Improving Your Balance – Day 13 Of Being A Better Rider Challenge
Yesterday we had a rest day for our horses. Sorry, you probably did a lot of work yourself, but it was worth it, right? Today our horses will be back at it as we need them today! Improving your balance will help you to be a better, and more effective rider. In order to ride better, we need to have a deep and secure seat. You also need to have good posture in your back. This is achieved by having strong muscles that aid us in staying secure in the saddle.
Until you can achieve this, you are a greater risk of becoming dislodged in the saddle. We don’t want this! We want to stay balanced, and secure.
Leaning Forward
We are so in tune to getting our horses to go forward that a lot of times we end up leaning forward. If we lean forward, our horses will be more forward, right? Well….not really.
When we lean forward, we push our hands forward, and this breaks the contact we have through the reins. It weakens our seat and also weakens our balance. This also decreases our communication with our horse as well as our control.
How To Correct The Lean Forward
This may be more of a challenge if you are riding alone, but you can do it. If you are lucky enough to have a mirror in your riding area, look at yourself as you ride by. If you don’t have this, another option would be to have someone out with you in your riding arena and call you out every time you are leaning forward. If this is not something you can do, consider doing what I do. Get a camera and a tripod, and video your ride. This way you can actually ‘see’ how your position is while you are riding.
Once you know what you look like while you ride, you can correct the lean forward. As you ride think about leaning back. Push your shoulders back, and down. You will find it will help you to feel more balanced. And after practicing this for a while, it will feel more natural, AND more balanced.
Look up and look around you while you ride. Pushing your neck back into your shirt collar. Remember you head is heavy. And if your head is tipped forward, it is likely to pull the rest of your body forward. Don’t let your head bring the rest of you down! Keep looking up and around you while you ride.
You can use these exercises in your warm up. It will help to move your horse forward, while you are also ‘warming up’ and getting yourself more balanced. After you continue to practice this eventually it will become natural and you will become more balanced and secure in the saddle.
Another Day Complete
After you have finished your riding for the day be sure to put everything away where it belongs. And then do your plank exercise, and draw that big red ‘X’ over day 13!
