Are you a cowboy? You and jump! (exercise for riders)

Are you a cowboy? You and jump! (exercise for riders)

Do you consider yourself a true equestrian? What about your physical form? After all, not only your horse should be a “happy athlete” – you need to be an athlete too! And this does not mean at all that you need to sweat for days in the gym.

There are many exercises that riders can do out of the saddle. We want to introduce you to one of them, and its undoubted advantage is that you can perform it in the stable!

For this exercise, we need several poles lying in a row on the parade ground or in the arena. Come on, feel like a horse?

By jumping on your own two you can improve:

• вendurance;
• balance;
• coordination;
• body awareness;
• symmetry;
• rhythm

and strengthen muscle groups such as:

• сhip flexors/extensors;
• quads;
• hamstring
• leg muscles.

Here how will we work:

1. We start standing, taking the BSPK (Basic Athletic Equestrian Position) in front of four or more poles in a row.

What does the basic athletic position look like? The first thing you need to do is determine what natural position the your body in the context of the discipline you are doing. For example, a dressage rider position would be characterized by bare shoulders, vertically aligned upper body (or near vertical) and “long” legs with slightly bent knees. And vice versa, the position of the show jumping rider will be characterized by the upper body inclined in front of the vertical and bоgreater flexion at the knee joints.

2. Squat down with your knees bent. Remember that your back should remain not arched, even, core muscles in good shape, gaze directed forward, and shoulders deployed.

3. Straighten your knees – the initial phase of the jumping stage of the exercise.

4. Continue straightening your knees so that your feet push off the ground.

5. Maintain correct position and balance in the air.

6. Land on the other side of the pole, taking the BSPK.

7. Bend your knees to absorb the impact and get ready to jump again!

Distance matters!

To begin with, lay out the poles at a distance of 60 cm from each other. When you can easily start to cope with the exercise, increase it.

Is everything too easy?

Making it harder! Replace the poles with small crosses (calabash in the lowest positions). Now you need more energy to jump over the cross without hitting it.

Rebecca Didier (source) translation by Valeria Smirnova.