Is your horse lacking ‘throughness’; is your lower back immobile, or weak-feeling? You’re not alone...

Is your horse lacking ‘throughness’; is your lower back immobile, or weak-feeling? You’re not alone...

It’s no coincidence that sometimes as a rider, if we are experiencing back pain, our horses may also exhibit gait, back or soundness issues at a similar time. It can become something of a vicious circle, in that neither horse nor rider is completely mobile and comfortable, so we both start working defensively, and become ‘tight’ or rigid.

This can feel as if we’re riding against the motion of the horse’s gait, rather than with the horse; and the horse will feel this restriction, too. A common problem for riders is a combination of tight hip flexors and poor abdominal strength, which often leads riders to develop a forward pelvis tilt; both in and out of the saddle. This can ‘block’ the horse’s hindquarter energy, and ‘thoroughness’ through his back. (The United States Dressage Federation has produced a nice booklet called ‘Loosen up’ about rider back-care, which is a great read!)

The rider’s seat

The horse rider’s seat, in terms of an aid to riding, as opposed to literally our derrieres, is made up of the pelvis (including the pelvic floor and seat bones), the abdominals, and the lumbar area. (‘Lumbar’ refers to our lower backs, where the spine curves inward, toward the stomach. The lumbar region connects with the thoracic spine at the top of the back, and extends downwards, to the sacral spine.)

So, why is back pain common? For all of us, it’s multi-factorial; and stress is (perhaps surprisingly) a factor. Also, many horse owners have been riding for many years (and may have old injuries); most have had office jobs at some stage, or roles involving sitting at a desk; around ninety per-cent of us are right-handed, and drive cars with right-side dominance; and the majority of us actively carry out repetitive tasks (e.g. mucking out or carrying buckets, all with a dominant hand or side) regularly. Unfortunately, the majority of horse riders will suffer from back issues at some point in their lives.

Eighty per cent of adults experience lower back pain

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders states that about 80 per cent of adults experience lower back pain at some point in their lifetimes. The Institute states that men and women are equally affected by it, and that the majority of acute lower back pain is mechanical, e.g. there’s a disruption in the way the components of the back mobilise. Interestingly, stress can be a factor in back pain, according to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. ‘Stress (and worrying about a bad back!) is ironically the main cause of back pain; the best thing to do to reduce the pain is to go back to work, get out and about, and exercise,’ a CSP representative told the Express Newspaper, in a no-nonsense fashion.

(The Guardian newspaper reported that lower back and neck pain is an increasingly expensive condition, costing  America $88bn a year. There’s seemingly no comparable figures for the UK, however studies indicate that back pain is a leading, global cause of disability worldwide; meanwhile, around a third of all long-term UK work absences are caused by musculoskeletal disorders.)

How can we reduce the likelihood of back pain affecting our horse riding?

So, given general probability, and also our propensity to carry out repetitive tasks one-sidedly, there’s a fair chance that horse riders will (at some point) experience back pain. So, how can we reduce the likelihood of back pain affecting our riding?

Muscles that are too loose and weak, or too tight, are said to cause the most muscular and skeletal injuries. So, aiming to improve our posture, core strength and back health is key.

In the United States Dressage Federation’s ‘Loosen up’ booklet, dressage rider, Pilates instructor and health coach Lisa Carusone says that when she corrects her own positional problems, her horse always benefits, and she feels the difference. “[A common problem for riders is tight hip flexors, and], there can be any number of reasons for hip tightness. Long hours spent sitting in cars and at desks can cause hip-flexor muscles to shorten and tighten. [For example], extended periods of sitting (or standing) or holding a toddler on your hip can contribute to hip issues and tightness. Everyone’s hip joints are constructed slightly differently. Your hips can rotate, move forward and back and from side, but remaining in the same position for long periods of time causes soft-tissue tightness, and stiffness. As the old saying goes, move it or lose it!”

Athletic Grace

Equine Wellness Magazine has some great tips for riders (and specific exercises) in its 2017 article, ‘Why rider fitness and posture are so important’. The title advises focusing on rider stretches, to build strength. ‘Muscles are technically stronger than bones, and act as the body’s pulley system, manouvering and affecting the bones.... if you slouch, your muscles will pull the bones into that position, eventually shortening the muscles, creating the constant slouching position. It will take time to make shifts in the body’s muscle memory in order to change it back [e.g. correct poor posture]. The ‘too strong’ and likely ‘too short’ muscles need to stretch and relax so we can maintain good posture. This will enable us to ride with balance, ease of movement and athletic grace,’ the article states. (Do check out the exercises it suggests.)

We hope these tips and links are useful to you, if you’re experiencing back pain or hip tightness! Please do remember that when the horse rider is comfortable within the saddle, they can move more easily with the horse’s gait. Comfortable ridingunderwear and riding breeches are a must, and the Derriere Equestrian range of riding underwear is designed for both men and women; the DE Performance Padded Shorty and the Performance Seamless Shorty, for example, both excel at their job, offering exceptional comfort and performance to horse riders, to help us ride with that ‘athletic grace’ we all desire!

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