It requires a variety of different physical skills. First, we need to have balance to stay centered on a moving horse. Then we need to be coordinated to use our reins without pulling, and move our legs to give signals to the horse without changing the rest of our body. 

We need the strength in our stabilizing muscles to remain in good alignment, so we don’t get knocked out of balance, but also so we don’t start tensing our large mobilizing muscles. 

Riding is a bi lateral movement – we want to use both sides of our body evenly, not overweighting one seatbone, using one leg more strongly, or pulling on one rein (we actually don’t want to “pull” on the reins at all). 

However, for the majority of people, we go through our day with a dominant hand, and doing a lot of habitual activities and movements. 

For many of us in modern life, our days are much more sedentary than before. We work with our minds rather than the physical effort of our bodies. 

Our bodies are excellent at adapting to how they are used, which means that if we aren’t regularly using certain movements, we can lose the ability to perform those movements. 

i.e. another reason learning to ride can be more difficult later in life – we have less body awareness if we are less active – particularly the areas of our body most important for riding. 

Improving movement does not need to start with complicated exercises, but simply with more activity. The key is consistency and increasing the difficulty of what you are doing as you are ready. 

Let’s look at how a foundation of activity and functional movement can transform how you feel AND how you ride!