Exercises for less dominant hip?

[Shiaway]

My horse is very sensitive to my seat which is great. But I’m having a lot of trouble in the left to right flying change because for the life of me I can’t seem to swing my right hip forward. I also feel I have this problem in the right lead canter. My horse does the best he can to tolerate it but obviously it affects the straightness of the canter and the change. It feels like trying to write with my less dominant hand.

So I think I need to strengthen my left hip so I can have better support to swing my right hip forward. Does anyone know any good exercises for this?

[ThreeFigs]

A few things come to mind. Chiropractic and yoga to work on your straightness and balance. Find a chirporactor who specializes in sport. Feldenkrais might help. Do you stretch before riding? If you have one leg that is stronger than the other, or a hip joint that’s tighter than the other, it can pull you to that side.

I have had similar problems over the years. Have your instructor/coach, or just a friend on the ground, check your position in the saddle. Do you sit straight and balanced in the saddle as viewed from behind? Your helper should observe you in motion, not just at the halt. Do you collapse your torso on one side or the other? Do you contract your (right) leg up – even if it’s just a little? Pay close attention to the angle of your thighs relevant to your torso. Does one leg look straighter and the other more angled at the hip?

An exercise I have used in the past was to “play” with seatbone positions while driving. Especially at stoplights. I’d push one seatbone forward, then the other. Or I’d weight one more, and then the other. Since your horse is very sensitive to seat aids, I’d be careful practicing this in the saddle, though it’s fun to incorporate “seat only” exercises in warm-up. I did this with a student yesterday. Pretend you have no legs and use only your seat bones to turn your horse. Think of bringing your inside shoulder slightly back on turns and Voila! you weight the inside seat bone.

I will be watching along with you for other’s suggestions!

[x-halt-salute]

Are you sure this is a matter of uneven strength?

That “writing with non-dominant hand” description and unequal ability to shift hips sounds awfully familiar to me. And for me it’s a matter of uneven mobility/tightness, not strength.

The things that help me most are:

1. piriformis stretches
2. iliopsoas stretches
3. foam roller and lacrosse ball (google/youtube using a lacrosse ball for hip mobility – it will sound obscene if I try to describe it with words)

And for making sure I’m not collapsing somewhere above the hip due to unequal strength:
4) general upper body strength exercises that move each side of the body independently so you can focus on evenness (e.g. one handed kettlebell swings, kb figure-8s, lateral kb swings, windmills with weight/kb and focusing on same hip position on both sides)
5) yoga, focusing on whether or not I’m able to go as deep in a pose on each side – for me this is more to find asymmetries and pinpoint whether they’re flexibility or strength related than to solve them.

I haven’t fully conquered my hip asymmetries, but they’ve gotten a lot better with these sorts of exercises. Perhaps others have even better suggestions.

[atlatl]

Running has really helped me be more symmetrical in general, but particularly in my hips. I also second the use of a foam roller.

[Shiaway]

Thanks guys! I will look into/try these suggestions. It’s so irritating to know what it should feel like because I can swing the left hip forward no problem and when I try to do it the other direction I end up a pretzel. My poor saintly horse has just put up with it as best he can. Even though I’ve been trying to work on it while riding it seems clear that I need to address the problem off horse.

[Wicky]

Similar problem, similar approaches. I had been doing Pilates for years and years, and still needed a physical therapist to actually diagnose me and give me exercises that targeted the specific muscles that were weak. And then I needed to have someone see me ride and note that the right side of my pubic bone was tilted up, and tell me to bring it down. And I have been doing Feldenkreis, and seeing an Alexander Technique guy.

It does take a village…