We are all unbalanced. There, I’ve said it! The only difference is the degree of unbalance.
Like our horses, we all have one side that is stronger (and therefore tighter and more contracted) than the other and the other that is relatively less strong but often more flexible and stretchy. My right side is flexible and stretchy and my left side is tight and contracted. I feel like my left hip and my left shoulder are both pulled towards my waist by strong muscles around my middle. This means that when I ride my left seat bone often feels more wishy washy and indistinct on the saddle.
Many authors and riding instructors suggest correcting crookedness from the outside. “Lift your left shoulder”. “Lower your right shoulder”. I have tried pushing my weight to the left; pushing my waist left; raising my left shoulder; pressing my left heel down and so on. In my experience none of these kinds of corrections work for me. Nothing which operates on the outside alone works…in my experience, we have to work on the inside.
I believe that crookedness is a distortion of the outside caused by uneven muscle tension on the inside. In fact, crookedness and tension are chicken and egg. The more crooked we are the more tension will be needed in our muscles to avoid falling over. The more tense we become the more crooked we will be. And the more crooked, the more crooked! Like building a domino tower, if the base is crooked we will have to build-in the opposite crookedness higher up the tower to retain balance.
The crookedness is usually a symptom not a cause. If we want to permanently fix the problem we have to go to the root cause. This means that we have to regain softness on the inside first. This will then allow us to feel how we are out of balance and make the necessary corrections. Otherwise we will fall over or have to introduce tension again to stay erect.
What works for me is focussing on relaxing and letting go. Every 10 seconds I have to correct my seat in this way. Checking the evenness, and when it is uneven, releasing back down again and carrying my upper body. I breathe deeply and regularly to reinforce this. I breathe in to the back of my ribs and as I breathe out I think of letting go throughout my torso.
The head is heavy. It must be carried above the centre of gravity. Otherwise it can cause all sorts of contortions in the body below it. Try it now – let your head tip first left then right – where do you feel the effect on your body?
It’s not just that we are right or left handed. We also have a preferred leg. Which leg do you use to kick a ball? And a preferred eye. It is the same for the horse. Notice which of his hind legs is stronger.
We can all become more even but it takes time. You will have to confront and stop yourself so many times. When your instinct is to reach out with your right hand; stop; inhibit the habit and use the left; it will feel weird at first but just do it. You’ll have to really concentrate and think about how to do it but you will get stronger and more capable. Practice writing with your other hand a little every day; gradually you will improve your ability to write legibly with your “other” hand. But it takes time.
Also, practice horse activities from the off side including mounting and dismounting; tacking up, leading, and rugging up. It all helps. I did and at first it feels totally alien but repetition familiarises the movement.
It sounds hard to do this but believe me, as in all things, we humans will take the easy way out. “It’s quicker to do it the other way”; “I don’t have the time” are just some of the excuses you’ll use. And they’re true. However, we must prioritise this for our longer term good as well as our horse’s wellbeing. Do we do things for ease now or for choice later?
Putting your hands on yourself can give important feedback. On or off the horse putting one hand palm inwards on the lower back can help you to relax and let go in that area. This is an area we often over tense when riding.
“Each rider will have a different set of postural imbalances and compensations, and it is therefore advisable that individual rider analysis and assessment is considered when attempting a corrective exercise regime” Kate Fernyhough and Rhona Watson(21)