Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week, we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect, and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: How do you help a rider who is too stiff and carries too much tension in the saddle?
Here are their answers:
“One of the most common things that plagues riders is stiffness in the saddle. Often they want to relax, but when they’re on the horse, they simply don’t know what relaxation is supposed to feel like anymore.
That’s why I rarely start by trying to fix it in the saddle. I start on the ground.
First, I ask riders to think about times when they’re naturally relaxed. Sitting on the couch after a long day. Walking with their hands in their pockets. Those moments when their shoulders are soft, their muscles aren’t working unnecessarily, and their body just feels loose and comfortable.
Then we practice creating tension… and releasing it. Tense your shoulders. Let them go. Tighten your hands. Let them soften. Contract the muscles. Release them. Over and over, we’re teaching the body to recognize the difference between tension and relaxation. It sounds simple, but many riders have become so accustomed to carrying tension that they no longer realize they’re doing it.
Once we’re in the saddle, the very first thing I check is breathing. You’d be amazed how many riders stop breathing the moment they start concentrating! Holding your breath immediately creates more tension throughout the body, so before we worry about anything else, we breathe.
From there, we’ll use little reset exercises throughout the ride. Roll the shoulders. Let them fall. Soften the lower back. Exhale. Relax the jaw. Check in with your body. Then ride on. These tiny moments of awareness gradually become a habit. Instead of riding with unconscious tension, riders learn to recognize it, release it, and return to a softer, more effective position.
Relaxation isn’t something you’re either born with or not. It’s a skill. Like every other part of riding, it can be practiced, developed, and refined—and your horse will thank you for it.” – Janine Little
“In my experience teaching, rider stiffness is a common problem. Rider stiffness is the rigidity of parts of the body which do not move with or follow a horse’s natural way of going.
A free horse is continually losing and regaining its balance, most predominantly at the walk and the canter. At these gaits we see a pronounced balancing gesture of the head and neck. At the trot (moving with diagonal pairs), this gesture is less obvious.
A stiff rider interferes with this natural motion, most often due to hands that are not independent of the body. Riders may brace behind the motion, pull down with their hands for balance, or perch ahead of the center of balance.
Most of these errors are due to position design flaws in need of correction.
In forward riding, the position is based on the stirrup. The lower leg is the base of support. If the lower leg is positioned in front of or behind the natural position, the rider will strive to find balance with stiff, unnatural, and incorrect hand and body position.
I believe rider stiffness has several origins. There are three examples of this.
- Physical weakness
- Poor habits in need of correction
- Mental and emotional stress and perfectionism
Physical weakness comes from a lack of practice with correct training. The beginner or a rider with bad habits must spend hours on the longe line strengthening muscles correctly. They must be taught to ride all three gaits without the use of the reins (reins should be tied in a knot). Riders may grab the mane during times of loss of balance.
Riders who are allowed to continue before they have a secure position are destined for bad habits. Bad habits are much harder to correct than learning correct riding from the start. Muscle memory is real for both good and bad.
When teaching these riders, the trainer should include exercises that give the rider confidence when in the tack. Beginning at the halt, ask the rider to fold forward from the hip, stretching the arms up the neck towards the ears, while maintaining the seat in the saddle. Follow this with stretching the right hand to the left toe and alternating the left hand to the right toe. This continues a stretch and shows the rider that they can stay safe and secure in the tack, even when they have a dramatic shift in balance. The key to these exercises is keeping the lower leg in the correct position.
Fun activities like ‘around the world’ further develop confidence and balance. The rider should become proficient with these exercises at the halt and walk.
Additionally, the ability to hold the reins with the outside hand and make large swinging circles with the inside hand is also helpful.
Dropping and picking up irons should also be incorporated during each session.
These exercises should be repeated often to develop strength and body awareness.
Riders need to understand that they have a responsibility to be fit and of appropriate weight. They must train unmounted to be in their best physical condition. Horses are not furniture. The rider is an athlete who is mindful of their impact on the horse.
Position flaws and habits are often the result of pushing a rider too quickly, or allowing them to perform exercises which are too difficult to master before they have a secure lower leg and independent hands. Oftentimes, trainers fail to creatively keep students at a lower level before allowing them to move up. Trainers and riders must learn and accept that forward riding is a progressive system. Skills build upon one another. If steps are skipped, both horse and rider suffer the consequences.
Position flaws are corrected by riding without irons and by dedicated practice on the longe line.
Mental and emotional stress and perfectionism also contribute to stiffness and tension in the tack. Riders who do not understand or ‘own’ the never-ending nature of trial and error become frustrated. They tend to treat the horse as a static object. This translates into rider stiffness, and frequently, destabilization of the horse. Mental and emotional blocks make it challenging for the rider to ‘let go’. They tend to micromanage their horses. They tend to hang on the horses’ mouths. This causes the horse’s natural movement to be disrupted. This creates an unbalanced and stiff horse, which makes the rider nervous and anxious. A cycle begins which is not easily broken.
Creative periods of ‘safe silliness’ in a lesson can sometimes help perfectionist riders. Such exercises can help the tense rider to ‘lighten up’ both physically and mentally. Playing games such as red light green light provides a ‘silly way’ to stop and go without concern.
Another silly but effective training idea is to give the rider a small cup of water. Students must hold the water with the inside hand at the walk, trot, and canter (if safe enough). The goal is not to spill the water.
The focus on the water rather than the horse or being perfect gives riders freedom. The result is a more relaxed and enjoyable experience. No one can be perfect while holding water and giggling!
Teaching periods of intentional “floppiness” can also be helpful. Holding the mane in two point gives security while they try to be “mushy”.
Bareback riding is an excellent way to help these riders as well. It’s very difficult to be locked up and stiff while riding a round, slippery body. Riders should be encouraged to practice the earlier exercises while riding bareback to develop confidence.
Permitting riders not to be perfect seems obvious, but is sometimes overlooked. Praising a rider for doing less can encourage a more relaxed emotional state, which can diminish anxiety and stiffness.
Riding is supposed to be fun. Stiffness and its ultimate consequences make riding less fun and certainly unpleasant for the horses.
A rider’s goals must be taken into account when addressing stiffness. Helping them to be realistic is essential. A recreational rider may be more willing to try silly things than a rider hoping to compete at high levels. Stiff riders focused on qualifying for finals often push back at the idea of taking chances, even though their stiffness is making it difficult to achieve those goals.
Communication is key to helping riders no matter the issues at hand. Understanding how students learn requires creativity, with both explanation and demonstration. Watching accomplished riders, reading about the system of forward riding, and thinking about the horse’s needs first should be regular priorities.” – Susan H. Sjolund
