Pre-riding Stretches These are a few stretches I do at the gym and before I get on a horse that help me and my positioning :) the order of exercises is important as you will want your muscles a little warned up before doing straight stretching. Exercise 1- I use a plate (45lbs) or you can us a 2/4 it high heeled boots. Point ties outward and come down completely in a squat. This helps me open my hips up. Make sure that your form is spot on and that your knees dont go past your toes during the whole movement(I try to point out this in the clip). Perform as many as needed, I like to do a couple sets of 12. Feel free to hold onto something if necessary. I also stretch my shoulders and chest out during this exercise but putting my arms out and back. Exercise 2- stretch your calf muscles on a raised surface. I like to do calf lifts as wells to warm the muscle up. Stretch as long as desired Exercise 3- this stretches the outside of my hip and down the side if my leg (tensor fascia lata). I also bring my arm up and across my body to increase the stretch and incorporate a stretch in my back. Stretch as long as desired Exercise 4- again another hip stretch and opening. Leaning forward her will also stretch your sartorius muscle (goes from the outside of your hip to the inside of your knee). Opening these two areas up will help you achieve a long leg that can also wrap around your hours without tension. Stretch as long as desired. Exercise 5- I actually do this once Im in the saddle. I will bring my leg back and stretch my quads and hips while the horse walks around the arena warming up. Try and achieve equal weight in both seat bones during this stretch (you will naturally want to lean to one side) and you can increase difficulty and benefit by making smaller circles and changing directions. Do both legs :) If your hamstrings are tight in the saddle you can also take two-point and push down through your heals and lean forward towards your horses head to feel a stretch down the back of your leg. Hope you enjoyed my weekly video! Please SHARE and LIKE :) Continue your own education and Train Hard, Play Hard!! Its suppose to be fun ;) ~Jessica
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 15:52:18 +0000
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