A Guest Blog from Sally Kitching

Hi I’m Sally Kitching and I’ve been teaching Pilates for over 18 years. The Pilates method was invented by Joseph Pilates in the 1940s. He was a sickly child and as an adult didn’t want this to continue. So he took movements from yoga and gymnastics and created the Pilates method. Pilates is great for improving posture and alignment, all of which are crucial for all equestrian disciplines. Plus, good posture is also vital in everyday life to keep you injury free.

Posture and balance start from the ground up and no single muscle works alone so our body works as a single unit. Pilates promotes correct breathing, which is really important to help riders remain relaxed in the saddle.

To ensure the correct position in the saddle, your lower abdominals/Core Muscles are really important for you to recognize. They are often dormant and difficult to wake up and also the hardest to recruit, however, Pilates will teach you how to isolate and recruit these muscles in order to stabilize your pelvis. If your lower abdominals aren’t switched on correctly everything will be out of alignment. Alignment is critical on your horses back, you want to be correctly balanced on your sit bones so that you can move effectively with the horse.

Your balance will affect the horse’s balance. So the more even you are balanced through your core the more evenly balanced the horse will be. A strong core is required in order for you to be able to sustain correct posture while you are riding.

Doing Pilates will help you to develop your core and postural alignment with the help of specific exercises.

I hope you have found the above helpful you can find me on my Facebook Page – Sally Kitching Pilates or kitchingsally@hotmail.com

© Sue Palmer, The Horse Physio, 2021

Treating your horse with care, connection, curiosity and compassion