I focus on you, the rider. How you are functioning in the saddle and how it is affecting your riding ability.
There are many reasons why you do the things you do. Such as habits, learned behavior following a fall, or fight or flight responses.
Where Rider Biomechanics looks at how you should use your body. It’s not always that straightforward. To help you progress and move forwards the cause needs to be addressed rather than the symptoms.
For example. If you tend to collapse forward during transitions you will want to fix that. However, without understanding why you do it you will always continue to do so.
You may be worried that your horse may bolt or spook. So to stop you from collapsing we need to improve your confidence by giving you the ability to control your horse through your body. In turn, you will, over time, stop collapsing so much as this is a defense mechanism.
Previous Rider Sessions with Clare
Take a look below at some of Clare’s sessions with Riders
Clinic Dates
Ridden Clinic – at Diana Burgess Equestrian
SP11 9BB
Saturday 1st June 2024
The 45min sessions explore any issues in your posture and/or performance that you may be experiencing. Using specific coaching cues and aids to give you an insight and ‘feel’ of the positive changes, in yourself and your horse, that can occur when you use your body correctly.
Please click the link to book your slot on your preferred date and time.
You will receive a reminder of your session 3 days prior with bank details. Please transfer your £55 to confirm your slot upon receipt of your 3 day reminder. This will confirm your slot.
Ridden Clinic – at Diana Burgess Equestrian
SP11 9BB
Sunday 7th July 2024
The 45min sessions explore any issues in your posture and/or performance that you may be experiencing. Using specific coaching cues and aids to give you an insight and ‘feel’ of the positive changes, in yourself and your horse, that can occur when you use your body correctly.
Please click the link to book your slot on your preferred date and time.
You will receive a reminder of your session 3 days prior with bank details. Please transfer your £55 to confirm your slot upon receipt of your 3 day reminder. This will confirm your slot.
Ridden Clinic – at Diana Burgess Equestrian
SP11 9BB
Sunday 11th August 2024
The 45min sessions explore any issues in your posture and/or performance that you may be experiencing. Using specific coaching cues and aids to give you an insight and ‘feel’ of the positive changes, in yourself and your horse, that can occur when you use your body correctly.
Please click the link to book your slot on your preferred date and time.
You will receive a reminder of your session 3 days prior with bank details. Please transfer your £55 to confirm your slot upon receipt of your 3 day reminder. This will confirm your slot.
Karen is fairly new to riding after taking over her horse from her daughter. She has come a long way but is now looking to improve her position and confidence more.
Although Karen was fairly confident in her outlook to riding it was clear that how she was using her body to ride was making her unstable. Her instability was making her feel vulnerable.
A large majority of riders don't know they do, even the higher-level riders. However, when riding like this it causes greater instability, making you more vulnerable and unable to provide clear effective aids.
Many riders when starting or returning to riding tend to grip with their inside thighs and use their knees to stabilise themselves. The main reason riders do this is because it is a natural automated reaction. When you are worried, you instinctively grip. It doesn't help that it is also taught in riding schools.
You are telling the horse to slow by gripping but squeezing/kicking asking for go. The lower leg swings around and constantly nag the horse. You tip forward and backward with the stride of the horse and are prone to collapse through transitions.
In this session, we used the Franklin Balls to give immediate feedback to Karen, every time she gripped. I also gave coaching cues to consciously squeeze the glutes to push her up into the rising trot position and control the downward motion to sit. After 5 minutes, we took the balls away and Karen used her body, engaging the right muscles to stabilise her and move with her boy. You will see that occasionally, Karen loses control and the lower leg swings, she grips and struggles to rise and sit.
As a Coach, it's my job to see how I can make the most impact in the short time that we have. For Charlotte, it was showing her how to be more independent in the saddle so she was less vulnerable and her horse could work more through their body and learn to balance themselves.
Rein length was a concern here as the horse needed its neck to balance and with the restriction, it was creating hollowness and rigidness. To allow Charlotte to let some of the rein go. We worked on creating a positive push up and forward rising trot using the glutes and bringing the shoulder blades together to control the contact through the shoulder, not the arms.
Engaging Charlotte's posterior chain (the back portion of the body) meant that she was able to support the anterior (front portion). Instead of the front doing all the work resulting in a collapsed and vulnerable seat.
Charlotte's position did improve and the wandering leg was resolved in the process. Most importantly, both horse and rider experienced what it 'felt' like to work independently, to work together.
Karen has a more independent seat and is no longer giving mixed signals of go and slow. She is not reliant on the reins and has a purpose in her session. As a result, her horse is more forward, using his body better, is more balanced, and has started to develop muscle in the right places.
This is massive progress for a rider who rides 1-2 times per week.
Improving your riding is more than just becoming better in the saddle. It is developing self-belief that you can progress. You can become more confident in your abilities and enjoy riding more.
Karen has achieved all those things. What you see in this video is more than a rider who has become more independent in their seat. It is a rider who is assertive, focused, happy, and has a plan of action to get to where she wants to be.
She understands that it is a process and she will continue to make progress if she keeps working on herself as a rider. Her reward is the positive impact it has on her horse and her feeling of achievement.
It's important to understand that these changes take time. For horse and rider. We typically put too much unrealistic pressure on ourselves and our horses to be at a certain point by a given age or timeline.
Progress is progress.
Nicki was using the front part of her body (anterior dominat) which mean that with every stride she was being pulled forwards rather than leaning. Her centre of gravity shifted, she came out of the saddle and was vulnerable to a fall.
By refocusing her to use her shoulder girdle to stabilise her contact. Lifting her rib cage to engage core with her back and glutes engaged she was able to move more fluidly with him. Was more secure in the saddle and was able to control the speed through subtle squeezes from her pelvis.
Obviously I didn’t say all that! 🤣
I provide easy ‘cues’ that Nicki could remember but understood exactly what I was asking so she could execute and remember when she got home.
By improving the posture to facilitate the movement of the horse. Nicki became more stable. Because she was stable and learnt to use her body to communicate. She felt more confident and in control.
When coaching. It’s important to understand how a rider is using their body. It’s not a case of just sitting up, heels down, breathe. Details matter.
If you can pinpoint what’s creating the negative the rest falls into place.
‘Using’ your inside thighs to lightly grip and still the pelvis is part of the aid to slow and half halt. So when you ride with these muscles constantly engaged. What are you asking? What are you teaching your horse?
More importantly why are you then saying ‘No, I want you forward’. When your body is saying otherwise? - So confusing.
Kim has lovely giving arms and soft hands which makes this video overall look good. A good representation of the majority of riders.
There are moments when her horse looks round which makes it even more ‘pleasing’. But is it true roundness?
The way we use our bodies has such an impact. Using the wrong muscles has a big impact in our horses way of going and ability to use their bodies correctly.
We would all love our horses to be round and through. This takes time. They must first learn to use their bodies correctly. Be in front of the movement and balance. Only when they have mastered that can they start to ‘perfect’. Dropping the head and more into the contact.
In the after video the horse is using their body much more efficiently. Over time he will gain strength in the right muscles that will allow him to be more ‘elegant’ with it.
Same for Kim. Her legs are off, the horses is travelling. If she starts to improve her strength, the right way, off the horse. Her lower leg will become more stable. From her hip.
The way you use your bodies have an impact on how your horses move.
Yes, we could improve her position but overall it’s good. For where she is right now. What affects her position is when she becomes nervous. Sally adopts the fetal position, clamps on and uses the reins as stabilisers. With the reins short already this affects Spirits ability to use his body and causes a greater negative reaction in Sally's position with each stride.
Right now, she lacks feeling in control which is the CAUSE of her position holding her back.
I could give her coaching cues, take the knees of the saddle, improve the lumber curvature, have more weight through the stirrups. Ride more through the shoulder than the arms but all of that is pointless. Because until she understands how much control she does have. Believes in herself. She will never be independent in her seat and will always go to her ‘flight’ response.
I taught Sally that she could ask for go, whoa and more energy through her body. Starting in walk. Sally quickly grasped how to stop, start and control the tempo without picking up the contact. Progressing to trot and repeating.
Feeling empowered by her achievements we went for canter too!!
Now Sally isn’t reliant on the reins, Spirit is able to work effectively through his body, use his lengthened neck to balance and is not getting mixed signals to move forward and stop at the same time.
Now they can start working with each other, not against. It’s essential we improve causes, not symptoms. Otherwise you never really make any improvements. Just create more problems.
Organise a Clinic
If you would like to organise a Ridden Session Clinic please fill in the contact form below. Or call Clare – 07920 445979. As an organiser your session is free as long as you have an additional 6 riders to participate.
Clare is more than willing to travel the UK to provide a Clinic. Providing there are a minimum of 8 riders. The individual sessions will be a total of 45mins each.
Cost of each Session is £45. This excludes any facilities cost that may apply.
Travel is calculated at £0.45p from TF9. And the total travel cost is split among the total number of riders and added to the cost of each session. Depending on location, other travel expenses may apply.