Effective, harmonious riding, and being at ease on the horse as you influence his movements, are some of the benefits of a correct seat. Hard work and study are required to "build" a good seat and each new skill acquired increases our awareness of how rider position affects the horse.
The Seat and Position Symposium held in mid-October in Santa Rosa, California yielded a treasure trove of information for a fortunate group of demo riders and auditors. Team-teaching the clinic were Mr. Eckhart Meyners and Mr. Stephan Kiesewetter, with occasional help from our gracious hostess, Ms. Lilo Fore.
Mr. Meyners is a professor of body movement at the Sports University in Luneberg, Germany. He works with the German FN, teaching coaches, judges, and riders. Mr. Meyners has dedicated himself to understanding the movement required in riding and uses a variety of exercises to help solve the rider's body blocks and coordination problems. Mr. Stephan Kiesewetter is the Chief Training Administrator for the International Academy in Warendorf, Germany. For the last two years he has given clinics throughout North America, demonstrating and teaching the German system. He has a keen eye and an impressive talent for giving the rider the correct tool at the moment it is necessary.
The symposium began with a morning lecture by Mr. Meyners on body movement. He emphasized that many times riders (and instructors) focus on the form the body should take, such as such as sit tall, heels down, and hands low and together. A more productive approach he said was to focus on how the body functions. If our movements are functioning in a coordinated manner that effectively communicates to the horse, then a beautiful form will follow. Mr. Meyner's definition of the best seat is one that is elastic, balanced, and well-aligned. To achieve this in their students, instructors need to learn about the interplay of cognition, movement, motion, and emotion as they relate to the student the task and the situation. At this point Mr. Kiesewetter added that instructors who teach in this way will correct faults at their root cause instead of repeatedly (and without good results) addressing the symptoms of the fault. For example, a rider who struggles with floppy legs or a bobbing head can alleviate these symptoms by working on the coordination and movement of the pelvis, which is the root cause of these faults.
The lecture continued with Mr. Meyners' own version of the rider's scale of education. The base of his triangle is confidence, which he defines as the absence of fear. This progresses to a rider who is emotionally stable and relaxed. This stress-free state puts the muscular system in the balance necessary for coordinated movements. A well-coordinated body allows the rider to be sensitive to the horse, which means she can more effectively influence and direct her mount. To this scale Meyners added helpful stress-busters such as smiling, humming, and letting the tongue touch behind your upper front teeth. All these things combined lead to riders who are positive, in the moment, intuitive, and adaptive.
The symposium then moved from lecture to addressing the challenges of the demonstration riders. These very game ladies were willing to have their riding critiqued, their physical problems made known to all, and to come down off their horses to do body movement exercises in front of a large audience. The riders were great, the auditors supportive, and the results compelling.
Most of the exercises were directed at the "troublesome trio" of the neck, the mid-torso and the pelvis. To smoothly follow the horse's movement you must be relaxed in all three. Many of the exercises Mr. Meyner used are in his book Fit for Riding, which is available in this country. The title is perhaps a little misleading, because the exercises are not a strenuous fitness regime. They are gentle movements that unblock the body to produce relaxed coordinated actions.
After Mr. Meyners led the riders through exercises specific to their body challenges, the riders returned to the saddle. Each rider found her body to be more available with less effort. The horses all enjoyed their improved riders and responded with relaxation and longer swinging strides. Even when the differences were small, Mr. Meyners encouraged the riders to do the exercises each time before riding. He said changes in movement patterns occur incrementally and the benefits become apparent as time and practice accumulate.
The next day the "dynamic duo" gave the riders the double fix. As Mr. Meyners led each rider through the body awareness exercises, Mr. Kiesewetter rode their horse using his skills to relax the horse and open the back. When the riders remounted, the smiles abounded. What a pleasure to observe hard work and harmony come together in a beautiful illustration of good function producing lovely form.
As the weekend drew to a close Mr. Meyners complimented the auditors for their attentiveness and openness to the concepts he had shared. The auditors, in turn, were very satisfied with all they had learned and were pleased to hear that the exercises demonstrated would be in a new book to be published in the U.S. in 2003.
Lilo Fore, who shared her beautiful facility and made sure we were well fed and comfortable, was enthusiastic about future clinicsso this marvelous opportunity may come again. Until then, try these simple but enlightening body awareness challenges:
1) Sitting in a chair, put both fists between the knees and press the knees together. What do you feel? Can you tell how important it is for the knee not to grip, so the hip can follow in the sitting trot?
2) Riding without stirrups: Stand only on the right leg, shake the left leg, toes down. It is relaxed. Now lift the toes up and shake the leg again. Now the leg is blocked! Therefore, the leg and hip are more functional if you don't pull your toes up when riding without stirrups.
3) If you hold the reins with your thumbs pressed flat over your fists, your wrist and shoulders are blocked. Now bend the knuckle of your thumb and tip of your thumb to hold the rein against your first finger. You will find that the wrists and shoulders are unblocked.
Enjoy your horse and remember to smileit's a great way to release stress and help your riding to be coordinated and flowing.