If one thing is certain in Eventing, or really riding in general, it’s that you don’t have to be of a certain body type to succeed in the sport. If you are a person with a short upper body, long legs, and narrower shoulders than hips, count your blessings because you have the ideal body type for riding. If, along with this body type, you also possess attractive features and blonde hair, you might as well just book your ticket to Hollywood right now and skip the whole horse thing. But, if you are like the rest of us, each with our own physical strengths and weaknesses, riding well simply means learning some coping mechanisms to balance and control your body. Denny Emerson wrote an article for the Chronicle awhile back, in which he talked about the importance of good mechanics in a rider, especially over fences. He said,
“Good technicians don’t leap up the neck, lie on the horse’s neck, look down, or let their lower legs slip back toward the horse’s hipbones. Their eyes and chins are up, their legs are underneath them, their backs are flat, and their hands and arms are allowing the horse to make a bascule over the fence. If the horse were to suddenly disappear, the good riders would land on their feet.”
Denny’s description is textbook for what a good position should encompass, as it defines the essential elements for achieving balance with the horse.
First, as with everything in life, it’s necessary to define what the weaknesses are, in this case conformational ones. Daniel Stewart, a coach of the Paralympic Dressage Squad, wrote a book called Ride Right, where he talked a lot about balance within riders. He even outlined a formula for finding one’s upper-body/lower-body ratio, a vital statistic as far as balance is concerned. He said, “To find the upper body/ lower body ratio, start by measuring your upper body. You’ll need to sit on a table and have a friend measure (in inches) the distance from the table to the top of your head. Once you have this measurement, find the length of your lower body by subtracting from your total height. Then, as the final step, divide your lower body height into your upper body height to find the ratio.” If your ratio is less than 1.1, you have the ideal proportions for balance and riding. If your ratio is between 1.1 and 1.2, you are moderately well built for balance and riding. And if your ratio is 1.2 or above, (que sob soundtrack) according to Stewart, “Riding situations requiring balance may be a little challenging.” The upper body/lower body ratio is important because it helps define where your center of gravity is. Knowing whether you have a high or low center is possibly the most necessary element in achieving and understanding balance. In riding, a low center of gravity is always desirable as it places your balance closer to the horse and comes in very handy in those Thrills and Spills cross-country mishaps. It is also the reasoning behind why it’s preferable to have wider hips and narrower shoulders.
When that information in mind, it then becomes possible to study the mechanics of riding and jumping position, with better understanding of the function behind the form. I’ve found the gallop position to be one of the easiest ways of experiencing the center-of-gravity concept in action. A rider with a long torso and high center-of-gravity will find they have to close the angles of their hip and knee to sustain the proper gallop position, more so than a rider with a low center has to. Even when demonstrated at the halt or walk, the gallop position makes that concept very clear, for if you lose your center, you quickly fall back into the saddle. Another great way to see balancing technique is by watching upper level cross-country riding. All those riders ride in balance, if they didn’t they’d quickly be on the ground, but the way in which they maintain their balance over the terrain and fences is different. For example, William Fox-Pitt maintains his rather high center of balance by staying very close to his horse and the saddle, and folded in his hip and knee angles. When he jumps a fence, those angles don’t change; it’s like his jump position is merely a continuation of his gallop position. Karen O’Connor, who’s shorter than William and has a lower center of gravity, gallops with open angles at the hip and knee, she doesn’t have to lean as far forward because her balance doesn’t force her to. These two riders are examples of the different, but equally effective, positions by virtue of individual conformation.
With a new competition season on the horizon, now is a great time to go back and study those basic but very essential skills. George Morris’ classic Hunter Seat Equitation, although obviously geared towards the hunter/ equitation competitor, is a great book for eventers to learn from as well. He does a great job of illustrating the theories behind the “classical position,” how it puts the rider in the best position to raise their effectiveness and communication with the horse. Training the Three-Day Event Horse and Rider, by Jimmy Wofford, is definitely my favorite training book. I’ve read it cover-to-cover more times than Harry Potter, which is to say a lot. It’s a great book for every aspect of Eventing, but the cross-country section is especially great as it focuses a lot on the proper gallop position and the balance of the horse on cross-country. Jimmy also wrote an interesting article for EquiSearch last year, in which he wrote about balance at speed, and some common misconceptions that phrase holds.
Here’s to a New Year of better riding from all of us! Happy Reading.
