Strides for Success

Tag: riding comeback

  • Self Assessment and Your Riding – Your Comeback to Riding

    Self Assessment and Your Riding – Your Comeback to Riding

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    So you’re back in the saddle. It feels amazing and you love how each ride is jam-packed with learning new things and rediscovering little things you’d forgotten. However, once the initial excitement begins to wear off, you’ll probably start thinking about how to improve your skills.

    Self-assessment is a skill all riders can practice and improve. And it is essential if you want to improve your riding – and your horse’s overall way of going.

    The challenge can be knowing what to look for.  Being able to identify the root cause of an issue from a symptom of something else. This takes practice. Here’s a few things to look out for in those initial rides to create a solid foundation for your comeback to riding.

    Your Posture and Position

    It all starts here. If you are sitting correctly in the saddle, the chances of everything else working as they should increase dramatically.  From allowing the horse to move, to remaining balanced through transitions.  From your aids and overall communication to being able to help your horse to use it’s body better.

    Start with checking your ‘lines’; ‘head shoulder hip heel’ and ‘elbow, wrist, thumb, rein, bit’. Pay special attention to your shoulders being above your hips – not in front of or behind. 

    From here, think about your posture. Are you modeling ‘self-carriage’ for your horse? Are you creating ‘space’ between your ribs and your hips?  Doing this will allow your seat to open up and more easily communicate with your horse.

    Weight Distribution

    Once you feel like you’re in a good space position wise, think about how you are distributing your weight while in the saddle.  Ideally, you want an equal amount of you on the left as on the right. And then, as you work with your horse, you can begin to notice how your weight might shift and change.

    A great exercise to help with this part of your self assessment is to make sure both of your seat bones are equal distance from an imaginary line from cantle to pommel on your saddle. 

    You will probably find that while this is pretty simple to achieve and maintain in walk, your weight might start shifting in trot and canter. Especially when riding through corners and bends. Spend time in each of your riding sessions working on this.  And then test yourself regularly with how long you can maintain the ‘balance’.

    You can also play with riding without stirrups and notice if this changes your position, posture, and how you distribute your weight…

    Tension and Gripping

    For many riders, there is something strange that often happens when trying to improve riding skills; excessive tension through the body.  This is especially true when a rider, after running through a quick self-assessment, begins trying to either try to ‘hold’ a better position or posture! Relaxation and suppleness are essential for both you and your horse!  This is why I recommend practicing in the walk first and then building slowly from there.

    Remember, if you need to use excessive tension or ‘gripping’ to keep things correct and aligned when riding your horse, those things are NOT correct to begin with! 

    One of the most basic foundational elements of training when it comes to horses is relaxation. In order for this principle to really be present, both horse and rider must embrace and work into it. Excessive tension, such as gripping, being rigid, holding on to the reins, and bracing through the body all work against true relaxation. And this will, over time begin to show up in your horse’s way of going as well.

    Responsiveness

    Finally, I would suggest working on improving the overall responsiveness between you and your horse. This is definitely a trained behaviour.  This means that if your horse is not as responsive as you would like, someone has probably trained him that way, either intentionally or not!

    When working on improving responsiveness, the key is to recognise and put into practice what your role is in the dynamic… You ‘ASK’ and then your horse “RESPONDS’.

    It is not. your job to move the horse or to make the horse move or do anything.  Your job is to make sure you are in the right place (your position), with the correct level of tension through your body (your posture and relaxation), so that when you apply your aids correctly, your horse can respond to those aids. That’s it.  Okay, and I realize this is easier said than done.

    Self Assessment by Asking Questions

    When you begin to ‘ask’ questions and then pay close attention to your horse’s response, you have a baseline that you can now begin working with.  You can now tell where you are both at in your riding so that you can start to identify what needs to stop happening, change, or improve.

    Often, your self assessment will show you that changes are needed for both yourself and your horse; my advice is to focus on what you can control first – YOU!

    Get your basics under more control.  Understand how what you are doing is impacting the overall conversation and how you can begin making those small changes that will create a huge transformation. The basics are essential.  Your position, posture, basic aids, and moving with the horse. When you can start improving these things, the whole ride will begin to improve – you and your horse.

    Happy Riding
    Lorna

    Your Riding Comeback

    Your journey back to riding is as unique as you are. While you can draw inspiration from various plans and advice, remember to tailor them to fit your individual path and circumstances.

    If you’re seeking assistance with your riding comeback, consider our program ‘Returning to Riding.‘ In just 9 weeks, we’ll help you solidify your basics and transition from passenger to confident rider alongside your horse.

    With private 1 to 1 coaching, easy-to-follow audio lessons, and personalized weekly reviews, you’ll see yourself progress from feeling unbalanced to mastering clear communication and improving your horse’s performance.

    Through 9 weeks of private coaching sessions, we’ll provide the support you need via secure video, voice, and text. Plus, our proven program can be revisited with your horse anytime to refine both your skills.

    Explore Returning to Riding today for more details and start your journey back to the saddle!

    Get Going Again in Your Riding:-

    Daily Strides Premium is back! The first and original audio horse riding lessons you can use to improve your riding, train your horse, keep things interesting, have fun… Even if you don’t have a trainer or coach

    Connect with Lorna online:-

  • Your Riding Comeback – Creating Something You Love!

    Your Riding Comeback – Creating Something You Love!

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    In order to make your riding comeback a lasting one, you will have to begin spending more time in the saddle than you have been recently. It makes sense, right?!  And yet, while clocking up those minutes and hours in the saddle each week can initially ‘seem’ to be a win… They are likely working against you and your horse in the long run.
    This is because when we ride for the sake of just riding (clock-in riding), we tend to become a little too ‘lax’ about some of the things. The basic things that lay the foundation for everything else.
    And when you begin to allow the small things to slide, chances are the bigger things will follow suit pretty quickly. This usually holds true for you, the rider, and your horse, especially in your training and development.
    So, instead of just riding for the sake of riding, I’m challenging you to begin getting a little more strategic and intentional with each of your training sessions with your horse. Yes, not just ‘rides’, but training sessions.

    Training Sessions Versus ‘Rides’

    Often, this one simple shift in how we think and talk about what we are doing with our horses can be enough. When you approach a ride as a training session, your mind will immediately begin wondering about what you are actually ‘training’ on… What is the focus for that particular session together?
    And when each ride becomes an opportunity to train and develop, you can begin to set up a more strategic plan to string those rides together to create something more…
    Picture in your. mind a handmade bead necklace. If some thought and ‘intention’ went into the creation of that necklace, you will, usually, be able to identify a pattern of sorts regarding the beads, their placement, and how they all relate to each other. The beads can all vary in size, shape, and colour – but they will usually relate in some way to the one that came before and the one that comes after. They ‘follow through’ to each other. And the result is a well-crafted necklace that is balanced and aesthetically pleasing.

    “…Your training sessions are like those beads. Each one should ‘lead’ or ‘relate’ to both the one before and after… And if you can string them together, it will result in changes to your riding…”

    All Work and No Play?

    Let’s go back to talking about that necklace again… A well-designed one will, usually, have a little variety in it as well. And this is also essential when making your riding comeback. Again, it is all about being intentional. I believe that all riding and training plans need to include three separate types of ‘rides’ with your horse; fun, partnership, and training. The ratio of these to each other will depend on what your goals are. Both long and short-term.
    When we forget to include (or intentionally omit) any of these three elements, things can begin to feel repetitive and even boring in our riding.
    I have spoken about these on separate episodes of the Daily Strides Podcast which I will link to. Each post includes a list of activities you can use to help you spark ideas – and begin ‘stringing’ along to help you create an intentional riding plan.

    Being Flexible

    Once you have identified the basics for your rides over the next two weeks, it simply becomes about following your plan. And keep in mind that horses have a great way of teaching us to be supple and flexible in our approach to plans! I highly recommend building ‘wiggle room’ into your plan. And this applies to both yourself, your horse, and the training.  There will be days when your schedule won’t match up to your plan. Be flexible and see what you can change, shuffle, or adjust, either with the schedule or the training session.
    There will also be days when energy levels, attitudes, or moods won’t ‘line up’ with the session that’s planned.
    Rather than pushing through and potentially putting both of your training backward, maybe swap out a training session for a partnership or fun session.  The goal is to create something that works for you and your horse. And that keeps you both inspired and moving forward – rather than just riding for the sake of riding.

    Patterns & Balance

    Finally, when you do find something that works well for you and your horse, use it. Let it be the thing that helps you create a pattern, or a rhythm throughout our rides. This could be a particular groundpole exercise, a certain trail ride, or a groundwork exercise. It could be a massage, a way of grooming, or a specific warm-up or cool-down routine.
    Whatever it is, if it works, use it to help you create a pattern – think of the beads in the necklace – for the coming two or three weeks.
    Over time, it will probably change again, and this is where you will have to dig into your suppleness. However, if something is working – use it.
    Your riding does not and should not be to simply clock in a certain number of hours in the saddle each week.
    While this might get you going in the short term, it is simply not sustainable – and your comeback will fizzle out before it ever really gets going for you and your horse.
    Happy Riding
    Lorna

    Your Comeback to Riding

    You are unique as a rider. So it makes sense that your journey back to regular riding will be yours and yours alone.  Keep in mind that you can look to different plans and advice for inspiration. However, each should be then tweaked to suit your individual journey and circumstances.

    If you would like help with your comeback to riding, make sure you check out Returning to Riding. 9 weeks to get your basics onto autopilot so that you can make the transition from passenger to ‘rider’ for you and your horse. We will work together, using easy-to-follow audio horse riding lessons and weekly video reviews to help you transform your riding.

    Experience how you will go from feeling ‘floppy’, unbalanced, and lacking confidence in your abilities when in the saddle, to gaining control of your body and aids, practicing clear communication, and actually improving how your horse goes while being ridden. 

    With 9 weeks of private, 1 to 1 coaching with me over a secure video, voice, and text app, you will have all the support you need – and a proven program you can re-do with your horse time and again to polish both of your skills.

    Make sure you check out Returning to Riding today for all of the information.

    Happy Riding
    Lorna

    Get Going Again in Your Riding:-

    Daily Strides Premium is back! The first and original audio horse riding lessons you can use to improve your riding, train your horse, keep things interesting, have fun… Even if you don’t have a trainer or coach

    Connect with Lorna online:-