Pilates for Horse Riders

Unlike other sports which involve fast movements and cardio fitness, in horse riding the postural adjustments are subtle and require strength and endurance – a slow continuous demand on the stabilizing system.

It takes a different fitness to stand or sit in one position for many hours rather than to move around constantly, as the body fatigues more easily in static postures than dynamic ones.

Many riders spend countless hours schooling their horses and fixing their imbalances, but don’t look at themselves. Horse and rider are a combination. When training off the horse, we need to look at your body as a whole. It’s not just about fitness or strength exercises, it’s also about breath, body control and how flexible you are in the right areas.

There’s a wealth of information about improving “core stability” in riders, however bracing the abdomen will not make the rider more stable. If the abdominal muscles are braced and tense – the rider will not be able to absorb the horse’s movement effectively.

Focus needs to be placed on efficient breathing techniques, improving appropriate muscle activation and eccentric strength training and endurance in the hip muscles- particularly hip flexors and gluteal muscles.

Looking at the principles of Pilates it is easy to see how these can be adapted to the requirements needed to be an effective and proficient rider. Pilates will teach you better body awareness and more control over your body.

Riding requires symmetry, balance, stability and co-ordination.

Alignment when riding has a huge impact on your horse. If your body is misaligned your weight will be heavier either from side to side or front to back with detrimental affect to your horse’s way of going. You need to think of your pelvis, ribcage & head as building blocks which need to be stacked up over one another for correct alignment.  If these boxes are out of alignment your weight will be focused more over one side of the horse. Rider imbalances not only affect the rider’s performance but also that of the horse and potentially it’s soundness (joint wear, soft tissue soreness and injury)

So, whether you ride for pleasure or have a desire to compete professionally Pilates is a must for all horse riders.