Teach the Basics – Seat- part 5

POSTURE:

Normally I can tell how a person will sit on a horse by how they sit in a chair, sit at their desk in school, stand when they are visiting, or when they are walking.  Sometimes I have a pretty good idea of how you’re going to sit in the saddle as I watch you drive your car up my driveway.

Why? Because posture is a strongly developed physical behavior that translates into riding.

Notice I’m not talking about good posture or bad pasture. That’s because, either way, your posture reveals how you will initially sit, how you use your muscles, and how you line up your body.

THE FORMULA:
If a child spends most of 6 hours sitting at a desk or hauling around a too heavy book bag during school  each day and and then another 3-4 hours sitting in front of the TV, at the computer, at a desk doing homework and at the dinner table, he or she has spent most of about 10 hours almost every day training  muscles to respond in the pattern they unintentionally choose for their body.  The adult adds to that more time in front of a computer, driving the car, sitting at a desk, and all of the other things that are part of adult life. We have a lifetime of training our bodies on a daily basis, for hours at a time, and then we come to our 1 hour riding lesson  where our instructor wants us to sit up, sit evenly, and control our body with “core” muscles. No wonder it’s hard to do.

Heavy Back pack can cause poor posture and back problems

FIRST STEP: Awareness

We’ve created a dilemma for ourselves that isn’t going to be corrected by a few hours at the gym. The first step  in changing how your normal posture effects your riding seat is “awareness”.

“Experts say that poor posture while sitting has become something of an epidemic in the United States. Eighty percent of Americans will cringe with back pain at some point in their lives, and back injuries prove the top reason for missed work, according to the National Institutes of Health.” see https://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=159108 .  Let’s face it. Most of us have poor posture to some degree.

Poor posture leads to back pain, neck pain, poor breathing technique, head aches and weak stomach muscles, all things that effect your seat during riding.  Add that anytime you sit with poor posture for any length of time  you ‘re actually strengthening muscles and shaping spine into a new position.

And while we’re being truthful let’s admit it- we all have extended slouching periods- on the sofa watching a TV show, in the Laz E Boy, or just at the steering wheel of the car.  I cringe when I see drivers who are obviously leaning on the console and spend much of their driving time in a crooked position.

Core Muscles

“The core body muscles, which include the muscles of the stomach or abdomen, are important in posture because they work in tandem with the muscles of the back to hold the body in correct alignment. Weak stomach muscles caused by excess fat, obesity or a lack of physical activity can cause incorrect posture. Conversely, poor posture can weaken these core abdominal muscles. Slouching and hunching over a laptop or desk does not use these muscles correctly, causing them to become slack and weakened over time.” Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/105010-consequences-poor-posture/#ixzz0tUJzH7P1

2ND STEP: Evaluation
If the first step in changing how your normal posture effects your riding seat  is awareness, the second step is “evaluation”.

Personal evaluation isn’t hard and there are a lot of different things to do. When you sit at your computer, see if you feel yourself sitting heavier on one seat bone than the other.  When you walk do you lead with one side of your body?  When you sit in a chair do you support yourself with your stomach (core) muscles or do you roll on to your buttocks and round your back. When driving do you lean to one side or the other? When you sit at your desk do you lean on one arm more frequently? Stand with your back and hips touching the wall.  Does it take the same effort to touch both shoulders to the wall? How about the hips? Hang a piece of butcher paper on the wall and ask a friend to mark your shoulders. Are they even?  When standing, do you support your body with your core muscles? Also evaluate your stiffness from side to side and forward to back.  Are you one sided? A lot of crooked riding is the result of a natural crooked tendency that has never been addressed off the horse making it almost impossible to change in the saddle.

One of the best posture evaluations I’ve ever had was done by a physical therapist.  She rated my posture (which I thought was already pretty good) at only 85% because I jutted my head forward instead of holding my head over my body.  This was probably due to years at my computer and watching my horses’ polls too much.  Physical therapists are one of the best helps to your body for riding because they evaluate, give selected stretches and exercises, and then they evaluate again.

3RD STEP: Conviction
“Conviction” to correct posture flaws, break bad habits, and increase good muscle tone and flexibility should be the result of awareness and body evaluation.  It takes a determined effort to break bad habits and replace them with good ones.  My next blog will give you some ideas for good places to start training yourself in good posture.

Thank you for reading “The Riding Instructor”
Barbara Ellin Fox
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