I used to think that riding, was a great way to tone my body and get my exercise, but then I realized that getting in shape, especially balance and flexibility would help my riding and my courage!
Riding does help keep my body toned and in shape. People say the horse does all the work and I just offer to let them take a horse around a course of jumps. It is a lot more strength than anyone really thinks about. Riders are athletes just as much as their horses, except maybe those that just relax on easy trail rides (which I used to do).
Let's take it a step further. If we can improve our balance and our flexibility, we can be better riders and then gain even more strength and benefit from the riding. I recently did an 11-day jumpstart program to reduce inflammation and I was shocked at how much better I felt overall. My wedding ring fit over my knuckles, which it hadn't done in three years! I could touch the ground at my feet, which I am not sure I have ever been able to do.
This newfound flexibility is a breath of fresh air. I can't wait to get riding this spring now that I feel GREAT, my body feels better, and even though I didn't want to, I lost weight. Most of all, with reduced inflammation, my energy levels are through the roof! That means cleaning the tack room, cleaning tack, mucking stalls, and all the other chores are so much easier.
So, back to the question, how does horse riding affect your body? Well, the riding improves how my body is toned but all the other things I can improve about my health, improve my riding and that to me is everything! Bring on SPRING!
If you want in the next 11-day jumpstart for riders, Click here!
What if we turn it around from how do I stop obsessing over what if, to how do I obsess over amazing what if's? There are a lot of times we worry and stress about what might happen, what could happen in a bad way, the worst-case scenario. Nobody says we have to stay in the negative mind yuck.
Let's change our what ifs around to the best possible outcomes. The amazing things that we want. Fill ourselves up with what ifs that support our dreams and become our reality. This was more powerful that I could have imagined. I first wrote down the main yucky what ifs that were stuck in my head when I would think about riding. I looked at them from the root. For me, it was not being in control. Surprise, that shows up in other areas of my life too! How could I change it around to what ifs that let me be in control?
I just dove in. What if my ride is relaxing and we enjoy every minute? What if I feel the rhythm of my horses' feet and we are in sync for the entire ride? What if we get to see amazing things, feel the sun on our backs and the breeze on our cheeks. The more I wrote down the what if's the filled me with joy, the more I felt good. The less room there was for anxiety and fear. I wrote down 10, powerful what if's and practiced them 5 times a day for 7 days. WOW. I could hardly remember the original what if's that had caused so much stress. They had faded. The more I fill up with great, amazing what if's, the more the yuck fades. The best part, my horses seem to feel the shift in me, they are more attentive and in tune. They want to be with me instead of running from me.
If you would like to see a short mini-course I did on creating better what if's, just click here!
There are so many things that can be done to improve rider balance, before ever getting on the horse! Let's look at the areas of balance to improve and why.
Left and Right balance. This is important for being able to stay in the center of gravity of you and your horse as one. There are times where you want to add a little weight to just your right or left stirrup to balance through a turn. To practice right and left balance, stand on your feet, making sure your feet are balanced. You want to feel the inside and the outside of the ball of your foot and your heel. Really feel solid on both feet. Stand with them about the width of your stirrup when you ride. Play with keeping your balance and shifting the weight between your feet. Really feel keeping your body centered but heavier weight into each foot. When you get on your horse, feel that weight on in both your feet even and then play with weighting each foot heavier. See what happens when you shift your weight at the walk, what affect does it have on your horse?
Front and back balance. This is important for guiding your horse and also for feeling secure. Front to back balance is the hardest for me. I tend to ball up and lean forward when I get nervous. Watching the police clinic and how they ride through rowdy crowds really helped me to realize that looking up isn't just something the trainer used to yell at me all the time. It has purpose. Looking to where you want to go helps with your front to back balance. Looking down throws your center of balance forward and onto your horse forehand. It also puts you into a position where if something happens, you have a lot less control. This one is fun to play with on the ground. One of my favorites is pushing the shopping cart. Lean a little bit forward with your arms out in front and the cart goes faster and faster, just like a horse that is heavy on the front end. Then, lean a little back and try and go forward with the shopping cart, it is so much harder. Another good one is to stand on your feet square, width of the horse apart. Look down at the ground and lean forward. Look up and lean forward. Practice looking up and feel the difference when you look down and lean forward. Play with it.
Here is a video showing how I do the front back and right left playing with my balance! Click Here
If you enjoyed this, I would love to invite you to join my Fear to Courage Facebook support Group! Just click here.
There are so many things that can cause a horse to be unbalanced, just like humans that are not quite upright. Just a few of the things that come to mind right off the bat are uneven trims in feet, sore muscles, thrush, and weak abs (this sounds like riders too!).
Not only do we have to think about left right balance with a horse, but there is also the front to back balance that is an additional challenge that riders don't always think about or understand. If a horse is heavy on their forehand, they are going to want to speed up, like they do when going down a hill. Balancing them front to back can really help with maintaining speed as well and helping them to be more balanced left/right.
What I would like to talk about is us, as riders, and how we affect a horse's balance and some things we can do! My wonderful structural consultant, Anna Bergenstrahle, at Riderfitness.com said, it is like us, carrying a child around on our shoulders and having them lean all over the place. That visual made so much sense to me! Imagine how frustrated you would be if you had to carry that child for a trail ride, or a horse show, for extended periods of time and had to compensate for their leaning all over the place! You would be exhausted, sore, and probably a little frustrated or even angry. Our horses show us, what we need to learn if we listen to them.
Work on your balance. On and off the horse. My favorite things to work on balance are to stand on each leg, one at a time, with my eyes closed, and move my other leg all around. With my eyes closed, I have to really focus on the feel of my weight, my body and it helps me to know where I am in relation to gravity. I started out slow with this. I heard that most people can only stand on one leg with their eyes closed for 5 - 10 seconds. Since I have done this exercise since I was a kid, I can do minutes. I was really shocked that not everyone does this. Of course, if you are just starting out, keep something close to lean on if you need to catch yourself.
Another favorite is to put on my pants, socks, and shoes, standing on the other leg, as tall as I can. Bring the knee to the chest and put the clothes/shoes on. Again, if just starting out, you want to make sure you can catch yourself on something.
The point is, the better balanced we are, the more effective we are helping our horses and not hindering them!
Here is a link to my Balance video if you would like to check out my goofy antics! Click Here!
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Well, we really don't want fear to go away. We want to make sure we are using it wisely! Here are a few things to do in 2023 to help your fear help you, instead of controlling you. Get your life back to joy.
First of all, we need our fear to keep us safe, if it is real fear that is. It is our minds tool to pay attention, look around us, and make sure we are safe. It is our opportunity to be in the moment and do what needs to be done. This fear, real fear, we will practice recognizing in 2023. Keep a journal and write down when you have real fear. Example would be riding along and having a snake show up in your path. You have to take immediate action. Practice noticing this real fear and keep track. It will be a lot less than you "IMAGINE" it to be.
Secondly, imaginary fear. We need to turn this around to feelings of joy and happiness! It is our mind thinking that we are in danger, and probably playing a story, over and over, in our head, of danger! Also in your journal, write these down. Recognize them. You will see repeats. Example would be you are thinking of going for a ride, you start to have your palms get sweaty and you stop. You think about what is causing it and it might be that your horse might rear. That is my go-to. It is really a fear of falling off and getting hurt. My mind and body go into panic mode. Write these down in your journal!
As you see patterns, rewrite them. For my example, I would write My horse and I had a lovely ride. It was warm and rhythmical. I could feel the relaxation in myself and in my horse. Really spend some time feeling the feelings. It won't take long and when your mind starts to go to the imaginary fear, your brain will say, oh, I know what to do, let's go to that good feeling place we have created!
Now, for my really exciting 2023 news, I am opening up some coaching spots for a few people that would like help, overcoming their fear and turning it into joy. Reply to this email that you want COACHING AND JOY, and we can have a chat and see if it is a good fit for you and get you on the waiting list!
