Rider’s position

Veronique Bartin, horse rider instructor of the Alexander program, will show you a series of small exercises to practise a few minutes before getting in the saddle.
As Michel Robert says:
 “Riders don’t pay enough attention to their physical fitness. However, we know that the rider’s stiffness, muscle or joint tightness have a direct impact on the horse. The slightest tension in an arm, the hips, or even an ankle…will impact directly the horse’s motion and his freedom of movement. If we require our horse to be supple and loosened, let’s start with the same level of demand for ourselves. To become supple and fit doesn’t require the same training as a high level professional athlete, so everyone can do it.

Practising a few progressive and simple suppleness exercises is already a good start. When you start your riding session, it seems obvious to you to warm up your horse before any serious work. So why to not do the same with our own bodies before getting in the saddle?

That’s what Veronique shows us today in this video with a few simple yet progressive exercises to practise every day. It will take you only a few minutes but it will save you some time in your riding practice.
We are going to learn how to get each part of our body straighter, more relaxed and supple with this very simple set of exercises to be practised standing up in the barn near your horse with no accessories or a dedicated space.

his second part of the exercise is quite difficult and can be achieved only if both the rider and horse master it at the walk and the trot. This is the reason why the rider has to take his time to practise the exercise and can practise it over several sessions. To be successful practising the exercise at a canter, the horse needs to be available and the rider needs to anticipate and plan ahead correctly.  The goal is to keep some light and discreet aids. Therefore if the rider has to flail, twist himself, pull or push, or even if he needs to use strength, there is no point in practising this exercise yet. So it is necessary to achieve one step at a time at the lower gaits before trying it at the canter.

This exercise is linked to the sheet A7 of the Training Program 1

We know that horses and riders are all, more or less, asymmetrical: more supple to the right, stiffer to the left for example. It is important to be aware of it as it can affect the correct execution of a movement such as the accuracy of the track. The rider has to aim for a symmetric position and some symmetric aids to avoid confusing and misusing the horse. This is what Michel’s new exercise is intended for. The set-up is extremely easy but it proves to be very effective to challenge the rider’s ability to keep his horse on a precise track. The goal is to direct the horse with almost no hand aid, but simply with the position and a few discrete leg influence. To successfully execute this exercise, the rider has to be able to plan ahead each phase of this exercise.

This exercise is linked to the sheet A7 of the Training Program 1

According to Michel, it is essential that horses know how to rein-back. It is a good suppleness exercise which gives the horse awareness of his whole body and particularly his hind quarter. Frequently horses have a hard time to connect their front end to their hind end. It is even truer with young horses who focus more on their front end that their hind end. The rein-back is a good solution to solve this issue as it asks the horse to use the hind-leg joints while increasing the energy flow along the horse’s spine. Therefore, the rein-back is an excellent exercise to improve the horse’s pushing power and the suppleness of his back.

However, the rein-back will only benefit your horse if it is correctly performed. Unfortunately, too many riders force the rein-back by leaning back and pulling on their horse’s mouth, and this is counter-productive.

Alice came to stay a few days for a clinic at Michel Robert’s yard. The first videos show Alice’s preliminary flat work lessons. Alice’s horse is overwhelmed as it’s his first time working in a field. Open spaces, other horses around, news jumps ….all are excuses for him to express his joy! During this lesson, Michel will emphasise on the body position and mind-set the rider needs to adopt, in order to deal with her horse’s emotions, while working him with no excessive constraints. This lesson will show you that it’s possible to control a high energy level horse without any rein-aids or other kind of coercive methods which can ruin the horse’s mind and body.
 

Alice came to stay a few days for a clinic at Michel Robert’s yard. The first videos show Alice’s preliminary flat work lessons. Alice’s horse is overwhelmed as it’s his first time working in a field. Open spaces, other horses around, news jumps ….all are excuses for him to express his joy! During this lesson, Michel will emphasise on the body position and mind-set the rider needs to adopt, in order to deal with her horse’s emotions, while working him with no excessive constraints. This lesson will show you that it’s possible to control a high energy level horse without any rein-aids or other kind of coercive methods which can ruin the horse’s mind and body.
 

Alice came to stay a few days for a clinic at Michel Robert’s yard. The first videos show Alice’s preliminary flat work lessons. Alice’s horse is overwhelmed as it’s his first time working in a field. Open spaces, other horses around, news jumps ….all are excuses for him to express his joy! During this lesson, Michel will emphasise on the body position and mind-set the rider needs to adopt, in order to deal with her horse’s emotions, while working him with no excessive constraints. This lesson will show you that it’s possible to control a high energy level horse without any rein-aids or other kind of coercive methods which can ruin the horse’s mind and body.
 

During the preliminary flat work session, Alice was able to get in control of her horse thanks to Michel's advice.

However, her horse, Pharaon, still has a lot of energy, and gets excited around jumps. This kind of behaviour is most of the time reinforced by the rider’s physical and mind sets. The goal of this session is to channel this overflow of energy by riding with a position close to what Michel calls the perfect position.  Michel noticed that Alice has a good position approaching fences but gets unbalanced over the fence: her hips move backwards and her legs forward…which results into a loss of control on landing. Michel will give her some tips that will help her maintain a good position before, over and after the jump.

During the preliminary flat work session, Alice was able to get in control of her horse thanks to Michel's advice.

However, her horse, Pharaon, still has a lot of energy, and gets excited around jumps. This kind of behaviour is most of the time reinforced by the rider’s physical and mind sets. The goal of this session is to channel this overflow of energy by riding with a position close to what Michel calls the perfect position.  Michel noticed that Alice has a good position approaching fences but gets unbalanced over the fence: her hips move backwards and her legs forward…which results into a loss of control on landing. Michel will give her some tips that will help her maintain a good position before, over and after the jump.

During the preliminary flat work session, Alice was able to get in control of her horse thanks to Michel's advice.

However, her horse, Pharaon, still has a lot of energy, and gets excited around jumps. This kind of behaviour is most of the time reinforced by the rider’s physical and mind sets. The goal of this session is to channel this overflow of energy by riding with a position close to what Michel calls the perfect position.  Michel noticed that Alice has a good position approaching fences but gets unbalanced over the fence: her hips move backwards and her legs forward…which results into a loss of control on landing. Michel will give her some tips that will help her maintain a good position before, over and after the jump.