Part 1
This is a topic riders and coaches need to understand. Biomechanics is the science of movement, the science of examining the living body, including how muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments work together to move. The word biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems such as humans and animals.
A proper understanding of biomechanics is vital for understanding the implications of sports performance, rehabilitation, injury prevention, and sports skills. An understanding of biomechanics in equestrian sports can explain how the horse and rider work together.
Riders need to understand how their posture and movement patterns affect their application of aids to the horse. The most common fault is using the reins to balance on. Poor balance in the rider directly affects the horse’s mouth and, hence, their forward movement. Long-term use of “pulling” can result in muscle imbalances in both the horse and the rider. The rider will become stiff and sore, and the horse may well develop a “bridle lameness” as well as behavioural problems.
Humans naturally balance through their hands, so pulling or grabbing the reins is natural. The horse will pull back to protect itself.
Muscle Anatomy and Function
The musculature of the horse and rider must be developed slowly over time.
The building of a top line in the horse involves time, exercise, and knowledge. Incorrect training methods will develop muscles, but not the correct muscles for pleasant riding. A horse can carry a rider its entire life with its head high and back arched and eventually develop unsoundness.
This posture helps the horse protect itself from the rider’s pain. Riders who do not train their bodies specifically for riding will not be symmetrical or balanced in the movement patterns required to ride with their horse. This sets up a cycle in which both the horse and rider learn to balance on the bit. This leads to muscle pain, fear, behavioural problems, and, certainly, poor muscle building and unpleasant riding in the future. This cycle needs to be broken.
Signs of Pain in a Horse
- stiffness
- not going forward
- grinding the teeth
- leaning onto the bit
- sweating
- rearing
- bucking
- resignation
- off their food
- aggression against humans or other horses
- muscle twitching/moving the skin on or before contact
- unwillingness to be touched
- moodiness.
The position and length of the horse’s neck and the horse’s back have a direct biomechanical effect on how the horse moves. A horse with a short back will have more balance than a long-backed horse. The quarters will be more under the horse, allowing him to use them for balance and power.
A horse does not carry a rider naturally and if you observe your horse in the paddock he prefers to hold his head high or neutral..not as low as we want them to be. This is partly due to their fight-or-flight response.
Signs of Pain in the Rider
- stiffness and lack of range of movement
- weakness
- poor movement patterns
- asymmetry of movement
- emotional stress
- tears
- inattentive
- angry
- blaming your horse
Many of the horse’s muscles have actions similar to those in humans. Contraction of the abdominal (stomach) muscles tilts the pelvis backward in humans, rounding the back. Similarly, in a horse, contracting the stomach muscles rounds the back. As the horse’s back becomes round, his quarters will come under him, and his head will lower (long and low). As a horse arches its back, its head will lift. Furthermore, the horse will naturally lift its head to balance.
The rider must be balanced to allow their horse to move correctly. Many people work in poor posture and then ride in poor posture. Sitting at a desk, driving for long hours, and labour-intensive jobs are repetitive. Humans tend to become stiff in their back, hips, and shoulders, and this accelerates with age.
Understanding the correct biomechanical principles is important in training both yourself and your horse. When carrying a rider, the horse’s back will try to compensate for abnormal or one-sided loading (e.g., due to lameness or the rider). Hence, the rider must train their body for riding.
The rider is often the cause of early clinical signs of back problems in the horse without even knowing it. This scenario is equivalent to a human carrying a heavy backpack on one shoulder for long periods.
Different paces involve different spinal movements and, hence, different muscle activity. The walk is a four-beat movement.
Swinging movements of the head, neck, and limbs passively move the spinal joints.
At the walk, the back does not twist through the thoracolumbar junction as it does in the trot and canter.
The trot shows a very stable back with a reduced range of movement. The diagonal movement of the two-beat footfall keeps the back symmetrical and stable.
At the canter, the back is influenced by the three-beat movement and has periods of flexion and extension, which are not evident in the walk or the trot. Muscle activity serves a restraining function rather than an initiating one. The diagonal support of the trot and canter sees extension and twisting of the spine in the areas where pathologies are often found. Abdominal muscle strength, as well as hip extensor strength, is important in stabilising the back and preventing these injuries. There are clear relationships between back conformation and movement that are likely to be important in diagnosing pain.
Part 2
Training the horse to go long and low requires “eccentric muscle work”. This is the opposite of “concentric work”. Examples of concentric work include lifting a bucket of water off the ground, getting out of a chair, or walking up a hill. All these movements are in resistance. Examples of eccentric work include lowering a bucket, walking slowly down a hill, and sitting in a chair without flopping.
If you are in a tug-of-war, pulling the rope towards you is concentric work; letting it out is eccentric work. When your horse is stretching long and low, this is eccentric work. The building of a top line requires the horse to stretch its head and neck toward the ground. To do this, he must be allowed to and taught to do it. This action builds muscle tone, strength, and bulk along the back and neckline.
The rider must be balanced with a stable lower leg to allow the horse to perform this movement. If the rider is not balanced, he will use the reins to inhibit the horse from lowering its head. The rider must also have a light seat, so the horse can use its back without the rider driving into it. We want symmetry in our training, so yet again the rider must ride with equal weight distribution in both directions, or the horse will become, or stay “one-sided”.
This is often demonstrated as bridle lameness. When investigating lameness in a horse, a vet does not necessarily know the extent of a rider’s influence on it. It may be worth getting an opinion from a respected trainer or coach, especially if the vet finds no clinical reason for the lameness.
Understanding the biomechanics of both the horse and rider can save many dollars and hours of frustration. Arena work, as well as hill work, is great for eccentric muscle training. For the rider, the Applied Posture Riding exercises are a must. It takes time and patience to build up muscles.
Skeletal Structure and Muscle Structure.
Confirmation is the size and shape of the bones, and this can’t change much (skeletal structure). Posture is how the bones are held together, supported, and moved by the muscles, ligaments, and tendons (muscular structure). Soft tissues can be changed. So the horse’s muscle shape, strength, and control are changeable, as is the rider’s. Bad confirmation can’t be changed totally, but it can be controlled and managed. Poor confirmation in the legs can be managed with correct shoeing.
A horse’s and a rider’s bad posture can be changed. For example, a horse with a U-neck can be trained to reverse this posture.
A rider with round shoulders can be trained to be tall and upright.
It is important to know your horse’s past. Has he raced, has he been badly handled, has he been badly trained, and what is his breed? The thoroughbred has a different brain from the stock horse.
It can be due to emotions the horses are carrying, for example, negative emotions like fear, anxiety, anger, depression, etc. In a person who is stressed, fearful, and anxious, you might see a contracted chest, tight muscles, a tight jaw, round shoulders, and a stooped posture. Similarly, you can see these same patterns in horses, and of course, these tension patterns extend throughout the body. Poor posture could result from an accident or injury, pain or discomfort (for example, sore feet), or from badly fitting saddles and poor riding.
How Do We Change These Postures?
As I have said, it is important to know what you are doing. I believe the rider is the first point of change. My APR Rider Biomechanics program is a good starting point. You can test your strengths and weaknesses by following my Applied Posture Riding program. The program will show you how to test your body’s flexibility, strength, and, most importantly, core strength. Once you have established your base, you can begin training all aspects, including rider-specific movement patterns designed just for riding.
The unmounted exercises train you to apply your specific movement patterns in the saddle. The program will guide you through all the mandatory steps to help you develop a good, skilled riding posture.
Only when a rider can balance through their core and lower leg will they be able to ride in balance with their horse. A balanced rider will be able to sit lightly and get off their horse’s back, and allow it to develop.
I have a complete video on the Riding Muscle and Stability here.
A balanced rider will be able to keep their weight centred and symmetrical as the horse grows bulk and length. A balanced rider will not pull on the reins. A balanced rider will feel the movement under them. When horses are ridden in better biomechanical balance, their postures can change.
Sometimes, massage, special stretches from the ground, and showing the horse what you want are needed. A good saddle fit is very important. Knowledge across all areas is a must for the best outcome.
My Applied Posture Online membership program is available here.
The E-book “The Fundamentals of Riding ” is available here.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Good luck and enjoy your riding, Annette Willson. Applying Biomechanics Of The Horse And The Rider.
Look Good, Feel Good, Ride Well