Rider Biomechanics
Rider Biomechanics, why is it important?
You may have noticed that recently the topic of rider biomechanics has become popular and lots of people are turning to it to help performance issues for them and their horse. However, do you really know what it is, why it’s important and how it can help you and your horse?
What are Biomechanics?
If we break down the word into its ancient Greek origins, bios means “life” and “mechanics” refers to the study of the mechanical principles of living bodies, particularly their movement and structure. When we play sport, the laws of mechanics are applied to how a body moves in order to help us understand what is and isn’t working, and how we can change it for the best to improve performance and reduce injuries.
Rider biomechanics looks at how the horse and rider move, both by themselves and in relation to each other. It looks at the tilts, twists and wiggles we all do and how they can be worked on to create a much better harmony between each other’s bodies, improving balance and flexibility. If we improve balance and flexibility, we can help to support not only our body, but our horse’s too, by reducing the need for them to compensate for our asymmetries.
Why are biomechanics important?
The short answer is that biomechanics can help us make sure our horse is as comfortable as possible when being ridden, and that they have a long and healthy ridden career, as well as ensuring that us riders are as balanced and easy to carry as possible.
If we ride a bicycle and we sit more to one side, we will topple to the same side until we correct our posture. Thankfully for us, our horses are very adept at compensating for our poor posture and balance, so if we sit more to one side on our horse, our horse will change its posture to compensate for us, so we don’t fall off. Our posture and balance can cause such significant problems for the horse that we can contribute towards issues such as shorter stride lengths and flatter jumping techniques, right through to influencing injuries and degenerative changes, just by forcing the horse to work in a posture that isn’t normal for it.
Most of these changes happen VERY slowly and there is a huge amount of other influencing issues that need to be taken into account in each horse/rider combination’s unique set of needs, such as previous injuries, saddles – both style and fit, and also training issues.
We equestrians are acutely aware of using a professional to help our horse, be them physical therapists, saddle fitters, farriers to name a few, but we are one of the biggest influencers as to how our horses use their bodies, so we need to take time to look at ourselves too. When did you last get your body checked for muscle and joint issues?
When both bodies are working at optimum performance, and that has to be optimum for the individual combination, whether simply hacking out, or doing 5* eventing, we can minimise injuries, train more effectively and correct poor performance before they ever become a big problem.
How will looking at biomechanics help my horse and me?
We’ve all seen riders who sit more to one side; maybe they drop their chin forward or have a wayward hand or a leg that likes to grip up; maybe they lose one stirrup or constantly battle to keep their reins equal lengths: These are all signs that there is a biomechanical issues going on, but that can be changed!
For riders, a biomechanical assessment will look at little niggles like the examples above and try to work out where they are coming from, to be able to then make positive changes. Surprisingly, most issues can be linked to our seat and making subtle changes in how our muscles and joints work cam make big inroads into how we sit in the saddle, which in turn can correct a variety of other issues too.
On that note, it’s worth talking about saddle fit. We touched on it very briefly earlier, and it’s a topic of hot debate that’s difficult to summarise, but a saddle that is out of balance from pommel to cantle, (as well as possibly side to side), which is too big or small for either the horse or rider will imbalance the rider and cause pain for the horse.
There is such a huge array of fun exercises that can help riders and with the added use of gym balls, therapy bands, small inflatable balls and the like, that everyone can enjoy exercise to correct their imbalances and improve our overall posture. This will also help any niggly aches we have in day to day life and help us to combat repetitive habits we have; Yes, they also affect your horse!
As riders, we owe it to our horses to be fit enough to ride, but that doesn’t mean we all have to take up running! By changing repetitive habits, making sure little things like stirrup length and saddle fit are right, having the occasional lessons to work on us rather than the horse and keeping up with our overall body strength we can make enough subtle changes to help our horses work to the best of their abilities and with as little discomfort as possible – an all-round win!
About the Author:
Georgina Bull is a registered Osteopath in the UK who, alongside treating horses and humans, takes a special interest in the relationship between how horse and rider move together. Georgina is a rider herself, owning 2 horses and competing in Endurance riding and she has worked as the travelling therapist with Team GBR Elite Endurance Squad, treating riders to European and World class competitions. Georgina runs her own clinic in Northamptonshire and regularly runs rider biomechanics workshops both on and off the horse.
For more information on Georgina and her company Nene Valley Osteopathy Ltd – go to her website
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