Help, I ride crooked!

[seminolewind]

I take a lesson now and then with a good instructor. I'm not showing ,but like a brush-up. She showed me how crooked I was riding, and it was influencing my horse. I tend to sit to the left, right hand higher, right leg off the horse, and my right stirrup always feels too long, but it's not, and hug with my left knee.

If she gets me all straightened out, my horse is straight and goes well . Basically, I have to stretch my right side, sit straight, equalize the weight in each stirrup, and keep my right leg on the side of the horse and not sticking out. And hold my hands equally, and the reins equally.

I used to be a very good rider, but for the last 20 years, I have just trail rode and fell out of what is proper, and developed bad posture.

After a lesson I am sore as heck, LOL, no kidding. Are there any ways to help correct my faults, with some exercises on or off the horse, or some thought processes while riding to keep it all together? Can't seem to do all this and not stiffen on the horse. Especially in my neck and shoulders.

 

[chickenzoo]

Do they have yoga on horseback......?

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Off the horse, I'd suggest some side stretches--you know the kind where you put one hand on your hip and the other over your head? then you bend to the side where your hand is on your hip and stretch the overhead hand/arm as much as you can towards that side while keeping both feet firmly on the floor. You should feel that whole side stretching. I'm betting you'll find the right stretch won't get you nearly as close to the floor as the left stretch will. After a few days you can hold a weight in your "pointing" hand as you stretch to work those muscles even more. For your legs, I'd suggest some squats, preferably with weights and making sure to keep your weight evenly distributed over both feet. It's easy to develop more strength on your left side if only because that's the side you use the most to step up into your saddle.

HTH

Rusty

 

[lockedhearts]

I am also stiff on my right side. I got the Wii fit and balance board and have been doing the Yoga exercises. It has helped me a great deal. Google some yoga moves or get a dvd and try it.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Try seeing a chiropractor to crunch these into the right place, and then, more time in the saddle in front of the instructor to help strengthen and develop muscle memory...

Good luck!

 

[Avalon1984]

I do different sports so that I don't always use different muscle groups. I used to do bicycling for fitness and martial arts for strenght. After that horseback riding wasn't a problem anymore. These days with working full time I usually take 4-5 lessons to get back into shape before getting on my horse and slowly train him again. Nothing replaces taking lessons from time to time to correct errors. Kudos for you doing that !

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I imagine . I'll ask around.

 

[seminolewind]

Thanks for all the good advice. Stretching is good, probably a stretch-hold, etc. I guess that would be like yoga.

Muscle memory!!!!!! YES!!!!!!

This stuff was alot easier 20 years ago!

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
Yup!

 

[HorsebackandHappy]

Something that helps me is to remember to sit evenly even while not on your horse. If you are in your car, make sure equal weight is on both cheeks

If you are sitting at the kitchen table do the same. Try to sit evenly as much as possible. I tend to want to sit with my left hip slightly under me.

I second the yoga advice. There is a Yoga For Dummies video that you can get at Walmart.com that is very simple and doable for the basic beginner!

Also, another exercise/stretch that was recommneded to me was to stand on a stair with the balls of you foot on the end, heels hanging over. Stretch as far down as possible and then raise up on your toes, then do it again several time. I do this now before I ride and it really helps to stretch the calf and make the legs lay better.