DefinitelyDressage.com

Good morning!
Although I can no longer ride, I have recently started teaching a former student of mine again.
Her horse is a 6yo Morgan who is absolutely delightful and willing.
My student has spent the last several years doing mostly trail riding and has gotten some bad habits which we are trying hard to fix.
I see a lot of biomechanics stuff happening with regard to dressage.
One thing my student could use is that she tends to sit off a bit to the left (I think). Any biomechanics gurus here who have exercises for that?

She is taking formal lessons with a good coach as well who can help her with biomechanics but I thought I would inquire here as well.

She might look into Feldenkrais. There are some videos on YouTube. They are good for body awareness that can remove the mental blocks that help us reprogram our ingrained patterns.

Oh fun topic for me LOL. This is exactly one of the things I want to play with in my massage business.

It's really hard to say without being able to see the student myself, but I'd also suggest looking into if they have a pelvic imbalance. Is the right hip elevated off the horse? That could certainly cause her to sit left.

Have her pay attention to how she uses her body daily, not just on the horse.
Does she sit left on a chair? Shift her weight left while standing?
Feldenkrais can definitely help break movement patterns and reeducate muscle movement, but if there's muscular imbalances going on (which is hard to say without a full evaluation) then a combination of muscle reeducation along with some myofascial release work for the pelvis might make a world of a difference.

Said student is currently sitting in a chair, leaning most of her weight on her left side.... I literally laughed out loud when I read this post and realized how I was sitting! I did see a chiropractor several years ago because my pelvis was tipped following a right ankle injury in January 2013. You might be on to something here...

This is a great book

The Riding Doctor
Beth Glosten, MD

After leaving horses behind for many years to pursue her medical career, Dr. Beth Glosten decided it was time to ride again only to discover that, as a middle-aged woman, she struggled with tension, awkwardness, and an aching back. Dr. Glosten’s own frustration with riding prompted her to apply her clinical research skills to figure out what it would take to not only create the harmonious picture of horse and rider moving together, but also feel good while doing it.

Peggy Cummings and Sally Swift both have tons of exercises that will help the rider be aware of their body. Peggy's work is particularly good at bringing the rider back into the middle (neutral).
Feldenkrais is hugely helpful for body awareness. Similar but different, is the Alexander Technique. One or both of these methods may resonate with the student.

Well hey, I just want to say welcome to the DDBB SuziQ! Of course we would love to see pics of you and your lovely Morgan... (sorry, I don't have any wisdom re. correcting your left 'tilt').

I am going to watch one of her lessons with another instructor tomorrow. Assuming I am allowed, I will take a picture and post.
I actually rode with Sally Swift myself and am very familiar with her techniques. And we have used a few of them.
Ironically, the other instructor is an Alexander technique person. So, hopefully, we can get this sorted.

Pilates has really helped straighten me out. My trainer works with many equestrians (and she's not the famous one with the book....). She understands the need for balanced strength, and pure balance. We work on it every session. Yoga, as well, has really worked on my balance.

Can be how the horse positions itself to change how the rider sits too?

Flight wrote:Can be how the horse positions itself to change how the rider sits too?

Absolutely. I hang off one side of my horse partly because it's my crookedness but my horse DEFINITELY pushes me there. That is why I have to work on both of us equally.

Ryeissa wrote:

Flight wrote:Can be how the horse positions itself to change how the rider sits too?

Absolutely. I hang off one side of my horse partly because it's my crookedness but my horse DEFINITELY pushes me there. That is why I have to work on both of us equally.

For those of us with one horse, it's so often chicken and the egg--does MM throw me to the left or does my sitting too far left make her favor that side? But one of us has to break the cycle and I'm pretty sure, I hold that responsibility

blob wrote:

Ryeissa wrote:

Flight wrote:Can be how the horse positions itself to change how the rider sits too?

Absolutely. I hang off one side of my horse partly because it's my crookedness but my horse DEFINITELY pushes me there. That is why I have to work on both of us equally.

For those of us with one horse, it's so often chicken and the egg--does MM throw me to the left or does my sitting too far left make her favor that side? But one of us has to break the cycle and I'm pretty sure, I hold that responsibility

Yeah, I found Annabelle really throws me off my right seatbone. I have to find the middle and really think "non-disintegrating seat" while I get her shoulders up and centered. Or as my instructor yells "DON'T let her change you!" Then in my most recent lesson she pointed out that I was sitting to the right, so I guess I over-corrected.

I don't have any direct experience with it, but just saw that Wendy Murdoch is offering some online courses where she also provides feedback on videos. It is biomechanics-based (both horse and rider). https://www.effortlessridercourse.com/c ... 3565ad94fc

SuziQ12982 wrote:Said student is currently sitting in a chair, leaning most of her weight on her left side.... I literally laughed out loud when I read this post and realized how I was sitting! I did see a chiropractor several years ago because my pelvis was tipped following a right ankle injury in January 2013. You might be on to something here...

Chiropractors are GREAT but if the muscles are tight or imbalanced, they’ll pull things back out of place over time. Things like this can absolutely happen from old injuries.
You’d be surprised how many times I’ve asked someone if they’ve ever injured a specific body part because of what I’m feeling.... and they did.
Looks like you’re getting lots of great suggestions on this thread though!

PhoenixRising wrote:

SuziQ12982 wrote:Said student is currently sitting in a chair, leaning most of her weight on her left side.... I literally laughed out loud when I read this post and realized how I was sitting! I did see a chiropractor several years ago because my pelvis was tipped following a right ankle injury in January 2013. You might be on to something here...

Chiropractors are GREAT but if the muscles are tight or imbalanced, they’ll pull things back out of place over time. Things like this can absolutely happen from old injuries.
You’d be surprised how many times I’ve asked someone if they’ve ever injured a specific body part because of what I’m feeling.... and they did.
Looks like you’re getting lots of great suggestions on this thread though!

That's why I love my chiropractor. He addresses both muscle AND bone. The addressing of the muscle is a bit painful (mostly because my muscles are all very tight) but it helps.

I just did Balanced Rider UK's "10 Days to Better Riding" program and it's the best $65 I ever spent. You get 10 videos of a 5-7 minute posture correction that's related to riding issues- forward tipping, "wonky sitting", hunched shoulders... all addressed. Super simple and quick, so sustainable, but so far very helpful to deepening my seat and improving my posture in the saddle.

https://balancedrider.co.uk/squeeze-page9698601

scruffy the cat wrote:I just did Balanced Rider UK's "10 Days to Better Riding" program and it's the best $65 I ever spent. You get 10 videos of a 5-7 minute posture correction that's related to riding issues- forward tipping, "wonky sitting", hunched shoulders... all addressed. Super simple and quick, so sustainable, but so far very helpful to deepening my seat and improving my posture in the saddle.

https://balancedrider.co.uk/squeeze-page9698601

Actually, Scruffy, I sent her the link of the wonky sitting you posted recently on Facebook!

Ryeissa wrote:This is a great book

The Riding Doctor
Beth Glosten, MD

After leaving horses behind for many years to pursue her medical career, Dr. Beth Glosten decided it was time to ride again only to discover that, as a middle-aged woman, she struggled with tension, awkwardness, and an aching back. Dr. Glosten’s own frustration with riding prompted her to apply her clinical research skills to figure out what it would take to not only create the harmonious picture of horse and rider moving together, but also feel good while doing it.

I was going to suggest Pilates after reading the OP. And came to this - took classes with Beth ~15 years ago, it's quite useful - sitting on a ball as I type, LOL.