Remember how easy and effortless it was to balance, climb, jump, hop, and skip as a child, if you rode horses as a child or teenager, I am sure you don’t need reminding of how effortless it all was! Part of the normal aging process is a decline in the bodies’ ability to balance. However, with consistent training it is possible to improve your bodies balance.
Balancing whilst stationary is called static balance. This is achieved by aligning your centre of gravity with your centre of support – for example standing tall with good posture where your body is aligned, and each part ‘stacked’ upon the other. This is a great place to start to begin improving your posture – without great posture it is impossible to have great balance. As you go about your day, continuously check in and readjust your posture. Walk with your shoulders back and active core, sit upright with elbows by your side, straight pelvis and feet flat on the floor.
Horse riding requires dynamic balance which is the ability to balance whilst in motion, where the forces of gravity and momentum are each pulling you in different directions. Dynamic balance requires significantly more effort from your bodies inner balance sensors whilst they work to consistently adapt your centre of gravity to match the movements of the horse.
The horses body moves differently with every stride, making it necessary for the rider to constantly adjust their centre of gravity. For instance, in the trot the horses’ legs move in diagonal pairs whilst the horses back drops alternating to the right and left. Therefore, to stay in balance at the trot, the rider must move in time with the horses’ back movements by shifting their weight to the side combined with a forward upwards movement, followed by a forward downwards movement. If the rider does not have control over their own balance, the horse needs to constantly work to balance both himself and the rider.
There are numerous drills such as riding without stirrups you can do to improve your balance; however, this can create tension, imbalances and even exacerbate pre-existing issues in your horse. On the other hand, there are numerous off the horse exercises you can do to focus on improving your balance and to become a better rider.
If you committed to 2-3 weekly 20min sessions, you would see a real difference in your balance and riding within 3 or 4 weeks. Yoga is great for static balance; in Strong Stable Seat sessions we use Vinyasa Flow Yoga for a variety of low impact static and dynamic balance exercises. Fitball exercises is one of the best ways to re-create a dynamic environment for balance training as it combines the necessary muscular strength, balance, and proprioception required for horse riding.
