THOUGHTS ON WORKING ON YOURSELF AS A RIDER
Why we need to work on ourselves as riders
Christie Wolhuter is a Biokineticist based in Kyalami. She has a special interest in the rehabilitation of sports injuries and performance enhancement. Her interest in the equine world comes from being a rider and breeder herself. Personal injury and improvement led her to delve deeper into rider specific performance and the improvements that can be made. She has set up an assessment protocol for riders that utilises the science of human movement to improve performance on the horse.
so what is rider assessment all about?
Biomechanical assessment of the horse and rider is not a new concept, yet it is relatively new to the African continent. The UK has seen considerable growth in ridden biomechanical analysis with scientists such as Russell Guire adding hugely to our knowledge base. Many consider the horse the athlete, but underestimate the role they, as the rider, play in influencing the movements of their partner.
One of the most important aspects of high-level riding is balancing the rider’s centre of mass over the horse’s centre of mass during movement. In men the centre of mass is around the belly button, and in women it is generally slightly lower. The rider needs to learn to follow the horse’s motion in a controlled manner using coordinated movements of the rider’s pelvis, trunk, head and limbs. This leads to the development of an independent seat, meaning the rider is dynamically stable and capable of moving different parts of the body independently.
Article originally published in the 20 year anniversary of HQ - South Africa’s premier equestrian magazine.
Why is it Important?
One can start to imagine the problems that arise when the rider is not balanced and symmetrical in the saddle. Research has shown that asymmetries in the position or movements of the rider can change the loading pattern on the horse’s back and alter the movements of the horse1. Furthermore, the motion pattern of a horse–rider combination is more consistent for an experienced rider than for an inexperienced rider3. Lagarde and colleagues found the oscillations of the horse's trunk to be less variable for experienced riders than for novice riders. Skilled riders not only move in phase with the horse, they can even improve the consistency of the horse’s movements2.
Advanced biomechanical video analysis software is used to pick up some rider asymmetries while the horse is being ridden such as seat position and rider alignment. However, range of motion, motor control and muscular strength testing should be done out of the saddle. This is where the most progress can be made in the early phases of rider improvement. Some rider asymmetries develop due to an unconscious avoidance of painful movement, otherwise known as fear-avoidance behaviour. Interestingly, these habits can persist, even when the pain seems to have subsided. The goal of human movement analysis out of saddle is to improve function, but function cannot be improved unless the root weakness in the chain is identified. This is where individual assessment comes into play.
How does out of saddle assessment correlate to improved performance in the saddle?
Gathering information
A few distinct improvements can be made from the information gathered during the assessment.
range of motion
stability and strength
motor control and learning
Range of motion - the most obvious is improving the range of motion or flexibility of certain joints and the muscles that surround them via stretching and mobility drills.
Stability and strength - This involves improving the strength of the global muscles and control of the stabilisers that are used while riding. Very simply, these groups make up the “core muscles”.
The improvement of motor control and learning - A very important concept in understanding how to improve performance in a rider is motor control. To control movement, the nervous system must integrate sensory information (both from the external world as well as from the body itself) and give the necessary signals to recruit muscles to carry out a task. An example of motor learning is a movement that seems very awkward and tricky at first, but with practice becomes more fluid and requires less attention. This motor learning follows us through life and is used daily – just think of how awkward it is learning to write but within a matter of months the writing improves drastically and becomes second nature.
As complicated as motor learning may seem, it has simple real-world applications. The human nervous system is wired for movement, not individual muscles. Put simply, when you think about squeezing your thigh muscles, you can feel the tension in the muscle, but the knee joint doesn’t move. On the other hand, if you say to yourself - straighten your knee, the quadriceps muscles do their job, which is to straighten the knee. An example when riding is when a rider battles to keep their heel underneath their body. Rather than simply telling them to push their heel down, which can lead to them pushing their lower leg forward, a simple cue of “move your heel closer to the horse’s back hoof” can be given. This movement instruction, or cue, is better suited to the brain’s preferred method of coordinating movement.
The goal of EquiBio is to improve performance on the horse by assessing the individual and creating a tailored program specific to the individual’s requirements.
Resources
Lagarde, J., Peham, C., Licka, T., Kelso, J.A.S., 2005. Coordination dynamics of the horse-rider system. J. Mot. Behav. 37, 418–424.
Licka, T., Kapaun, M., Peham, C., 2004. Influence of rider on lameness in trotting horses. Equine Vet. J. 36, 734–736.
Peham, C., Kotschwar, A.B., Borkenhagen, B., Kuhnke, S., Molsner, J., Baltacis, J., 2010. A comparison of forces acting on the horse’s back and the stability of the rider’s seat in different positions at the trot. Vet. J. 184, 56–59.