Ow! new position, new muscles found...

[virtuallyhorses]

Have been working hard with my instructor on various aspects of my position for a while now and its all been coming together nicely - had a video lesson with her the other day and Urrggh! how horrible I looked !! but it was fabulous because I saw the 'last piece' of the puzzle so clearly. (OK, I KNOW its not the last piece but humour me here )

I went out the next morning and rode like Anky (we're still humouring me right people !?) Next morning I am sore in the most unusual places - the centre of my diaphragm and a couple of unusual spots in my bum.

But I can't tell you how good it feels to ride like this.. and Imp seems pretty chuffed too! (which is always my guide)

Downside - the addiction is very strong now... I want more horses so that I can ride more often and find the next level, and the next ... ...

The photo attached is from the video footage - so if you like it is a 'before' shot

[mikka]

What did you do differently?

[virtuallyhorses]

Have been getting instruction to 'bend my elbows' , 'loosen my knees', 'bring my bottom more under me' and\or bring my shoulders back.....

From the video (and my own feeling of what my body was or wasn't doing) I could see that actually all of these instructions actually meant that by lower torso wasn't 'pushed' forward and down.

My hips, or more particularly my hip sockets for my thigh bones are much wider than they had been and these in turn push my thigh bone down (the visible change to my instructor is that my knee is loose, but this isn't what my feeling is).

At the same time my core torso muscles are working a lot harder - they are pushing (and I mean pushing) my torso from hip to thorax forward and down.

The combination of movements also involve my glutes (butt muscles) to ensure that my pelvis doesn't over-rotate they must hold some tension in some quite deep muscles over the outside of the hip socket area to secure the seat bones on the saddle.

I believe that this is what Mary Wanless refers to as the pinch - but I have always disliked that term and even now I can't deal with it. (Certainly the muscles pinch ouch! if you go too hard the first time)

My best attempt for an analogy is the limbo - you know when you limbo you stand wide with your feet and hips and push your stomach\torso under the bar.

Once I have used this torso push\hip stretch my shoulder\hip\heel is always correct (without me attempting to throw my shoulders back or other disruptive behaviours) and my back remains supple because it is my abdominal muscles doing a lot of the work rather than me fussing about trying to force my spine to take this angle or that...


Now in writing this I find myself in the same dilemma as an instructor trying to explain what I have physically done

[mikka]

No! Forget instructorese, it makes sense! I'm going to copy your post to my daughter and watch her de- and re-construct it as she learns - she's far more likely than I to gain from your experience. This is really good information. Thanks.

[virtuallyhorses]

I'm a very visual learner Mikka, so I often find that I 'click' on certain concepts or ideas by comparing myself to photos (lots) from magazines or books.

In this case the instructor could see my edges falling off but when I looked at photos I understood that it was my core that had collapsed. - urrggh now that sounds like instructor-ese Anway I looked at photos of good riders and their torso always looked so strong, straight and forward in comparison to mine...

[mikka]

Viv, I meant to say last post ('scuse choice of words) that I loved the limbo image - it really clicked for me. I did have my daughter read your description and we discussed it at length. Last night I was able to see her put it into action. It worked. It was quite amazing to watch the whole of her thorax and abdomen open up. She lengthened downward in the thigh and used her backside much more effectively. My transformation was a little less elegant. I turned into the riding version of a soccer mom. Everytime I saw her resort back to the old posture, I pranced up and down the viewer gallery pretending to limbo in the hope of catching her eye. Bit of amusement at my expense on the part of the other parents and a huge source of embarrassment to my daughter. Thankfully, she has an instructor who suffers my antics and interruptions with grace.

Thanks for a wonderful explanation. Next it's my turn to put it into practice.

[mikka]

Viv, I got to try out your suggestion about the quasi-limbo posture and tightened bum today and it worked. I felt that my hip joint was being nicely stretched which moved my thighs downward and opened up my abdomen.

After lots of kudos from my instructor, I mentioned your analogy to her. She thought for a long moment (a purist) then said, "yes, that's a really good visual." Oooh, I'm so thrilled with myself! I looked at myself in the manege mirrors and I looked so balanced. It was quite amazing. (Sorry if I sound big headed, but I was really pleased with how solid I felt in the saddle.)

[virtuallyhorses]

cool!! yes that feeling of solidity was the thing that struck me - I know exactly how you feel! Its the whole 'down' thing that clicks with the limbo image - its so different from trying to push your feet down all the time isn't it! On to the next problem now ... you're turn to come up with the analogy this time