Instructors: Beginner rider with arched back. How to help?

[Cathbad]

I have a beginner adult rider who is wonderfully interested and hard working. But, her posture is completely antithetical to the sport of riding.

She has a very arched (lordosis) low back, and her shoulders are thrown back as well. Whether this is congenital or a learned posture, not sure, but while it doesn’t look bizarre, per se, in her every-day life, when she’s in the saddle, the stiffness, lack of natural alignment. and therefore, no real balance – completely work against her.

She is aware of this, has had back trouble for a number of years, works with a Pilates instructor who tells her the same things I’m relating here. My directives she has heard from the Pilates person and others before I even started with her.

She can understand and often follow quite well my directives – seatbones pointed down, let the shoulders fall away from the neck, breathe into your joints, etc. She can feel the improvement in stability when she is able to follow my directives. She doesn’t have any body pain from the riding.

The problem? It gets messy when we start to trot. She has trouble – like many riders – maintaining the alignment and, therefore, her balance, but when she loses her flow, things get discouragingly magnified due to her posture and the resulting rough arms and legs. She then rides like a wooden soldier/Jack-in the box. She has gotten through life by muscling her way through everything, and uses her shoulders and arms – hard and forcefully – to lift, to turn the wheel of the car, etc., so she also has trouble using her body parts independently.

So, I need more tools to help her get her body in line, and supple, and more relaxed. I feel that getting her body where it needs to be to be a safe, effective rider, is at minimum, an uphill battle, and at max, unless she has the accommodating horse, a losing battle. She grasps everything I say, and can truly feel the difference when she stays on top of what needs to be done, but her body needs endless micro-managing.

Her little leased horse is not tolerant of this whole learning curve, either. That is another real complicator.

I mentioned all the above to her (more diplomatically, 'tho, but clearly), and she wants to keep riding this mare. I would like to:

• put her on the lunge, but need a horse who will help me do this (NOT the leased horse!)
  -use the Ballimo (?) stool to help her.
  -encourage her to go to an Alexander Tech. person to learn proper posture for everyday life – which is proper posture for riding.

So, any other suggestions you might have? She asked to go trail-riding… Sigh. I thought to myself that it might be a better goal to stay on the horse first.

Thank you for ANY ideas!

[PonyPenny]

I would put a strap around the neck or a martingale and have her hold that while she trots. This will help put her body in the proper alignment. Make sure her stirrups are adjusted properly and are not too long. Make sure her toes point forward, not out. Does her saddle fit her?

[meupatdoes]

Tell her to slouch.

Seriously.

It would be better for her to ride around like the hunch back of notre dame for a while and do the “extreme opposite”.

[Cathbad]

Thanks, everyone. I do have her slouch, as well. Funnily, the one comment she makes when she is in proper alignment is: “I feel like I’m slouching!”

And I have her hold onto the mane as an exercise, both for balance and for having her open and shut her elbows during posting. She is so locked into being a rigid unit that moving one part throws her off elsewhere. But, when she gets it, she does well. But balance via alignment and toned muscles is very difficult; she only knows to use ridigity and gripping muscles to hold herself in place, on the ground and in the saddle. Sigh.

Her saddle is adequate. It is not too small, and her stirrups are the proper length.

Thanks, anything else??

[SuzieQNutter]

Gripping and rigidity will pop her out of the saddle like a clothes peg. She does need another horse to be lunged on. A safe horse that you can take the stirrups away and just get her to relax.

[skykingismybaby1]

I have very stiff grippy students count out loud with the horse’s footfalls. It has to be loud enough to alter their breathing to be in sync with the horse’s motion. Seems to work for a time.

I also flip the question to the horse, as in “what does the horse need from you right now?” Works with my over analytic riders who always want to break down the aids and forget to feel the horse and so get locked in place trying to figure out aids.

[Cathbad]

Those are nice ideas, SkyKing… I will give them a try.

As she’s working around me, I do have her turn her head and look at me, then look to the outside and describe the trees – yet, she is so 'muscled about everything that she whips her head around with either of these exercises :no: so that I have to have her ‘slow down’ that exercise in order to gain any benefit.

She is a kind person, but doesn’t quite realize yet her responsibility to the horse. Her riding experiences to date have been galloping wildly, with no helmet, etc., in some fields. I think she may be in for a rude shock about what it takes to be a good rider, and a responsible horseperson.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

[FoxyandFritz]

Have her count out loud the beats of the gait. Walk (1-4) Trot (1-2) Canter is a bit harder so have her count strides out loud. The counting lets you feel where you are and helps relax you since you are not focusing on being in correct posture…if that makes sense. I teach an older lady who was drilled shoulders back heels down that she can’t relax so she bounces like crazy. This method has helped her a lot.

[Cathbad]

FoxyandFritz: Your lady student sounds in the same category as mine. Rigidity and bouncing. And my student’s horse has limited tolerance for all that, which compounds the problem…

We have a lesson tomorrow. And, these are the sorts of suggestions that really help: anything to get her less drilling down on technique and becoming more natural.

[ladyj79]

Tell her what I always told mine: relax, you aren’t on the hood of a car.

This can be interchanged with “you aren’t in a whitesnake video”, age dependant.

[make_x_it_x_so]

It sounds like a lunge-line lesson where you take away stirrups and reins (therefore there’s little for her to grip/brace against) and have her do things that encourage looseness and stretching, like touching her toe with the opposite hand, or twisting her upper body. All of these things should be done SLOWLY and SMOOTHLY, she should imagine “ballerina” rather than “kick-boxer.” I wonder if she develops a better sense of balance/centeredness on the horse, if she might grip a little less.

[skykingismybaby1]

Does she have any yoga experience? What also works with some students who know elemental yoga to sit in the saddle in “mountain pose” using seat bones as your feet and lift up through your head, relax into that pose.

With one yoga knowledgeable rider I add “without moving your hands bring them to your heart.” I have no idea how that works, but it works for her on a really big moving schoolie.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Interesting–as a student, I’m always so interested to learn about what instructors pick up on when observing riders. (And I think it is really cool how much thought riding instructors put into all of their lessons, regardless of the level).

Do you think the issue is mainly physical or psychological? It sounds like she has had a great deal of support already to deal with some of her physical issues off the saddle but still struggles. Odd how she has had experience galloping on her own and wants to trail ride yet she is stiff in a way that is usually associated with fear. And that she leased a horse with so little riding experience!

I am not an instructor so my questions may not be helpful but…as others have asked…do you have access to a more tolerant horse for at least one or two lessons? It must be so hard to be teaching the rider when the horse is also having issues!

[cnigh]

There is a back brace that some kids wear while riding. It helps put them in the proper alignment.

http://www.doversaddlery.com/m/shoulders-back-lite/p/X1-020412/

I helped with girls that did the hunter perch. Maybe wearing one and focusing on pushing her lower back out into the support might help her.

[CindyCRNA]

I don’t know how severe your students spinal deformity (because that is what lordosis is) but stretching may help. https://stronglifts.com/lordosis-why-it-causes-lower-back-pain-how-to-fix-it/ It may take her 6 months of hard work and I’m not sure you will get to where you want but she may at least improve. I agree with yoga and maybe a physical therapist who specializes in sports medicine.

[fjordmom]

I’m not an instructor, but as a student all the ideas you’ve mentioned have helped me over the 30+ years I’ve been riding. The lunge line idea certainly helps to bring awareness to the seat and balance while not having the opportunity to default to the hands.

A few other techniques that my instructors have employed over the years include:
singing nursery rhymes such as Mary had a Little Lamb. (You can’t hold your breath when you’re singing.)
Reading and practicing “exercises” from Sally Swifts Centered Riding books. They may help your student visualize proper alignment.

I highly recommend this little book: Zen & The Horse. Very simple, but so critical to understanding proper alignment and posture. Tom is an awesome teacher and great guy. His clinics are well worth going to. Have your student do the exercises daily for at least 3 weeks. She will be amazed at how much she strengthens her psoas muscles and no longer has to rely on being so stiff in the back. (Ask me how I know ;-))

I’ve recently taken up Tai Chi. Wow, has that been helpful for helping me slow down my movement and not overdo/over muscle. Your student might want to consider it.

[Dutchmare433]

I have a few Type A, overachiever students, and often, when we go to do something new, they just do too much, the horse gets pissy, they get frustrated, etc.

At times, with these types, I’ll just start talking to them about whatever as they’re riding around–just enough to get them distracted to the point that they’re riding on feel and not paying a lot of attention to what it is they’re doing. It often works really well, like all of a sudden, they’re in a lovely shoulder in with the horse softly over its back reaching to the bit.

For her specific issue, I’d say lunge lessons on a super quiet horse. Lots of yoga and pilates where she has to learn to use different body parts at different times. Simple things she can practice at home would be laying on the ground with hips and knees at roughly 90* angles, propped on a chair…this will put her in neutral spine position and start stretching out some of those muscles. She can do the same thing standing against a wall…she needs to focus on having her entire back have equal contact with the wall.

[meupatdoes]

[QUOTE=Cathbad;8913301]
Those are nice ideas, SkyKing… I will give them a try.

As she’s working around me, I do have her turn her head and look at me, then look to the outside and describe the trees – yet, she is so 'muscled about everything that she whips her head around with either of these exercises :no: so that I have to have her ‘slow down’ that exercise in order to gain any benefit.

She is a kind person, but doesn’t quite realize yet her responsibility to the horse. Her riding experiences to date have been galloping wildly, with no helmet, etc., in some fields. I think she may be in for a rude shock about what it takes to be a good rider, and a responsible horseperson.

Thanks again for all the suggestions![/QUOTE]

I think you are doing all the right things and advocating admirably for both horse and rider but please do not take it personally if this person never learns how to ride.

[Eventer13]

I have this problem. And I’ve had instructors try to fix it for years.

I had a light-bulb moment when I was wearing my cross-country vest. Thought about pushing my lower back into the vest (there is very little contact in that area if you are arching your back), and suddenly I was pulling my pubic bone up and engaging my core. It also forced me to relax my upper back and shoulders. Now that I know that feeling, I can fix myself when I start to get too arched and tight in the back.

[Tuesday_s_Child]

I like Eventer13’s suggestion of wearing a XC vest. You could also try having her do the stretch where she brings her knees up together by the pommel so she’s really sitting on her seat bones - and she can’t arch her back or she won’t be able to do it!