Shall We Dance eBook
Available in the shop for just £30, Shall We Dance: Low Effort, High Performance, Horse Rider Postural Conditioning Exercise Techniques is a unique, science based, interactive text book for riders seeking to improve their ridden posture for performance enhancement, both of themselves and the horses they ride. With 50 video links demonstrating the content, it provides a wealth of easy, low effort, postural improvement suggestions and was written for riders from all equestrian disciplines as well as coaches, therapists and personal trainers.
This text represents a diligent, dedicated 2-year body of Doctoral studies work comprehensively investigating the skill of riding combined with the safeguarding of both rider and horse spinal functional health.
The concepts are academically referenced and justified to appeal to the academic reader without detracting from the ‘how to’ explanations. Richly illustrated, this book was written in a format which facilitates learning among a range of readers that have differing learning styles.
The Introduction and Background explains how the forces generated by the horse and directed at the rider must be managed by the rider, using their posture. The importance of postural health while riding is also explained. How the dance can be created is explored and a selection of ‘Nerd Notes’ representing a summary of peer reviewed scientific articles is included to provide justification of the true nature of equitation skill for developing the dancing partnership.
A detailed 19 point Needs Analysis for the rider, unique to this text having never previously been described, sets out what rider conditioning programmes must focus on to produce the skills required for competent equitation. The introduction explains how riders can get started with their conditioning programme, with 12 inspirational, easy, ‘quick win’ conditioning techniques that they can fit into their busy daily schedules. First Steps explains how riders can achieve the all important core stability muscle recruitment which is the basis of all of the suggested techniques. An overview of how to succeed with using the text is also provided.
The Anatomy of Equitation in terms of identifying the structures which are involved in developing optimal posture for riding horses is described concisely and richly illustrated. It explains how a simple template for the pelvic floor imprint, devised by ErgoX2 saddle designer Maria Hallring, can be made to determine the rider’s habitual loading pattern so that any asymmetry can be identified.
This section contains ‘Enhance the Dance’ tips and ‘Nerd Notes’ for reference. A wide range of powerful tried and tested visualisation techniques used while riding to complement the rotational correction techniques and based on the Ride With Your Mind system formulated by Mary Wanless is also included here.
For those riders seeking practical tips to make weight reduction more effective there is a list of suggestions that could help with this. There are further ‘Nerd Notes’ which underpin the reasoning for the rider conditioning techniques
24 equestrian-specific exercise conditioning techniques are described, with links to demonstration videos. There is also a low effort ‘Deskercise Dozen’ which is suggested for those who have no spare time for an exercise programme but who are seated at desks for extended periods. 7 further techniques using a selection of exercise machines have been demonstrated as being best suited to equestrian postural skills development. Again, video demonstrations are included.
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