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

[NCRider]

Make sure you’re telling her what to do instead of what not to do. And don’t focus on what the horse is doing. Until you fix her, there’s almost no point in worrying whether the horse is engaged from the hind end, etc. etc. Don’t worry about getting the horse on the bit.

Give her exercises like windmill arms, alphabet feet, etc. etc.
If the horse will follow calmly behind another horse, maybe do a group lesson with a beginner and work only on the rider, around and around the ring.

If the horse needs a break, work on things that she can do without involving her seat. Two point is always a good break for a horse whose rider is a bit stiff. Can she trot in two point?

As for the trail riding, I’ve trail ridden with a lot of people over the years who are never ever going to be any good at flatwork. They don’t have what i would call an independent seat and they’re never going to be capable of a first level dressage test. Their horses are perfectly content plodding along on the trail though.
It’s hard to tell from your post whether your rider is just not very good or whether her riding is so poor its abusive. I would be careful that you’re not holding your student to a standard that she’ll never be able to meet when she’d be happy and fine aiming a bit lower.

[BayandWhite]

Have you tried recording her? It is really hard for me to place my body where it’s supposed to if I can’t see what I’m doing wrong in the first place. Especially when the wrong way “feels right”. I would have my trainer or mom record me so I could see and I grew by leaps and bounds then! This also translated into cheerleading. When my coach would record what I was doing wrong and let me watch, it was immediately fixed.

[Hiddenspot]

Cathbad, I am just chiming in to say it’s nice to see someone taking this step to get advice for an adult rider. I think it’s nice that you are really trying to help.

I am a bit of a muscle rider myself. A recent a-ha moment was that I can move my horse with my upper thigh. I always used knee down and I would be trying to go left and my horse just goes straight. It finally hit me to use the upper part of my leg too. This was a lesson just talking through things with my instructor as it happened. You never know what that right thing will be but if you keep trying different things you will get several mini a-ha moments I think that could help.

[McGurk]

I had this problem for years. It was not conformational, it was learned, and once learned, it is very difficult to eradicate. Your description of this rider as trying to muscle through everything is me in a nutshell.

My hunter seat instructor pretty much gave up trying to correct it and had me ride in two point as much as possible but when I wanted to learn dressage it became critical. Lots of good suggestions here already, but what worked for me was a Centered Riding instructor, some Alexander technique lessons and a lot of time on the lunge line without stirrups. There’s a Centered Riding exercise you do off the horse, laying on a yoga mat, where you release the tension in your low back and align your seat bones, that’s helpful. You can put your hand under your lumbar spine before and after the exercise and feel the difference - before there’s a void space, and after your lower back is flush with the mat.

Two ideas/phrases that helped me were “Let your back be in the back. Your lower back is pushy and wants to be in front, tell it to stay in the back where it belongs.” and on a very hot day, when I was very sweaty, an instructor put her hand on my lower back and told me to pretend she was holding an ice pack and to press my lower back into it. That second one was huge, it was the first time I had consciously put myself in the proper alignment, after that, I could recreate it at will with a suggestion about the ice pack. The instructor who gave me this gem says that the idea of cuddling up to a heating pad helps other riders.

Take lots of photos and video of your rider, and show her lots of photos and video of riders in correct alignment.

Finally, have someone do a demo ride with the arched back posture and correct posture and have her watch the change in the rider’s mechanics and the change in the horse’s way of going.

Don’t give up on her! I’m sure many of my early instructors despaired of me and my riding.

[jen-s]

YMMV, but if the back is over-arched, then the pelvis has to be locked. If there was an appropriate mount available, I’d put her on the lunge bareback. If you’ve got a vaulting surcingle, great, but you can make do without. I’d have her start at the ankle and rotate each joint, lift the knees out, pick the femur up/away from the horse and then swing it back. Have her reach for her toes with the opposite arm, reach back for the tail. Think about all of the super beginner stuff like helicopter arms. Really get her stretching and limber. And then have her try some of it at the trot. It’ll be really hard to sit a trot if she’s locked into position (without a saddle to brace against) and her hips will have to limber up. Once they limber, the back will soften. Start at the bottom (ankles) and work your way north and then back, and then mix it up with random joints. At the trot, have her practice dropping her leg straight down without putting any pressure on the horse’s sides, not locking her heels down, rotating the toe to be straight forward.

That’s what worked for me anyway. Hope this helps your rider.

[mjs8]

I second the idea of recording or photos to help her see the difference in her position when she’s sitting how she feels is right, versus how she is sitting when she feels she’s slouching (or closer to correct positioning). Sometimes people do better when they can see themselves - might be worth a try at least.

[IPEsq]

How is she in 2 point?

[imapepper]

[QUOTE=jen-s;8915586]
YMMV, but if the back is over-arched, then the pelvis has to be locked. If there was an appropriate mount available, I’d put her on the lunge bareback. If you’ve got a vaulting surcingle, great, but you can make do without. I’d have her start at the ankle and rotate each joint, lift the knees out, pick the femur up/away from the horse and then swing it back. Have her reach for her toes with the opposite arm, reach back for the tail. Think about all of the super beginner stuff like helicopter arms. Really get her stretching and limber. And then have her try some of it at the trot. It’ll be really hard to sit a trot if she’s locked into position (without a saddle to brace against) and her hips will have to limber up. Once they limber, the back will soften. Start at the bottom (ankles) and work your way north and then back, and then mix it up with random joints. At the trot, have her practice dropping her leg straight down without putting any pressure on the horse’s sides, not locking her heels down, rotating the toe to be straight forward.

That’s what worked for me anyway. Hope this helps your rider.[/QUOTE]

This! And if you don’t have a good horse to lunge, start at the walk with her feet out of the stirrups and on the buckle and have her think following the motion. Tell her to think of her horse as her dance partner and pretend they are slow dancing. Follow with her hips and keep her mid section soft. If you have a copy of Centered Riding, there are some really good phrases that help but sounds like she needs to close her eyes and feel the motion without hands or stirrups. And sounds like she needs to relax her whole body and learn to follow rather than lead.

[englishivy]

My two suggestions are: 1) to do any level work with one or both hands above her head (touching the sky). This exercise aligns the body and makes posting easier, so I do it with all my beginners on a lunge line. The best part is that when they get in perfect balance and timing with the horse, their mounts will show them how much they appreciated it by lengthening their neck, lifting their back and softening.

2. have her ride with a driving rein. It’s really awkward to arch your back & brace your lower arms with a driving rein, and it will soften her shoulders enough that she can follow properly . This tool fixes a lot of problems, and I use it quite often.

Good luck!

[ZIL]

Ride with a ruler tucked in the waistband.

I think I heard that one from Greg Best.