One Sidedness

by Trisha Wren

Most of us are aware that ideally our horses should not be one sided; they should be equally balanced on both sides, supple and able to bend, picking up either canter lead with no problem. Signs on the other hand that your horse is one sided, could be bracing, tightness, motor biking or falling in on corners, trouble with a particular canter lead, high head carriage, inconsistent speed, intolerance of you being on the right side of his head etc etc.

There are of course numerous ways of addressing one sidedness in your horse, some of which we have covered in previous articles. But what about our personal contribution to the issue? Is it possible that we – shock horror! – might be one sided too?! If we are, how might that affect our horse – are we making it even harder for him to balance himself equally?

So, how one sided are you? Try the following two exercises:

1. Clasp your hands together, with the fingers of one hand alternating with those of the other. Note what your automatic habit is; have you linked your right thumb and fingers above the left ones, or vice versa? Now, unclasp, and do it the other way around… how does it feel? Uncomfortable? Totally alien? Take a moment to notice what you are feeling in the rest of your body; does anything else feel weird?
2. Cross your arms. Once again, notice what your automatic habit is, which arm is crossed over the other. Uncross them and cross them with the other arm on top… What feels different? Does your body feel the same either way, or do you feel a bit contorted the unnatural way? Do your arms lie flat both ways? Did you struggle mentally with doing this differently to how you are used to? If so, take a moment to consider how your horse might feel when you ask him to do something new on his less supple side!

If we struggle or feel a noticeable difference doing these two simple exercises, with no horse attached, then it follows that when we are in the saddle we might not be using our body the same way on each side. For instance, you might use more rein or leg pressure on one side than the other (usually the right if you are right handed); this could easily contribute to your horse being stronger on the right than the left.

Having identified that we might be part of our horse’s problem, what can we do about it? The two exercises above would help, if nothing else. Make sure that if you get some sort of body work done on your horse you get yourself done too; there is no point fixing him up if you are still tight or stuck. I would highly recommend Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes to all riders, to help you become more aware of your own body, and obviously Connected Groundwork and Riding exercises also address this.

Here are some other things you can do. Each week, pick a couple of your daily activities that you might do the opposite way around / with the other hand. Some examples:

· Picking up or dialling the phone

· Using your computer mouse

· Turning things on and off

· Using remote controls

· Picking things up

· Pegging or un-pegging the washing

· Stirring

· Eating

Another interesting activity to observe is what you do when dressing and undressing. Which leg do you put into your knickers / trousers / shoes first? Which arm goes into tops and jackets first? Do it the other way around!

These exercises will not only go some way to evening up your ‘sidedness’, but also vastly increase your body awareness – and understanding of what your horse is going through.

Trisha is now offering 1 day clinics without horses. These focus on a number of body awareness exercises to improve riders’ posture, breathing, and body use in relation to their horse, and let them feel what their horse is feeling. Riding Club bookings being taken now.

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©Trisha Wren September 2007

as printed in: The Organic Equine magazine (Oct 2007)