Rider Biomechanics – its more than just achieving the perfect position!

Firstly, lets look into the definition of Biomechanics.

Sports Biomechanics is a quantitative based study and analysis of athletes and sports activities in general. To put it simply, “it’s the physics of sports”.

Rider biomechanics looks at the riders ability to move and position their body in the necessary ways that riding demands. It looks further into how we stabilise and move our body against the external forces applied from the horses movement.

Riding is 3 dimensional, meaning that there are forces applied to our body in multiple directions that we need to counteract/ stabilise:

·       Gravitational forces

·       Axial forces

·       Rotational Forces

·       Centrifugal forces/ lateral forces

It is more than just creating a perfect score for riding in your test, it can help improve the riders proprioceptive awareness, which is your body’s ability to sense movement, actions and know where your body parts are ‘’in space’’. The riders feel is a natural instinct where a rider anticipates the horse and instinctively feels and makes minute adjustments in their body and position. A specific focus on your position, awareness, weaknesses and asymmetries can benefit you in many ways including more coordinated recruitment of motor firing units, muscle activation and improved mobility/ joint range of motion.

If the rider is unbalanced through asymmetries, instability or rigidity/ stiffness, this can have negative effects on your stabilisation of your centre of gravity and increases forces throughout your body. The different forces from the horse’s movement is transferred onto us and needs to be transferred somewhere, hopefully within our muscles, as they are dynamic and elastic structures designed for force absorption. Our body can’t just absorb force, but by “transferring” the force to our muscles, our muscles then create contractions in the opposite direction to counteract it. If the muscles are too rigid from weakness or tension, or not able to counteract a contraction this creates more movement and load on other structures not designed for that. This then loads our joints, tendons, ligaments and bones, which are more stiff structures not designed for significant shock absorption, often too weak to cope and can increase risk of injury and pain. This can also have a negative impact on the horses gait, movement patterns, pelvic position and overall loss of performance.

Common Asymmetries/ terms seen in the saddle:

·       Twisting the trunk and pelvis

·       Collapsing- laterally, anteriorly/ posteriorly

·       Shifting pelvis in the saddle- weight side to side/ uneven distribution

·       Fixing in shoulders, arms/ hands, knees/ legs, shoulder

Common causes:

·       It could be habitual, anatomical or proprioceptive

·       Asymmetrical daily activities - Look at your daily behaviour patterns that cause us to be asymmetrical- looks at how you are sitting right now; legs crossed, weight to one side more? What about daily activities? Mucking out, mounting, sweeping, carrying, computer work, writing, driving

·       Postural problems coupled with poor body awareness

·       Lack of feel for the rhythm of movement

·       Bad habits that have gone un corrected

·       Inadequate, badly fitting saddle

·       Weak/ underactive lateral stabilisers – glute med, biceps femoris, glute max, obliques, core

·       Tight/ overactive: piriformis, latissimus dorsi, quadratus lumborum, upper trapezius, hip flexors

Where do you start and what do you look for?

·       Take a look at your gear- gloves, boots, saddle, breeches to observe the pattern of wear and ask yourself what could have caused that?

·       Take photos and utilise biomechanics apps or photo editing programs- look for vertical and horizontal lines in shoulders, hips, heels, from both side on and behind.

·       Listen and feel your body- where do you feel tight, where is their pain, where are you always sore after riding, what side and aides do you struggle with?

·       Get help from your coach, eyes on the ground or a rider biomechanics specialist

·       Start Exercising! Even non-specific exercise can have great benefits on our body with so many responses more than improvements to riding. Head to my previous blog about how to start exercising.  

·       REMEMBER: To counteract the habits and postural asymmetries you may have developed is hard and isn’t going to be fixed overnight!

Book in for a rider biomechanics assessment to specifically evaluate your position, symmetry and function in the saddle to get a more personalised program to help you.  With the combination of anatomical, biomechanical and sport specific (equestrian) knowledge, it can help you develop an effective riding position, seat and rider fitness enabling performance improvements.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more, get in contact with me via email natasha@eventingphysiologist.com or follow along the journey on our Facebook and Instagram page “The Eventing Physiologist”

Photo curtesy of Oz Shotz