{"piano":{"sandbox":"false","aid":"u28R38WdMo","rid":"R7EKS5F","offerId":"OF3HQTHR122A","offerTemplateId":"OTQ347EHGCHM"}}
Trending:

3 simple mounted exercises to improve your strength and balance in the saddle from a five-star event rider and top coach

Riding ability may be partly talent – both of the horse and rider – but there are ways we can improve our technique to become better riders. Here, we look at three exercises that work specifically to build our strength and balance, in this first part of a series on rider technique exclusively for H&H subscribers
Bethany Stone Bethany Stone

    • Horse rider strength and balance go hand in hand, as five-star eventer and BHS Fellow Kylie Roddy explains: “If you imagine carrying a backpack that’s heavier on one side than the other, it’ll be harder for you to walk. So, if you aren’t balanced on your horse, it’s going to have the same effect.”

    Balance requires stability, which means conditioning the muscles.

    “It takes strength to stabilise your pelvis, and a lot of muscle groups are involved,” Kylie continues, adding that it’s all-encompassing, not just the core. “Your abs and back, hip flexors and glutes, all the way to the quads in the front of your legs; all those muscle systems work to balance you, so they all need to be strong.”

    According to Kylie, lack of condition in these muscle groups might lead riders to rely on other ways to balance, such as their reins.

    “You quite often see people with a lot of weight in the heel and their leg forward,” she adds. “A balanced rider has their ear, shoulder, hip and heel in a vertical line. If that line isn’t vertical, then the rider is out of balance with their horse.”

    Correct rider position: Horse rider training for strength and balance

    You should be able to draw a vertical line from the rider’s ear, through the shoulder and hip to the heel. Credit: Lucy Merrell

    Strength is also important because muscle fatigue impacts the quality of your riding.

    “If you go into a dressage test after a 30-minute warm-up, but that’s also the time it takes to reach your muscle fatigue zone, then you’re going into your test and will be doing your best work with tired muscles.”

    How to improve horse rider strength and balance at home

    “Keeping your ear, shoulder hip and heel in the vertical line is the easiest way to check that you’re in balance,” says Kylie. “It’s great if you’ve got arena mirrors, because every time you ride past, you can check yourself. If you don’t, ask someone with good eyes who knows what to look for to watch you.”

    If you need to adjust your position regularly, it’s a sign you lack some of the strength you need for balance in the saddle. The good news? It’s easy to incorporate fitness exercises into your busy equestrian life to target these groups. The best news? You can do it mounted.

    • Have you tried these horse rider strength and balance exercises? Let us know how you got on by emailing hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and country, for the chance to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

    You may also enjoy reading…

    Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2025 with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

    You may like...