For most riders, their world is their horse and their horse is their world. I can say this without being unduly critical because I am a rider and horse-owner. And, like many others, I have always cared about my horses and their well being but didn’t spend enough time looking at myself.
EquipilatesTM brings together two of my passions: riding and Pilates. When I first learned about the mechanics of Pilates, I could immediately see how it could help riders. The focus on core strength and the resulting improvement in posture brings awareness of your alignment and how you are working with or against your horse.
I trained with Lindsay Wilcox-Reid, the founder of EquipilatesTM and became an EquipilatesTM Affiliated Instructor. I now offer EquipilatesTM, working with very small groups, which allows me to deliver highly personalised classes. We literally work “on the spot”, developing techniques and programmes to assist with specific horse and rider issues.
As a rider, you can benefit immensely by undertaking a course of EquipilatesTM. To begin with, it will increase your awareness in terms of posture, balance and harmony (or lack of!) with your horse and, from there, we can carry out dismounted exercises to strengthen your core, improve your balance and make you a more supple rider. Believe me, after a successful course of EquipilatesTM, it isn’t just the riders that are satisfied, the horses seem to breathe a sigh of relief too!
I believe that movement is nourishment for the body and all forms of Pilates encourage controlled movement to strengthen muscles and build the core.
Fear, tension or a poor seated position are just a few examples of conditions that can contribute to riding problems. Once solved, these issues give way to improved confidence, ability and results. It’s not just riders that suffer when everything is out of alignment: horses will be drawn into your own patterns and can equally be trained to improve. They will respond in their own way with smoother and more responsive movement leading to a better performance from you both.
If you feel your riding could be improved or you have reached an invisible ceiling in your performance, EquipilatesTM could be the answer.