Rider Assessment and Profiling

As riders any imbalances, asymmetries, stiffness, aches and pains not only affect our performance as a rider but also the performance of the horse.

Does your instructor constantly pick at you for dropping a hip, dropping a shoulder, twisting, putting your head to one side, turning one foot out, gripping on with one hand or any other movement issue? If so then you will benefit from a physiotherapy profiling appointment that Maeve has specifically designed for horse riders. In this appointment Maeve will assess many different movements all related to your ability to move with the horse.

The rider needs to be able to control and optimise the horse’s movement with their seat, as well as absorbing the horse’s movement with their body. As beginner riders we absorb the horse’s movement in the vertical plane, which is why beginner riders bounce up and down a lot. As we become more experienced riders we tend to absorb the horse’s movement in the horizontal plane, which is why the top dressage riders look like they move as one with the horse. To be able to absorb the horse’s movement in the horizontal plane we must be able to move each hip and each side of the pelvis individually as the horse moves each hind limb forward. This is the key to achieving a good seat. If we cannot do this, through injury, pain, weakness or asymmetry, then the movement has to come from elsewhere in our bodies. This can throw us off balance, therefore to stay on board we need to ‘cheat’ and hang on in some way. Usually the more experienced the rider, the more adept they are at hiding this ‘cheat’!

In the rider profiling appointment Maeve carries out a series of functional tests designed to reveal your ‘cheat’. Maeve can guarantee instant improvements in flexibility and strength, allowing your body to move better with the horse and enabling your instructor to concentrate on improving your skills as a rider without having to constantly try to change your body position.

Horse and Rider Assessment

The rider may alter how the horse moves by carrying an imbalance or injury. Maeve offers expert horse and rider movement assessment and analysis. With her extensive experience in treatment of musculoskeletal problems in people, Maeve is ideally placed to assess and offer advice and treatment to the rider. A rider may benefit from an assessment if they have any of the following complaints:

• difficulty achieving contact evenly through the seat
• difficulty achieving contact evenly through the legs
• continually tipping body forward or to one side
• excessive trunk or head movement when riding
• unlevel shoulders
• any pre- existing musculoskeletal condition or injury
• joint or muscle pain or stiffness
• general inflexibility

Demonstrations and Lectures

Maeve is available for lectures, demonstrations and teaching sessions to Veterinary practices, riding clubs and livery yards.