How did you change/improve your positional flaws

[mydogs]

I have a few things that I want to improve with my position, like keeping my elbows at my side and sitting up/straight more. Thankfully, my position isn’t horrible to begin with but I want to make it better. I tend to revert back to my current habits when I am thinking about other things while riding, like giving aids, focusing on how my horse feels, and determining what to do during an exercise.

I used to have piano hands and fixed that by focusing on nothing but my hands during all rides for two weeks straight. I was thinking of taking the same approach with my elbows and back since I know it works for me. I lack “brain space” so I can only think about so many things at one time

But, I’m interested in hearing how others have fixed/improved their position to get some new ideas.

[see_u_at_x]

Making sure I had a saddle that put me in a good position helped. And then, just really focusing on keeping my shoulders back and looking up and like you said, thinking about it ever single ride. Knowing that if I didn’t do that, there could be “not so great” consequences. I have t-rex arms, so I still struggle to keep my elbows at my side, but it’s gotten better. Every time I thought that I was sitting up enough, my instructor would say that I needed to sit up more. It also really helped when I got a young horse because if I didn’t sit up straight on him, I’d probably come off if he decided to stop suddenly! :lol: I used to have poor dressage position, but now, people in the barn comment on how good my position is and how hard I’ve worked on it. I still need to get better and more firm, but I’ve come a loooong way from where I was.

[scruffy_the_cat]

I’m in your boat, Mydogs. My brain is very small. I have a new instructor who is very old school and rode at the Olympics and she shouts at me until I fix whatever she’s going on about. Works very well to fix things! :lol: It’s kind of too bad I needed such extreme measures but there you go. (She also is completely delighted when I do fix things so she’s not only a meanie.) She also dropped my stirrups three holes and threatened me with a fourth.

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

I clinic with a biomechanics expert 4-6 weekends/year. Expensive but worth it.

I learned that it’s not just one thing-it’s the entire picture/influence.

[mydogs]

@right horse at the right time

I clinic with a biomechanics expert 4-6 weekends/year. Expensive but worth it.

I learned that it’s not just one thing-it’s the entire picture/influence.

I’ve been interested in doing this for awhile because the biomechanics aspect really interests me. How would I go about finding someone? How are your biomechanics lessons different than normal lessons (ie: what does the biomechanics instructor say differently, what do you do differently, etc…)

[atlatl]

Correct saddle fit, video, video, more video. Working on 1 thing at a time, checking via video, asking my coach to nag me about things. Did I mention video?

I also make up little sayings that I rerun in my brain while riding such as “shoulders over hips, shoulders over hips” to keep from leaning forward. I also do position checks through out my ride.

The beauty of working on rider position is that I’ve found it automatically helps the horse go better. I know mine goes better and is lighter in front when I’m not leaning forward adding my weight to his front end.

[Training_Cupid]

@mydogs

I tend to revert back to my current habits when I am thinking about other things while riding, like giving aids, focusing on how my horse feels, and determining what to do during an exercise.

Riding on the lunge line! I’ve been doing this and it is so helpful to be able to really just focus on one thing.

[TheHotSensitiveType]

I used to round my shoulders and kept reminding myself for months on every horse that I rode to put them back. Well, I clicker trained my mare (who was genius level on learning that she does something good under saddle she gets a treat), and she proceeded to do sliding stops from every gait when I clicked her. After ending up on her neck half a dozen or so times on her neck, I learned because I wasn’t sitting deep enough my shoulders were rounding. That was a negative reinforcement type training but gosh it worked!!!

But, I swear you fix one thing just to break another!!! During my lesson this weekend, the BO noticed that I am holding a lot of tension in my shoulders and raising the inside one. She of course recommended being mindful of that but also suggested getting a massage…

Saddle fit is a big one too. My old saddle doesn’t allow me to get my legs under me very well, and when I got my new saddle my hip flexors ached so bad while they were stretching out. There were many times I put myself in a jockey position to stop the hip flexor pain!

[mvp]

Op, I think you are on the right track with having the Small Brain.

I find that I can only keep two position corrections in my mind during a ride. That’s all I get: 2. Same for jumping a course. So I pick my two, create short phrases for those and distinct things to feel for in my body and keep checking in with those during the ride. Like I say, I can only fit two items on that list, but the two get enough attention.

If you do this for a bit with your top two, sooner or later, one will get natural and you can add another feature to your Equitation Check List.

[amb]

@right horse at the right time

I clinic with a biomechanics expert 4-6 weekends/year. Expensive but worth it.

I learned that it’s not just one thing-it’s the entire picture/influence.

Just about exactly what I was going to write. Mine is Eileen Halloran out of Hollis, NH; she does clinics at least around the region. (Maybe “clinic” is the wrong word? She comes in for a day of private 45 minute sessions.) In half an hour she found the root of my noisy right leg problems and gave me concrete things to do that help it. (…and everything positional, really.) I can still only keep one thing in my head, but if I alternate between keeping myself sorted out and the horse sorted out it goes ok.

[mydogs]

@amb

In half an hour she found the root of my noisy right leg problems and gave me concrete things to do that help it. (…and everything positional, really.)

Can you elaborate on this? How did she find the root of the problem?

[emipou]

repetition. repetition. repetition.

When I discover a new AH-HA, I will focus my hardest on trying to remember how my body feels in that positional change. The sensation of being more correct in whatever it is I’m doing.
Then when I go back to repeat, I’ll work on how I felt when it worked. And I’ll keep working on that sensation until it literally becomes muscle memory.

I’m doing this right now to help me focus on using my hands less and my shoulders more. This has been helping me tremendously with more effective circles, turns, lateral work, and keeping the flexion and energy going in the right direction. How am I doing this? I’m remembering where the sensations of movement and bend (in my body) are coming from.

It’s funny, because to take it one step further - when I discovered this sensation in my rides and lessons last week, it was familiar to me. It was a rediscovery. I’ve felt this way before many times, during great riding sessions, rarely in lessons (says something about tension, right?) but I never tapped into the feeling of this movement/position before. So it was never really tapped into.

[Scribbler]

I find long trail rides where you keep correct position help to reinforce muscle memory.

Also honestly for elbows at the side and sit up straight: ride your hungry horse in a field in a side pull in May. You will not be able to keep her head up out of the grass unless you have your elbows in place, your back lifted, and your hands carried at all times. The moment you slack off she will dive.

In other words find the functionality of correct position like the poster above who wanted to ride sliding stops, and it will become crucial not just a look pretty finicky nagging thing from your coach.

[netg]

Getting to the root of the problem is a big part of it. We have a biomechanics clinician who comes to the area regularly, and my trainer works with her to get ideas when he’s struggling with how to fix something on us. For me, it’s important to remember that positional ideals are based on functionality, and understand the reason why you’re supposed to do something - and work from there. One flaw which has bugged me in photos for years is the tendency I’ve had to a chair seat since starting dressage. However, until second level-ish with my mare, that has not been the biggest functional issue, and we have focused on other issues. NOW, I can’t stay soft in the collection, encourage my horse’s back to swing, get the responsiveness I want and be in a chair seat at the same time. So it’s become the time to fix it - and it changes how my seat acts on my horse. For me, that has been a fix of having to use my hamstrings more. Several years ago the biomechanics clinician gave me a private pilates class and we worked on engaging the bottom back half of my core in various ways, including doing bridges/reverse bridges. I’m applying that now with a focus on my legs to get them where needed.

Other issues - the arms want to go straight and low, and it makes my shoulders lift up toward my ears. That is a front and back of torso core issue. It’s been about holding the reins with my shoulder blades, letting my elbows float - that works my lats, especially holding myself stable in big changes or medium canters. Then the entire front of my core from pelvis up stays engaged to keep the contact elastic, instead of the bracing connection I would get. My trainer literally had me rest a large cinder block on my forearms to feel how it engaged my core to prevent letting my lower back hollow and take stress. If I can voluntarily get that kind of core engagement while riding, I get a pirouette canter or half steps. The equicube is an option for learning to engage those muscles without having to think about them, though it’s far too light weight for the immediate impact of really feeling the muscles which need to work from the cinder block idea. However, it’s then something you can use for a longer period of time.

[Scribbler]

Yes, excellent points. Sometimes a position error feels functional. When my mare was balking and bucking a few years ago, my reflex was to drop my heels and shoot my legs forward like a bronc rider. When I finally realized why I was ending up in chair seat, i t old my coach I was trying to drop my leg for security. She showed me how to drop my thigh instead and I practised that constantly until it became my go-to. It also made horse happier

When we started doing a lot of canter work though I decided to prioritize keeping my butt in the saddle like a cowboy over leg position. Because mare hates bumpy butt. As we both got used to lots of canter work, both of us in good rhythm, I’ve been able to fix my leg.

Though I worked on all this out of sight of my coach because it seemed important maresy and I work out our agreement uninterrupted.

[melula]

My eyes drop and drag my head and shoulders down. My back has a tendency to scoop when my core isn’t engaged and my ankles are too far back. I repeat a little mantra “head, core, feet” in every corner.

[MysticOakRanch]

Agree, finding a biomechanics expert helps! My trainer works with Mary Wanless several times annually - so she gets some good training on an ongoing basis. She has a good eye (btw, she is available for clinics - p.m. me if you want info), and can often help find out what is causing position or effectiveness problems. Sometimes you are thinking, oh, I can’t keep my elbows to the side, and it turns out it is caused by riding with an arched back, or some such thing you would never have connected to your elbows.

BTW - I had an issue with my elbows sticking out, and part of it was figuring out a CONCRETE way for me to remember it. Telling me to lower my elbows didn’t work, telling me to keep my elbows at my side didn’t work. Telling me to touch my elbows to the top of my hips did work. For quite a while, I would ride with that mantra, elbows touch hips, until it became 2nd nature. That was just a personal thing - finding the right way to communicate the solution.

I will also agree, lunge lessons help. Many years ago, my prior trainer (also a biomechanics trained instructor) agreed to give me lunge lessons for months - nothing but lunge lessons every single week. It made a huge difference with my riding. The problem is - finding a HORSE who is good for lunge lessons, and an instructor who knows how to make them effective. But if you can find that combo, take advantage!

I have ridden with several “non biomechanics” trainers and clinicians over the years, and I always gravitate back to the biomechanics ones, I just find them that much better for my learning.

My current trainer (I actually just really started riding with her in the past year, although I’ve known her much longer, and she started horses for me) is really good at discussing theory too, and of manipulating my body so I can feel what she’s talking about. So, some lessons may involve 15 minutes of discussion and moving my body around - a mild rotation of the thigh, pulling on the leg, etc. These are very small manipulations, but make a huge difference in riding.

If you can find such a person, and they genuinely know what they are talking about, TAKE ADVANTAGE of the opportunity!

[Texarkana]

How did I change/improve my positional flaws? I don’t know. I’ll let you know when it actually happens.

But in all seriousness, I find video incredibly helpful. Especially when you can review the video during or immediately after your ride, so everything is still fresh in your mind and muscle memory.

Also, mirrors-- I’m about 14 seconds away from starting a thread titled, “how can I install cheap, DIY mirrors in my arena…”

Riding multiple, different horses is also beneficial. My position was so much better when I was riding a revolving door of sales horses and project horses. These days, me and & my main ride can sometimes exacerbate each other’s bad habits without me even realizing it.

[Myout]

I have studied a bit with Mary Wanless and read everything ever published I think on dressage! I video with ipad at least one ride per week (no access to good instructor unless I drive 4+ hours) and tackle one or two things until they improve. Saddle is huge part of puzzle as is fitness. When I was a full time trainer/instructor it was much easier to ride with good posture, now that I work in an office and sit 7 hours a day it is more of a struggle(not to mention age as an issue as well!). If you are not planking, start now! That is one single thing that can make great improvement in posture and doesn’t require a class or anything but you and the floor. I find “regular” instruction to be a waste of time if not combined with Wanless style feedback especially as you climb the levels. That difference in lateral work and evenness in the horse from side to side is almost 100% rider issue.

[Dr_Doolittle]

I’m going to third Mary Wanless; she is incredible – it is a game changer, for sure - get her book Rider Biomechanics (she also has other books and an online dressage course which you can sign up for monthly), her program will transform your body and your riding and provides you with multiple helpful tools and exercises; this will greatly increase your awareness. It’s work!, but I have never ridden more effectively after 6 to 8 months of taking her courses and studying the book and mastering many of the postural changes.

I’ve been riding on and off for 40 years, and this has been better than any trainer I’ve worked with! I have also incorporated it into lessons with my lower level students to great effect.

if you can find a Mary practitioner in your area, even better.