Balanced Rider UK - Position perfection training

23/04/2023

🌟WORKSHOP ALERT! 🌟
FIX MY RIDING POSITION VIP REGISTRATION OPEN FOR BROAD HINTON, SWINDON 🌟

10TH JUNE 11:00 - 1:30pm

We sleep, sit & stand in specific patterns. Over time this creates wonkiness in our bodies, which affects our riding.

If you’re struggling with canter transitions, better riding, circles & responses on one rein, it’s time to straighten up!

The ‘Stop Sitting Wonky’ off-horse workshop will leave you feeling straighter & more in control of your body, with a set of 'posture tools' to work with so you can attack the problem from the source.

Learn:
- where your wonkiness starts
- which postural exercises you need
- how & when to do them to rebalance & restore posture

No more crappy schooling sessions! Get control of your bad riding habits & riding results.

Just 20 places on this workshop are available! To book your space, head below 👇

https://www.stretchstronger.co.uk/event-details-registration/fix-my-riding-position-stop-sitting-wonky-workshop

I cant wait to meet you at this workshop and make your season a great one this year!
Ellie

It's frustrating knowing you're wonky, but unable to correct it. Your circles & transitions are better one rein, canter is effortless, & then, there's the other side..! Learn how to straighten up, relieve aches & pains, & give effective aids that work in this off-horse workshop

20/01/2023

The Fit2Ride online training library is finally live 🎉

As a posture coach, I’ve seen so many riders struggle with sitting wonky, tipping forward, losing stirrups, hunching shoulders, twisting the wrong way and many more common problems which affect their riding progression

I’ve run workshops over the UK over the last 6 years and found literally HUNDREDS of riders with the same problem. So… It’s NOT you. It’s what we DO.

We sleep, stand and sit a certain way. Over time, poor posture gets programmed and you’re stuck… you’re NOT a bad rider, you’re NOT crap!! You CAN undo the wonkiness, with the right exercises both on and off horse.

(Here’s where I come in, thanks for sticking with me!)

I decided to take some of the most common posture fixes and put them online for everyone to access easily so you can start to reprogramme your own posture in just a few minutes a day. I’ve included my best selling courses ‘How to be a better rider in 10 days’ and ‘Stop sitting Wonky’ as well as 70 + videos with useful titles like ‘improve my rising trot’ so you know where to start, to attack your posture problems. More will follow, it’s going to get bigger and better!

Best thing is… you can try it for free! No gimmicks. If you love the site and want to use the videos and courses as they are added, it’s just £9.99 a month with no contracts. I want to help as many people as I can to improve your riding position, your health and your happiness so you really can be fit to ride.

I’d love you to check it out

www.balancedrider.co.uk

11/09/2022

What a woman, what an inspiration, what a reign…

The equestrian world has truly lost a staunch supporter this week. The queen almost felt like a
member of our families, always there in our hearts, minds and part of our lives.

I grew up in Berkshire, a stones throw from Windsor. I would visit weekly to shop and always loved to see the castle. It was part of my childhood. As a small child, my Nanna and I would go to Buckingham Palace to see changing of the guard and I would avidly watch Trooping of the Colour on television with the Queen on her favourite horse ‘Burmese’. I still have the London postcards as momentos today. Horses were part of my life from a young child and the queen was part of that inspiration.

I‘m sure many of you, if not all, share that sentiment and join me in wishing heartfelt condolences to King Charles III and his family for the loss of a mother, grandmother and inspirational lady, as well as OUR Queen. May she rest in peace. Never forgotten Ma’am. 🇬🇧👑🇬🇧

07/02/2022

Have your stirrups felt uneven, and when you’ve checked the leathers, they’ve been perfectly straight?! This could be your reason…

I see lots of people with uneven legs and feet. It’s a common issue and can affect your riding without you realising.

In some cases there may be a structural issue affecting leg length. A huge proportion of the time, it’s soft tissue changes that create the imbalance. You cross one leg repeatedly, lie on one side in bed, carry a baby on the same hip… over time these compensations create tightness and postural change.

As you can see below, in the case of soft tissue tightness, this can be reversed. 1-2-1 sessions with a postural coach, or a specifically programmed set of rehabilitation corrections can release tight muscles and get you back on the road to straighter riding.

The changes in the images below are from just one session! My client was given a set of homework corrections, and had two subsequent sessions to help the changes set in.

This is why I love what I do 💕

04/02/2022

🌟Are you a forward tipper, wonky sitter, stirrup loser, shoulder huncher or suffer with positional problems? 🌟

Unsure where to start to stop them?

Try my online ‘10 days to better riding’ video course and learn how to identify, target and erase bad riding habits, helping you on the road to position perfection.

Just follow along with 10 simple correction videos each day and practice the tasks set.

- Bitesize videos no more than 7 mins long
- Immediate access, start now!
- Work through 1 video daily for 10 days
- Work on specific issues with selected exercises
- Members only Facebook support group
- Videos are yours to keep forever
- Repeat programme as many times as you like, you don’t have to do it in 10 days!

UNTIL MONDAY GET 45% OFF (£29.95)

To book yourself on the 10 days to better riding programme click here:

https://balancedrider.co.uk/pages/10daystobetterriding

04/02/2022

🏇Do you turn equally both sides?🏇

We all favour one rein, but if you find lateral work, canter transitions and turning circles more difficult one side, it’s likely there isn’t equal weight through the seat bones.

Postural corrections will help straighten this imbalance with a little practice. But there are several useful ridden exercises to help. The one below will help your body not to overcompensate on your ‘favourite’ rein and keep hips level on your ‘second favourite’ (🤣)

This exercise was taught to me by one of my original dressage instructors. These classical training exercises never age, I still use it today.

The three windows:

Whilst riding in the arena, imagine three long tall church style windows in front of you. They stretch from floor to ceiling.

One window is directly over the horses head, between the ears

One is just to the left of the horses left ear

One is just to the right of the horses ear

When riding straight lines or turning left or right, keep your vision, line and energy of your body through the chosen window. This exercise helps you move your body evenly in the direction of travel and use the right amount of turning power.

Why not give it a try and see how it feels?
Feedback or questions welcome…

Ellie

03/02/2022

We’re back! It’s been a little while as this page was the subject of a serious hacking incident (and I don’t mean the horsey kind! 🤣)

But… we’re back online and ready to rock. Hugely exciting things planned this year to get you as position perfect as you can possibly be. Free tips, videos and help as always on this page. Our door is open for questions or support with your riding.

Stay tuned for all the fun!
Ellie x

10/02/2021

How can you improve the effectiveness of your seat at the canter?

We’ve all been here... dreaming of that perfectly balanced, active, travelling canter. But the reality for lots of us is that canter scares us just a teeny bit; it can feel so BIG, fast or out of control, or we’re worried about hurting our horse or ourselves. If you have a young, sensitive or ‘bouncy’ horse, this can be a real worry.

My ‘Pommel Pull’ ridden drill is an excellent way to help improve 3 key components that will
stabilise your position and effectiveness of your seat in the canter:

1. Create ‘Relaxed Resistance’
Sounds counter-intuitive, but the pelvis needs freedom to move, and the abdominals need stability to maintain balance. Parts of your body need to engage, and others need to let go. This drill helps you feel which parts need to do what.

2. Develop Balance:
Encouraging correct alignment using a stabilisation technique will allow your body to move quietly and correctly with your horse and deepen the seat

3. Encourage Confidence
Sitting deeper, quieter, and feeling correct abdominal engagement will build confidence to move legs away and ride the canter with more enjoyment.

It can be so hard to understand how certain things should ‘feel’ on horseback. I’ve always wanted to help shortcut this process for other riders, so I spend lots of time on and off my horse working through ways to create lightbulb moments. This is absolutely one of them for me.

My ‘Pommel Pull’ positioning drill really helps dressage riders of all levels to feel correct abdominal engagement and body positioning at the canter, in addition to deepening the seat and moving smoothly with the gait. Give it a go for yourself and let me know how you go!

Best as always
Ellie

06/02/2021

Postural Problem 1: Do you have a ‘dressage foot’ and a ‘show jumper foot’?

Uneven feet are more common than you think!

Problems with one foot rotating outwards are not only frustrating and unsightly when riding, they show off an underlying postural fault in the hip, in addition to being potential contributors to hip, glute and back pain.

Tight hips externally rotate the feet outwards as the muscles pull tight down the legs. Having one problem side - as in the case of this picture - can arise from constantly crossing the same leg over when sitting, lying on one side at night, an old injury, or an unbalanced pelvis. Cue uneven foot position, which can also lead to ‘nagging’ your horse unconsciously on one side.

You can learn how to straighten out wonky feet, hips, hunched shoulders, a tight back, tipping forwards and lots of other frustrating habits in my short video course, ‘10 days to better riding’

https://balancedrider.co.uk/10daystobetterriding

Login daily and practice 10 easy postural alignment videos to target common body problems causing bad ride habits.

- Bitesize videos no more than 7 mins long
- Immediate access, start now!
- Work through 1 video daily for 10 days
- Daily support emails
- Members only Facebook support group
- Videos are yours to keep
- Repeat programme as many times as you like, you don’t have to do it in 10 days.

I’d love to help you become a straighter, balanced rider.

Ellie

22/11/2020

Happy Sunday!
Thought for the day: Here’s how thinking like a weightlifter can help you protect your back when doing heavy jobs around the yard.
Take care of yourself
Ellie x

20/11/2020

Friday question time:

I'd like to be able to create relevant content on this page that helps with specific position problems with your riding

So...

What do you feel is your biggest pain, frustration or issue with your riding/riding position that is stopping you from progressing?

Pop a note below and I'll use your feedback to create useful content that you can use to improve.

Big love as always

Ellie

18/11/2020

All of us want to improve core stability. This starts a little at a time. So why not start today with a daily challenge that takes no more than 5 minutes each day, and will help you level up your riding?

Try my daily challenge for the rest of lockdown 2.0 and see where you are at the end of it.

Core Stability Builder:

Lying on your back pull knees into chest, whilst at the same time pushing your hands away from you and engaging the core fully.

Start with 3 x 10s holds and add another each day

Day 1: 3 x 10s holds
Day 2: 4 x 10s holds
Day 7: 9 x 10s holds

Head to my Vimeo channel to see the full ‘how to’ video

https://vimeo.com/399720584