Exercises to Correct Common Riding Faults

 fallen out of alignment. We call this resetting your position. Tight hip flexors and low back muscles, and weak glutes are often the result of this misalignment issue and result in the legs swinging too far forward. This can also create heaviness in the rider’s seat, which puts too much pressure on the horse’s back, and can cause discomfort or even acute pain, which reduces the horse’s ability to bring his hind legs underneath his hips. Whether or not you have experienced this problem in the past it is worth trying the following exercises to help release the hip flexors and increase strength in the glutes to give you that sought-after deep classical seat. The following dryland exercises are designed to help develop better muscle balance between the hip flexor, quadriceps, hamstring, and gluteal muscles.

Begin in a runner’s lunge with your right leg forward and your left leg stretched behind you. Ensure that your left knee is appropriately padded. Gradually lower your left knee to the floor, so that your right knee is aligned over your right ankle at a 90-degree angle. Extend your left leg behind you so the top of your foot is flat on the floor. Try to bring your hips forward to square them up. Lengthen through your torso by stretching skyward. Feel the stretch on the front of your hip. Hold 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat on the other side.