perform a certain movement?

Lie over the ball with the belly-button on the centre of the ball. Place the feet slightly wider than hip distance apart on the floor behind you. Drape the head, shoulders and arms down over the front of the ball, with the elbows bent. Activate your T-zone and draw the shoulder-blades down and together. Exhale and lift the arms head and shoulders off the ball and up towards the sky, using the upper back. Take care to keep the back of the neck lengthened and the eyeline towards the ground. Protect your lower back by maintaining your T-zone and pressing the pubic bone into the ball as you rise. Repeat for 15 repetitions.

Do you run out of breath when you ride?

“Push the Button” – Pelvic rotations on the Fitball Find us on

This exercise is fantastic for improving mobility in the pelvis, which is crucial for a harmonious horse and rider partnership. It creates an awareness of just how much (or little!) pelvic movement you have. It does NOT require the activation of your T-zone as it is a mobility exercise.

Through carefully selected exercises and programmes in one-toone sessions, Equipilates™ can help you to develop your body into a more balanced, more co-ordinated, more elegant, more efficient and functionally stronger version of itself. An Equipilates™ Biomechanics Trainer can work with you off or on the horse to make more difference to your riding than you ever thought possible! Simple explanations of how to recognize and maintain correct alignment and how to apply Pilates and biomechanics principles to the rider’s needs make for a body with increased function and therefore, better riding capability.

The Equipilates™ program was developed in Britain by Lindsay WilcoxReid and in conjunction with the Biomechanics Education and the Intrinsic Biomechanics Association. Kylie Harris is a Pilates instructor and Personal trainer, with a Bachelor in Applied Animal Science. She travelled to the UK to study with Lindsay and is now the first accredited Equipilates™ Biomechanics Trainer in Australia.

www.equipilates.com.au www.madetomovept.com.au Alternatively, you can call Kylie on 0438 987 456 for more information or to book a private, group or clinic session.

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You will benefit most from having an individual assessment to determine where these areas of tension and weakness lie before beginning a strengthening program, as every rider is unique.

For more information, visit the following websites:

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If you answered yes to all or any of these situations, you are certainly not alone and there is a solution!

Group sessions and clinic sessions are also available. These can be catered to the group and cover elements such as balance, coordination, body awareness, alignment, breathing and core recruitment.

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Do you find it difficult to maintain a particular position beyond a few strides or find that a position makes you feel exhausted in a very short space of time?

This exercise is helpful for riders who are ‘closed’ in the chest or rounded through the shoulders and back. It helps to activate and strengthen the upper back muscles which can be weak and are vitally important to maintaining an effective upper body position.

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It is important to bear in mind that not every rider requires strengthening in these areas. You may initially have areas of restriction in your body (potentially in the above areas, as weakness and restriction can be similar in appearance) which may impact on your ability to sit “correctly” in the saddle and that may also make the above exercises unnecessarily difficult. If you are unsure if this applies to you, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you ever struggle to get your body into the position your instructor is asking for?

Lower trap activation over the Fitball

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Sit in the centre of the ball, with the feet flat on the floor in front of you at hip distance apart. Place your hands on your waist so that the index fingers sit at the front of your waist and the thumbs at the back.

Imagine that you have a button just in front of each knee. Push your left knee forward to press the button (your right knee will come backwards slightly). Come back to the start position and then repeat the movement with the right knee; keep alternating. Keeping the hands on the waist will allow you to tell if the process of “pushing the button” creates lift on either side of the waist. It should not. The forward rotation is the only movement required in this exercise. Make sure that your upper body stays still and upright. Continue for 30 seconds, have a short break, and then repeat for a further 30 seconds. It is particularly helpful to perform this exercise in front of a mirror, as it will help you to become aware of any rising of the hips. You will find that the more you practice this exercise, the better you will become at a purely rotational movement.

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