28 Reasons why Yoga Benefits Horse Riders.
Practicing Yoga can help both you and your horse!
There are so many reasons that I would encourage riders to practice yoga regularly. Here are just a few!
1. Improve your core strength
Core strength and core stability have become real buzz words within the equestrian world, as with all sports.
The deep core muscles of the body act a bit like a structural frame that holds up a building.
When people think of exercises to improve the core strength, they often think of lots of stomach crunches, which is great for rapid firing of muscles but the deep core muscles are also know as postural muscles, containing mainly slow-twitch muscle fibres and are more suited to sustained work over longer periods rather than quick fast repetitive muscle contraction.
During a Yoga session we are working to strengthen your core.
2. Flexibility
This is the one benefit of yoga that most people think of when asked.
As a rider, flexibility is important not only to help improve your riding in all areas, whether you are interested in improving your dressage or jumping, it may also help to keep you safer when you take an unscheduled dismount!
Learning how to be more flexible through yoga can help to increase your range of motion which also makes the off horse tasks around the yard easier too.
No 3. Stability
Just in our daily lives, our body is fighting with the forces of gravity, we are simply working against the gravitational pull of the earth.
Add to it sitting and moving on a horse and you have new stability challenges!
While flexibility may get the spotlight for many aspects of the yoga practice, stability really deserves the limelight!
If we only work to create flexibility, we compromise stability and overly mobile joints, without the corresponding strength to support and coordinate them could potentially lead to injury, especially when riding horses.
The greater the ability to stabilise yourself on a horse the better. This enables you to resist the forces of the horses movement and allows the horse to carry you with more comfort, ease and grace.
No. 4 Mobility
Mobility helps you to build strength and active control within your currently available ranges of motion, which are individual to each of us, as it is with our horses.
Mobility is essential to ride well, enabling you to blend with the horse, have a more secure seat in the saddle and independent hands to give more subtle cues/aids.
Mobility training, in yoga asana, incorporates the entire body moving as one unit, enhancing coordination for precise, controlled movement, which is so important for riders.
No.5 Improves Asymmetry.
As riders we are very aware of trying to sit as symmetrical as possible to help our horses stay balanced and straight.
However neither horse or rider are symmetrical, it is something that we have to continually work on.
Yoga is great for bringing awareness to our asymmetrical patterns and helping us to become more balanced.
No.6 Balance
When riding we are continuously correcting our balance from one moment to the next, due to the movement of the horse and gravitational forces. There will be times when we lose our balance, however skilled as a rider! The closer to balance we can be in each moment, the easier the horses job of carrying us will be.
Each Yoga asana class has several balancing exercises within a workout.
When we balance, we align our body’s center of gravity with the earth’s gravitational field.
We can not achieve this harmony by remaining absolutely still. Instead, we must refresh our balance moment after moment. The sustained effort to center and recenter, when successful, brings not only our flesh and bones into balance but also our nerve impulses, thoughts, emotions, and very consciousness. Hence, we feel calm.
Equilibrium brings equanimity which as a trainer of horses is essential.
No.7 Body awareness
It is so easy for a rider to be blissfully unaware of how are sitting in the saddle, however once they are more aware they can adapt and evolve to get the best out of themselves and their horse in each moment.
Yoga can teach a rider not only to notice the subtle differences in each side of their body but over time it can enable a change postural habits.
If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got……or will you?
……Our body’s are continuously changing, at 10 years old we are different to when we are 15yo, 20yo, 30yo, 40yo or any age…every day is different!
Yoga can help to teach you where your body is in space, in that moment, to listen to how you are feeling, both physically and mentally as they are both very closely linked.
No.8 Breathing
Breathing is the most natural, automatic and subconscious action in all living animals.
Horses are excellent at tuning into the subtleties of breath and energy, in order to assimilate when to relax or take flight.
Being herd and prey animals, horses naturally pick up on breathing and energy patterns, this is just one of ways of communicating within the herd.
Not only do they tune into to their herd but they will notice other animals and birds, including us humans, picking up on calm and nervous energy and reacting accordingly. It is one of the ways that they have survived for so many years!
Awareness of your breath can help you and your horse to stay calm, especially in those moments when your horse reacts with fight/flight.
It can help you to stay more focused and in the moment especially if you are feeling nervous.
Yoga Pranayama teaches you how to use your breath, it has so many benefits; enables calmness, increase your energy, releases tension, increases lung capacity, and so much more!
By regularly practicing Yoga Pranayama, we can become better riders and improve the way communicate with our horses
No.9 Focus
When you are riding, where is your focus?
What are you thinking about?
Are you having a conversation with your horse or your friend?
There is no right or wrong answer to the above, just stimulating thoughts and focus!
If you are asking your horse to do something, for example competing, schooling or teaching them something new, you really do need to focus on what you would like to achieve, ideally you should be having a conversation with the horse!
This seems obvious but it can be sometimes hard if the “what ifs”, or other distractions, create a blurred communication line, this can cause us to miss the horses signs of communicating to us too!
The more that you focus on what you want to achieve, closer you will come to that outcome.
Researchers have found that yoga can greatly affect neural patterns in the brain, which can improve your ability to concentrate and focus.
It can help you to shift your attention, allowing you to better focus on purposeful tasks.
Yoga can boost your brain’s cognitive functions to control emotional responses and goal-oriented behavior.
* Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
* Building skills to manage your stress
* Increasing self-awareness
* Focusing on the present
* Reducing negative emotions
* Increasing patience and tolerance
* Lowering resting heart rate
No.10 Improve Tight Joints
Tight shoulders, hips, elbows, knees and ankles are common among riders and not always due to the lack of flexibility.
It is possible for a very skilful gymnast to get on a horse for the first time and show tightness in her limbs despite being very mobile throughout her body.
By focusing breath work and stability, yoga can help you to learn to release negative tension which often creates a lack of mobility in the joints.
No.11 Improve your rein contact
Whether walking, standing on one leg or riding a horse, when we are off balance, Instinctively our hands want to help us. It is such a natural reflex and makes total sense for self protection.
However when riding we have to try to overrule this reaction to keep the horse comfortable and allow our communication line down the reins to have clarity.
We are all aiming for ‘independent hands’, which means that we can ride in balance with or without a rein contact.
To do this well all the time we need good body awareness, balance, core strength to help stability when the horse is moving and mobility in the arms. Yoga can help you find your ‘independent hands’!
No.12 Connection
Yoga can teach you how to use subtle energy to connect with your horse, both physically and mentally.
No.13 Subtleties of riding
Skilled riders have a way of making it look easy.
Yoga can help you find those subtleties and fitness that you need to take your riding to the next level!
No.14 Facilitates progress.
Do you have that chitter chatter in your head that is really negative talk?
Is this holding you back?
Yoga can help train your focus to what you want to achieve and reduce the negative Chita chatter in your head that often can become habitual.
No.15 Be more Present!
Being present means catching those daydreams, the worrying or desiring and in those moments, choosing to let them go, allowing you that feeling of complete peace, freedom from wanting or not wanting.
Staying present allows you to stay in the moment, it helps you to react immediately to the horses needs, enabling so much more clarity to the horse.
It is important to have goals but if you stay present and in the moment, you can adapt them accordingly.
It can be the difference between winning and loosing a competition.
When competing or training your horse, being present and staying in the moment not only enables you to focus on what you want to achieve but also improves communication. Remember listening and noticing is part of communication.
Is what you want to achieve doable for the horse in that moment;
* Is your horse understanding what you are asking?
* Are they comfortable?
* Do they need to revisit basics before going forwards to the next step?
* Maybe increased fitness will help them travel to the next level?
* Perhaps something has unsettled your horse in that moment, so not the time to ask for something new. If this happens time maybe better spent asking for something that the horse finds simple to perform.
It is impossible to stay present for your horse if you are conversing with someone else about another matter…..that person could be yourself!
Yoga can help you to be be more present and stay in the moment with crisp clear focus, ready to adapt accordingly.
No.16 Improves Spinal Health and Strength.
A strong, healthy spine is important, not only when riding, enabling the rider to influence the horse in a positive way and match the forces of the horses movement, but also when off horse doing all the essential stable chores.
Many of the postures in yoga asana, gently strengthen both the muscles in the back and the abdominal area. Targeting the areas that are essential components of the muscular network of the spine, allowing the body to maintain a proper upright posture and movement.
When these muscles and soft tissue are well conditioned, back pain can be greatly reduced or avoided.
No.17 Intuition
Go with your guts! This is a common phrase and it can serve you well in all situations especially when riding and training horses.
Horses are very intuitive, they have no ego, no worries about how many likes they have on social media. They don’t mind if they never win a competition, no one to impress. They just live in the moment and use their intuition to survive.
We all have external influences, most of them are very helpful but if you find yourself at a junction or wondering what to do next or the advice that you re being given doesn’t sit well with you, then it is time to go with your intuition.
Yoga can help you to find your intuition, enabling you to leave your ego out of it and go with your guts, helping you make the right choice for you and your horse to progress in the direction that feels right.
No.18 Improve Cardiovascular Health
Yoga improves heart health by increasing circulation and blood flow. In addition, practicing yoga has been proved to help lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels, as well as the heart rate — which can all add up to a lower risk of hypertension, stroke, and heart disease.
There have been studies in Sweden to show that an increase in the human heart rate can effect the horse, making him more alert and reactive to stimuli.
Exercise that gets your heart rate pumping isn’t the only way to help improve your cardiovascular health. Managing stress also is critical to your overall heart health, this can also improve you and your horses progress.
No.19 Isometric Strength
Isometric strength is the ability to hold and maintain a push, pull, or static position for a period of time. It can also help improve your posture.
When working on rider Biomechanics, I will often use isometric exercises to help fire up the correct muscle chain throughout the body.
Isometric exercise allow your muscles to engaged, but not change in length and the joints are stabilised, this for example can help riders to stabilise a moving lower leg.
Working regularly with isometric exercises, allows you to recruit your muscles more efficiently and give you that all important body awareness, which is an important part of being a skilled horse rider.
Yoga is unique in developing isometric strength.
No.20 Bone health
As horse riders it is good to have strong bones!
Bones are living tissue, research has shown that practicing yoga can be surprisingly protective in preventing fractures as well as osteoporosis.
The pull of muscle on the bone is the single major factor in bone strength. After research, the experts say that roughly 10 seconds of stimulation is enough to trigger new bone growth to improve bone mass and density.
No.21 Stress Relief
Horses are very quick to pick up on our feelings of stress and anxiety, this can effect the way that they perform.
Yoga combines many popular stress-reducing techniques, including exercise, stretching, as well as learning to control the breath, clear the mind, and relax the body.
There have been several studies showing how yoga can reduce stress.
No.22 Improves your Reactions
Quick reactions are useful when riding and handling horses, especially when jumping, competing and training youngsters or challenging horses. Allowing you to react in the moment, both in body and mind, after all a horses reaction time can be quick when the are startled or stressed!
When training and teaching any horse, a quick reaction time is vital to help the horse to understand your cues/aids. For example, when asking your horse to back up, either in hand or ridden, you may ask by applying backwards pressure to the head collar or bridle. When the horse starts to step backwards, you want to be quick to release the pressure. This allows the horse, in that moment, to know that he has given you the right answer.
Studies have shown that after a few weeks of yoga practice the improvements in reaction times and accuracy on cognitive tasks are greater than those practicing solely aerobic exercise.
No.23 Mental Health
Yoga has been scientifically proven to improve your mental health and in today’s world it is important to look after yourself both physically and mentally.
Improving your mental health can often allow more progress with your riding, helping you to be more confident and allowing more clarity.
Yoga also teaches you techniques that you can do when riding your horse to help your mental health.
No.24 Release Unwanted Tension in the Body.
Do you ever notice yourself holding the reins with a death grip, holding one rein tighter than the other, scrunching your face or curling your toes when riding?
These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue and soreness in both you and your horse. It can also create negative tension in your horse or may effect your balance and ability to blend or dance with your horse.
As you practice yoga, you begin to notice where you hold tension. It might be in your tongue, your eyes, or the muscles of your hands, toes or face and neck. This can help you use your body in a more positive way and can greatly improve your horses way of going.
No.25 Helping to Enable Longevity in your Riding.
If you have a good horse, there is no reason why you can’t continue riding into old age, the late queen was still riding in her 90s!
Yoga can help make this possible by keeping you balanced, helping stability, mobility, flexibility, elasticity of your joints, also aiding with bone density and positive mental focus.
This may also help riders to stay at the top of their game when competing into their later years.
A regular yoga practice can also help you to counteract the muscular imbalances that occur during yard work, for example mucking out and sweeping.
No. 26 Injury Prevention and Recovery
Despite good preparation and risk assessment, horses are large prey animals that have survived all these years with their fast reactions to get out of perceived danger, sometimes at the cost to the rider on their back or the handler on the ground. However with quick reactions, good intuition, strong bones and elastic muscles, (all helped by yoga!) we hope that injuries are kept to a minimum and any healing is fast!
No.27 Increased Endurance.
Yoga can enable a rider to increase stamina both physically and physiologically as well as increasing mental focus. Which is especially useful to eventers and endurance riders, in fact it is useful to all riders!
No.28 Better communication between you and your horse.
Communication is both listening, noticing and talking, both verbally and also with body language, which horses are best at!
As we have already mentioned, yoga can improve balance, mobility and core strength,, allowing you to use your legs and arms more independently to help your communication .
Yoga teaches you to go with your instincts and listen to the subtleties that we often miss in this modern world. This includes listening to your horse.
I’m sure that I could go on with even more reasons why Yoga can help us all.
……………………………….
Karen runs Yoga classes open to all. She is also available for 1to1 which can be tailored to suit your needs.
Please contact us for more details or join our Facebook Page Yoga for Horse Riders;
https://m.facebook.com/groups/600559958370316/?ref=share
There are so many reasons that I would encourage riders to practice yoga regularly. Here are just a few!
1. Improve your core strength
Core strength and core stability have become real buzz words within the equestrian world, as with all sports.
The deep core muscles of the body act a bit like a structural frame that holds up a building.
When people think of exercises to improve the core strength, they often think of lots of stomach crunches, which is great for rapid firing of muscles but the deep core muscles are also know as postural muscles, containing mainly slow-twitch muscle fibres and are more suited to sustained work over longer periods rather than quick fast repetitive muscle contraction.
During a Yoga session we are working to strengthen your core.
2. Flexibility
This is the one benefit of yoga that most people think of when asked.
As a rider, flexibility is important not only to help improve your riding in all areas, whether you are interested in improving your dressage or jumping, it may also help to keep you safer when you take an unscheduled dismount!
Learning how to be more flexible through yoga can help to increase your range of motion which also makes the off horse tasks around the yard easier too.
No 3. Stability
Just in our daily lives, our body is fighting with the forces of gravity, we are simply working against the gravitational pull of the earth.
Add to it sitting and moving on a horse and you have new stability challenges!
While flexibility may get the spotlight for many aspects of the yoga practice, stability really deserves the limelight!
If we only work to create flexibility, we compromise stability and overly mobile joints, without the corresponding strength to support and coordinate them could potentially lead to injury, especially when riding horses.
The greater the ability to stabilise yourself on a horse the better. This enables you to resist the forces of the horses movement and allows the horse to carry you with more comfort, ease and grace.
No. 4 Mobility
Mobility helps you to build strength and active control within your currently available ranges of motion, which are individual to each of us, as it is with our horses.
Mobility is essential to ride well, enabling you to blend with the horse, have a more secure seat in the saddle and independent hands to give more subtle cues/aids.
Mobility training, in yoga asana, incorporates the entire body moving as one unit, enhancing coordination for precise, controlled movement, which is so important for riders.
No.5 Improves Asymmetry.
As riders we are very aware of trying to sit as symmetrical as possible to help our horses stay balanced and straight.
However neither horse or rider are symmetrical, it is something that we have to continually work on.
Yoga is great for bringing awareness to our asymmetrical patterns and helping us to become more balanced.
No.6 Balance
When riding we are continuously correcting our balance from one moment to the next, due to the movement of the horse and gravitational forces. There will be times when we lose our balance, however skilled as a rider! The closer to balance we can be in each moment, the easier the horses job of carrying us will be.
Each Yoga asana class has several balancing exercises within a workout.
When we balance, we align our body’s center of gravity with the earth’s gravitational field.
We can not achieve this harmony by remaining absolutely still. Instead, we must refresh our balance moment after moment. The sustained effort to center and recenter, when successful, brings not only our flesh and bones into balance but also our nerve impulses, thoughts, emotions, and very consciousness. Hence, we feel calm.
Equilibrium brings equanimity which as a trainer of horses is essential.
No.7 Body awareness
It is so easy for a rider to be blissfully unaware of how are sitting in the saddle, however once they are more aware they can adapt and evolve to get the best out of themselves and their horse in each moment.
Yoga can teach a rider not only to notice the subtle differences in each side of their body but over time it can enable a change postural habits.
If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got……or will you?
……Our body’s are continuously changing, at 10 years old we are different to when we are 15yo, 20yo, 30yo, 40yo or any age…every day is different!
Yoga can help to teach you where your body is in space, in that moment, to listen to how you are feeling, both physically and mentally as they are both very closely linked.
No.8 Breathing
Breathing is the most natural, automatic and subconscious action in all living animals.
Horses are excellent at tuning into the subtleties of breath and energy, in order to assimilate when to relax or take flight.
Being herd and prey animals, horses naturally pick up on breathing and energy patterns, this is just one of ways of communicating within the herd.
Not only do they tune into to their herd but they will notice other animals and birds, including us humans, picking up on calm and nervous energy and reacting accordingly. It is one of the ways that they have survived for so many years!
Awareness of your breath can help you and your horse to stay calm, especially in those moments when your horse reacts with fight/flight.
It can help you to stay more focused and in the moment especially if you are feeling nervous.
Yoga Pranayama teaches you how to use your breath, it has so many benefits; enables calmness, increase your energy, releases tension, increases lung capacity, and so much more!
By regularly practicing Yoga Pranayama, we can become better riders and improve the way communicate with our horses
No.9 Focus
When you are riding, where is your focus?
What are you thinking about?
Are you having a conversation with your horse or your friend?
There is no right or wrong answer to the above, just stimulating thoughts and focus!
If you are asking your horse to do something, for example competing, schooling or teaching them something new, you really do need to focus on what you would like to achieve, ideally you should be having a conversation with the horse!
This seems obvious but it can be sometimes hard if the “what ifs”, or other distractions, create a blurred communication line, this can cause us to miss the horses signs of communicating to us too!
The more that you focus on what you want to achieve, closer you will come to that outcome.
Researchers have found that yoga can greatly affect neural patterns in the brain, which can improve your ability to concentrate and focus.
It can help you to shift your attention, allowing you to better focus on purposeful tasks.
Yoga can boost your brain’s cognitive functions to control emotional responses and goal-oriented behavior.
* Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
* Building skills to manage your stress
* Increasing self-awareness
* Focusing on the present
* Reducing negative emotions
* Increasing patience and tolerance
* Lowering resting heart rate
No.10 Improve Tight Joints
Tight shoulders, hips, elbows, knees and ankles are common among riders and not always due to the lack of flexibility.
It is possible for a very skilful gymnast to get on a horse for the first time and show tightness in her limbs despite being very mobile throughout her body.
By focusing breath work and stability, yoga can help you to learn to release negative tension which often creates a lack of mobility in the joints.
No.11 Improve your rein contact
Whether walking, standing on one leg or riding a horse, when we are off balance, Instinctively our hands want to help us. It is such a natural reflex and makes total sense for self protection.
However when riding we have to try to overrule this reaction to keep the horse comfortable and allow our communication line down the reins to have clarity.
We are all aiming for ‘independent hands’, which means that we can ride in balance with or without a rein contact.
To do this well all the time we need good body awareness, balance, core strength to help stability when the horse is moving and mobility in the arms. Yoga can help you find your ‘independent hands’!
No.12 Connection
Yoga can teach you how to use subtle energy to connect with your horse, both physically and mentally.
No.13 Subtleties of riding
Skilled riders have a way of making it look easy.
Yoga can help you find those subtleties and fitness that you need to take your riding to the next level!
No.14 Facilitates progress.
Do you have that chitter chatter in your head that is really negative talk?
Is this holding you back?
Yoga can help train your focus to what you want to achieve and reduce the negative Chita chatter in your head that often can become habitual.
No.15 Be more Present!
Being present means catching those daydreams, the worrying or desiring and in those moments, choosing to let them go, allowing you that feeling of complete peace, freedom from wanting or not wanting.
Staying present allows you to stay in the moment, it helps you to react immediately to the horses needs, enabling so much more clarity to the horse.
It is important to have goals but if you stay present and in the moment, you can adapt them accordingly.
It can be the difference between winning and loosing a competition.
When competing or training your horse, being present and staying in the moment not only enables you to focus on what you want to achieve but also improves communication. Remember listening and noticing is part of communication.
Is what you want to achieve doable for the horse in that moment;
* Is your horse understanding what you are asking?
* Are they comfortable?
* Do they need to revisit basics before going forwards to the next step?
* Maybe increased fitness will help them travel to the next level?
* Perhaps something has unsettled your horse in that moment, so not the time to ask for something new. If this happens time maybe better spent asking for something that the horse finds simple to perform.
It is impossible to stay present for your horse if you are conversing with someone else about another matter…..that person could be yourself!
Yoga can help you to be be more present and stay in the moment with crisp clear focus, ready to adapt accordingly.
No.16 Improves Spinal Health and Strength.
A strong, healthy spine is important, not only when riding, enabling the rider to influence the horse in a positive way and match the forces of the horses movement, but also when off horse doing all the essential stable chores.
Many of the postures in yoga asana, gently strengthen both the muscles in the back and the abdominal area. Targeting the areas that are essential components of the muscular network of the spine, allowing the body to maintain a proper upright posture and movement.
When these muscles and soft tissue are well conditioned, back pain can be greatly reduced or avoided.
No.17 Intuition
Go with your guts! This is a common phrase and it can serve you well in all situations especially when riding and training horses.
Horses are very intuitive, they have no ego, no worries about how many likes they have on social media. They don’t mind if they never win a competition, no one to impress. They just live in the moment and use their intuition to survive.
We all have external influences, most of them are very helpful but if you find yourself at a junction or wondering what to do next or the advice that you re being given doesn’t sit well with you, then it is time to go with your intuition.
Yoga can help you to find your intuition, enabling you to leave your ego out of it and go with your guts, helping you make the right choice for you and your horse to progress in the direction that feels right.
No.18 Improve Cardiovascular Health
Yoga improves heart health by increasing circulation and blood flow. In addition, practicing yoga has been proved to help lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels, as well as the heart rate — which can all add up to a lower risk of hypertension, stroke, and heart disease.
There have been studies in Sweden to show that an increase in the human heart rate can effect the horse, making him more alert and reactive to stimuli.
Exercise that gets your heart rate pumping isn’t the only way to help improve your cardiovascular health. Managing stress also is critical to your overall heart health, this can also improve you and your horses progress.
No.19 Isometric Strength
Isometric strength is the ability to hold and maintain a push, pull, or static position for a period of time. It can also help improve your posture.
When working on rider Biomechanics, I will often use isometric exercises to help fire up the correct muscle chain throughout the body.
Isometric exercise allow your muscles to engaged, but not change in length and the joints are stabilised, this for example can help riders to stabilise a moving lower leg.
Working regularly with isometric exercises, allows you to recruit your muscles more efficiently and give you that all important body awareness, which is an important part of being a skilled horse rider.
Yoga is unique in developing isometric strength.
No.20 Bone health
As horse riders it is good to have strong bones!
Bones are living tissue, research has shown that practicing yoga can be surprisingly protective in preventing fractures as well as osteoporosis.
The pull of muscle on the bone is the single major factor in bone strength. After research, the experts say that roughly 10 seconds of stimulation is enough to trigger new bone growth to improve bone mass and density.
No.21 Stress Relief
Horses are very quick to pick up on our feelings of stress and anxiety, this can effect the way that they perform.
Yoga combines many popular stress-reducing techniques, including exercise, stretching, as well as learning to control the breath, clear the mind, and relax the body.
There have been several studies showing how yoga can reduce stress.
No.22 Improves your Reactions
Quick reactions are useful when riding and handling horses, especially when jumping, competing and training youngsters or challenging horses. Allowing you to react in the moment, both in body and mind, after all a horses reaction time can be quick when the are startled or stressed!
When training and teaching any horse, a quick reaction time is vital to help the horse to understand your cues/aids. For example, when asking your horse to back up, either in hand or ridden, you may ask by applying backwards pressure to the head collar or bridle. When the horse starts to step backwards, you want to be quick to release the pressure. This allows the horse, in that moment, to know that he has given you the right answer.
Studies have shown that after a few weeks of yoga practice the improvements in reaction times and accuracy on cognitive tasks are greater than those practicing solely aerobic exercise.
No.23 Mental Health
Yoga has been scientifically proven to improve your mental health and in today’s world it is important to look after yourself both physically and mentally.
Improving your mental health can often allow more progress with your riding, helping you to be more confident and allowing more clarity.
Yoga also teaches you techniques that you can do when riding your horse to help your mental health.
No.24 Release Unwanted Tension in the Body.
Do you ever notice yourself holding the reins with a death grip, holding one rein tighter than the other, scrunching your face or curling your toes when riding?
These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue and soreness in both you and your horse. It can also create negative tension in your horse or may effect your balance and ability to blend or dance with your horse.
As you practice yoga, you begin to notice where you hold tension. It might be in your tongue, your eyes, or the muscles of your hands, toes or face and neck. This can help you use your body in a more positive way and can greatly improve your horses way of going.
No.25 Helping to Enable Longevity in your Riding.
If you have a good horse, there is no reason why you can’t continue riding into old age, the late queen was still riding in her 90s!
Yoga can help make this possible by keeping you balanced, helping stability, mobility, flexibility, elasticity of your joints, also aiding with bone density and positive mental focus.
This may also help riders to stay at the top of their game when competing into their later years.
A regular yoga practice can also help you to counteract the muscular imbalances that occur during yard work, for example mucking out and sweeping.
No. 26 Injury Prevention and Recovery
Despite good preparation and risk assessment, horses are large prey animals that have survived all these years with their fast reactions to get out of perceived danger, sometimes at the cost to the rider on their back or the handler on the ground. However with quick reactions, good intuition, strong bones and elastic muscles, (all helped by yoga!) we hope that injuries are kept to a minimum and any healing is fast!
No.27 Increased Endurance.
Yoga can enable a rider to increase stamina both physically and physiologically as well as increasing mental focus. Which is especially useful to eventers and endurance riders, in fact it is useful to all riders!
No.28 Better communication between you and your horse.
Communication is both listening, noticing and talking, both verbally and also with body language, which horses are best at!
As we have already mentioned, yoga can improve balance, mobility and core strength,, allowing you to use your legs and arms more independently to help your communication .
Yoga teaches you to go with your instincts and listen to the subtleties that we often miss in this modern world. This includes listening to your horse.
I’m sure that I could go on with even more reasons why Yoga can help us all.
……………………………….
Karen runs Yoga classes open to all. She is also available for 1to1 which can be tailored to suit your needs.
Please contact us for more details or join our Facebook Page Yoga for Horse Riders;
https://m.facebook.com/groups/600559958370316/?ref=share