The Performance Refinery - Ride.Lab Academy

03/02/2026

Cold muscles make sloppy athletes.
Warm muscles make precision artists 🎿🐎

If you’re about to ski steep lines or ride with feel and finesse, your body needs circulation, coordination, and joint prep before you ask it for power.

Here’s your 8–10 minute rider + skier ignition sequence:

x30 Jumping Jacks
Flip the switch. Elevate heart rate. Wake up the whole system.

x30 Cross-Body Rotations
Turn on thoracic rotation so your upper body can stabilize while your legs do the work.

x30 Air Squats
Prime quads and glutes for shock absorption and strong leg drive.

45 sec Jog in Place
Get blood moving. Warm tissues perform better and react faster.

x30 Ankle Rockers
Mobilize the ankles for edge control on skis and stable lower leg position in the saddle.

x20 Skater Lunges
Lateral strength + balance. Control side-to-side load like an athlete, not a passenger.

x20 Roller Glute Bridges
Fire hip extension. Strong glutes protect knees and low back.

x20 Shoulder Taps
Core stability under shifting load. Independent arms, steady trunk.

x20 Star Planks
Integrated strength. Hips, core, shoulders all online.

Why this matters?
📍Warm tissue responds faster
📍Activated hips protect knees
📍Stable core improves precision
📍Mobile ankles improve control

You’re not just warming up.
You’re building control before speed enters the equation.

Perform with intention. Then go earn your turns. 🎿🐎

03/01/2026

Your boots aren’t the only thing that need warming up. Your nervous system does too⚡️

Whether you’re clicking into skis or swinging into the saddle, your body needs mobility + activation + control before you ask it for power, precision, or balance.

Here’s a short, punchy morning reset that wakes up your hips, primes the core, and clears neural tension so you move like an athlete, not a folded lawn chair.

1️⃣ TFL / Glute / Hamstring Rolling
Unstick the lateral hip. Free the posterior chain.
If your hips are locked, your edge control and leg stability suffer. Period.

2️⃣ Lower Extremity Neural Flossing
Clear the wiring. Better neural glide = cleaner coordination, quicker reactions, less “tight but I stretched” feeling.

3️⃣ Dynamic Adductor Rollouts (Foam Roller)
Open the inner thigh engine.
Adductors stabilize the pelvis for carving turns and keeping a steady leg under the saddle.

4️⃣ 1/2 Kneeling Quad + Psoas Mobility on Stability Ball. Restore hip extension without dumping into the low back. You need hip extension for stacked posture, shock absorption, and efficient leg drive.

5️⃣ Long sitting Deep Core Rotations with an ISO Foam Roller Hold. Build rotational control without wobble. A Stable trunk = independent legs. That’s how you stay quiet on the horse and strong on the downhill.

6️⃣ Plank → Downward Dog Walkouts
Integrate everything. Shoulders, core, posterior chain. Now your body talks as one unit.

This takes around 8 to 12 minutes.
It saves you sloppy turns, unstable legs, and compensatory low back drama.

Warm up with intention.
Then go perform. 🐎🎿

See you on the hill today ✌🏼

02/26/2026

HIP EXTENSION: The Missing Link in Rider Position

If your leg creeps forward
If your pelvis tips forwards
If lateral aids feel blocked

You don’t need more “heels down.”
You may need improved hip extension capacity.

Hip extension is the ability of the femur to move backward underneath a stable pelvis. For riders, this is everything if you want:

• An efficient leg position
• A stacked pelvis over the seat bones
• True independence of the thigh
• The ability to bring the leg back for lateral work
• Full working range of glute max, hamstrings, and deep hip stabilizers

Without this access, riders will compensate into lumbar extension, gripping hip flexors &/or a rotated pelvis.

That’s where instability starts. Here are my top 6 foundational hip extension basics for developing your mechanical capacity, Motor Control & Neuromuscular function

1️⃣ Prone Hip Extension Over Block
Purpose: Teach pure femur movement without lumbar cheating to build clear & clear motor control
Setup:
- Yoga block under foot
- P***c bone heavy to maintain contact with floor
- Neutral lumbar spine with gentle core engagement
Action:
- Lift one leg into hip extension without arching your lower back.
Goal:
- Glute drives the movement.
- Pelvis stays quiet.

2️⃣ Prone Stability Ball Hip Extension

Purpose: Add instability and posterior chain demand
Setup:
- Hips supported on Stability Ball
- Neutral spine throughout with core engaged
- Ground hands into the floor and draw downwards
Action: Extend one leg without shifting pelvis.
Goal: The unstable surface challenges deep stabilizers and anti-rotation control. This is where control meets endurance.

3️⃣ Plank Leg Lifts

Purpose: Integrate hip extension with full trunk control
Setup:
- Strong forearm plank with hands drawn downwards and screwed into floor
- Ribs stacked over pelvis
- No lumbar sagging
Action: Lift one leg slightly into extension.
Key: The lumbar spine NEVER overextends.
Goal: You’re training anti-extension strength while the glute works which mirrors riding demands.

4️⃣ Banded RDL Hip Hinge

Purpose: Loaded hip extension through range
Setup:
- Band around hips pulling backward
- Soft knees
- Neutral spine
Action: Hinge from hips, drive through heels, extend hips fully
Key: The lumbar spine does NOT extend to finish the movement. Extension comes from the hips, not the back.
Goal: This develops strength capacity for sustained riding posture.

5️⃣ ½ Kneeling Femur Block + ISO Wall Press + Banded Thoracic Rotation

Purpose: Combine hip extension, core stability, and rotational control.
Setup:
- Back leg in hip extension
- Foam roller blocking femur forward
- Front leg 90/90
- Press hands into wall for isometric core engagement
Add:
Banded thoracic rotations into internal rotation hip range.
This trains:
• True hip extension
• Pelvic control
• Rib-pelvis stacking
• Rotational dissociation
Goal: Pelvic/Trunk dissociation. Exactly what advanced lateral work requires.

6️⃣ ISO Bench Hip Extension Block/ Plank with Floating Leg Flexion

Purpose: Lock in hip extension while challenging anterior core and limb dissociation.

Setup:
- Front leg elevated on bench (at top of femur)
- Back leg floating below you
- Hands on floor in strong plank position
- Block under hand if needed to align spine
Action: Hold the extended hip in position.
Slowly flex the floating leg without losing pelvic alignment.
Key:
- Pelvis stays level
- Lumbar spine stays neutral
- Extension comes from the hip, not the low back
- Core prevents rib flare
This Trains:
- End-range hip extension strength
- Anti-rotation stability
- Control during dynamic leg movement
Goal: This is your “leg back” without collapsing the torso. This is stability while applying a precise aid. This is advanced control layered onto foundational strength.

02/20/2026

Let me Re-Introduce … The girl behind the brand.

Hi, I’m Britta 🙋🏼‍♀️
Born in New Zealand 🇳🇿
Danish dad. Kiwi mum. One little brother and a whole lot of farm freedom.

At 7 we moved to 10 acres and I met my first love for horses with a trusty steed, Shanty. That was it. By 8, my pony Matty became my best friend and co-pilot through pony club, muddy boots, and big dreams. Ba****ck gallops. Creek jumps. Spider-filled tack sheds. Horse kid heaven.

Through school I rode obsessively, coached for pocket money, trained ponies, and spent weekends competing around NZ. My mum, zero horse background, became my ultimate road crew, towing trailers across the country. By 16 I was backing trailers myself… mostly successfully (bar one near miss down the bank)

I thought I’d become a vet. But competing showed me something bigger. Riders were broken, stoic, and underserved. There was no sport-specific care for us. That became my mission:

👉🏼 Help the rider
👉🏼 Elevate the horse

✨ 2005 Physio graduate
✨ 6 years mentored in elite manual therapy
✨ Built my first equestrian-focused practice in NZ

Then came a major injury
6 cranial surgeries
2 years rehab
Total reset

I rebuilt. Switched to dressage. Represented NZ. Sold my team of horses & moved to the USA in 2014. Sold my top horse in the USA. Started over. Rebuilt my rider performance business from scratch.

In 2018 I founded Equiformance Bands, now USA patented. Somewhere in the middle of it all I met my husband on a dance floor 💃 and now we’re raising a wild little 6-year-old who prefers adventure over arena life.

Today my vision is bold:
The first fully multidisciplinary, science-driven equestrian performance & rehab facility on the West Coast.

Because when riders move better… horses thrive.

It’s an honor to revel in my passions & serve the equestrian community. Welcome to the Ride 🚀

02/10/2026

THIS ❤️💙❤️

Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.

I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.

Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.

While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.

And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try.

I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.

I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.

I believe in you, just as you believed in me.

❤️LV

01/31/2026

Ridelab education corner 🧠

“Postural Stacking in the Dressage rider”
Where elegance meets efficiency in the saddle 💃🏼🐴

Dressage asks the rider to do something quietly extraordinary. Remain tall, supple, and responsive while guiding a powerful, dynamic athlete beneath you. When riders talk about “better balance” or “stronger core,” what they are often circling around, without naming it, is postural stacking.

Postural stacking is not a pose. It is an organization of the riders systems. When under reliable and effective states, it becomes one of the most energy efficient ways a rider can sit, influence, and communicate to their horse.

📍What is postural stacking?

Postural stacking refers to aligning the major segments of the body (thoracic & pelvic girdle) so load is shared vertically rather than compensated for horizontally.

In simple terms:
• Rib cage stacked over pelvis
• Head floating over the rib cage

When these segments are vertically organized, the rider no longer relies on gripping, bracing, or collapsing to stay upright. Instead, the skeleton does the heavy lifting, and the muscles are free to fine-tune the movements.

A dysfunctional stack leads to excess tension in the rider, which becomes noise in the system. A stacked posture quiets that noise.

📍Intra-abdominal pressure: the hidden engine

At the heart of postural stacking is intra-abdominal pressure. Think of your abdomen as a pressurized cylinder (soda can) formed by the diaphragm on top, the pelvic floor on the bottom, and the abdominal wall wrapping around.

When the rib cage is vertically aligned over the pelvis, this cylinder is able to pressurize evenly.

This is where core function is at its most effective:
• The diaphragm can descend and ascend fully
• The pelvic floor can respond dynamically rather than gripping
• The deep abdominal muscles engage reflexively, not forcefully

In a vertical stack, intra-abdominal pressure reaches its most efficient state, meaning the core fires automatically in response to movement instead of being consciously “held.” This is a critical distinction for riders as bracing the core creates rigidity. Efficient pressure systems create responsiveness.

📍Why stacked riders move better with their horses

When postural stacking is present, the rider’s center of mass aligns more closely with the horse’s center of mass. This alignment reduces the need for:
• Excess rein tension
• Overuse of the lower leg or gripping
• Counterbalancing with the upper body

Instead, subtle shifts in pressure and timing become meaningful aids. The horse feels the rider who is with the motion rather than correcting it stride by stride. This is why riders often report that, once stacked, their horse suddenly feels more uphill (able to lift the shoulder), more connected, or more willing to come through the back, even though the rider feels like they are doing less.

📍A note on the Saliba Postural Classification System ~ Created by one of the greats of Postural alignment & a mentor to me Vicky Saliba Johnson 💓

The Saliba Postural Classification System offers a useful lens for understanding why some riders struggle to find this stack. This system focuses on the trunk as the central component of postural alignment. It defines efficient alignment as one where the centre of mass of the thoracic block is vertically aligned over the centre of mass of the pelvic block, through a relaxed abdomen, with both segments in a neutral tilt. This alignment has been shown to allow for efficient distribution of vertical forces through the musculoskeletal system, thereby supporting pain-free function of the neuromuscular and motor control systems.

Certain postural patterns predispose riders to:
• Rib cage flare with anterior pelvic tilt “leaning back”
• Posterior pelvic tuck with thoracic flexion “collapsing midsection”
• Lateral shifts that break vertical load transfer “pelvic collapse/shift”

From a riding perspective, these patterns often show up as:
• Difficulty sitting the trot without gripping
• Inconsistent contact
• Asymmetry in seat bones or stirrup pressure

Recognizing a rider’s postural classification helps explain why stacking feels elusive for some and effortless for others. More importantly, it guides targeted retraining rather than generic “sit up” cues that rarely stick & create tension in the systems

📍Stacking is dynamic, not rigid

One of the biggest misconceptions is that postural stacking means staying still. In reality, a stacked posture is highly adaptable.

The rider remains vertically organized while allowing micro-movement:
• The pelvis can follow the horse without collapsing
• The rib cage can rotate without flaring
• The head can stay quiet without being held

This dynamic stack is what allows dressage riders to appear both powerful and soft, stable yet elastic.

Key takeaways 🔑

Postural stacking is not about posture for appearance. It is about posture for performance efficiency.

When the rider stacks vertically:
• Infra-abdominal pressure is optimized
• Core firing becomes reflexive and economical
• Communication with the horse becomes clearer and quieter

In dressage, where harmony is judged as much as mechanics, this quiet efficiency is not a bonus. It is the foundation.

Ride tall, yes. But more importantly, ride stacked 📦

Big Thankyou to Sand and Sea Saddlery - Certified Saddle Fitter for Custom Saddlery for lending us a saddle to cover educational content for our riders 🙏🏼

12/18/2025

Some messages stop you in your tracks in the very best way 🤍

As we wrap up the year, I received this note from a client that perfectly captures why I do what I do. Coaching, physiotherapy & rider biomechanics … it’s never just about movements or milestones. It’s about belief, trust, and helping someone reconnect with what their body can do.

I’m deeply grateful for the trust my clients place in me and for the moments like this that remind me how meaningful this work truly is.

Here’s to continued growth, exciting breakthroughs, and riding forward into 2026 with purpose. 💫

“Hi Britta!
As we approach year end, I like to let folks know how much difference they make in my life. Everyone has choices every day. You have a very unique set of skills and experience that is a gift to your clients.

I really appreciate the time you’ve invested with me this year. As an older amateur who is somewhat new to the sport, it would be so easy to give up on myself and see others do the same.

I think we were all dismayed at my apparent lack of being able to make my body do what was needed despite trying so hard all the time.

With your help this year, my riding and communication with my horse(s) has improved dramatically. The horses are happier and my trainer now comments ‘well ridden!’ fairly regularly. She can focus more of her comments on adjusting to the horse’s weak spots Instead of always having to correct my body position to improve communication.

This year I was finally able to:
- Get canter from trot on my upper level horse
- Nail almost every canter departure
- Get changes consistently, especially left
- Start and keep counter canter to second level pattern requirements
- Really execute and feel the difference between my aids for working vs medium gaits
- Ride and communicate well enough for my upper level horse to stop balking or spinning to avoid my aids every ride
- Start shoulder in, haunches in and half pass
- Complete or practice second and third level tests

I’m looking forward to more exciting progress and to working with you in 2026!
Hope you have wonderful holidays surrounded by those you love,
Lisa Black”

12/09/2025

Our 2026 Rider Performance Travel Clinic Schedule is now open for expressions of interest on calendar dates

Reach out to: britta@performancerefinery.com
To secure your barn a date

2025 RIDER PHYSIO AND PERFORMANCE CLINIC SCHEDULE DECEMBER 6/7: UNAVAILABLE 12/13: 20/21: 27/28: 2026 RIDER PHYSIO AND PERFORMANCE CLINIC SCHEDULE EXPRESSIONS OF DATE ALLOCATION INTEREST NOW OPEN JANUARY 3/4: UNAVAILABLE 10/11: 17/18: UNAVAILABLE 23/24: Tierra Rejada Equestrian – Caroline Hoffman ...

12/06/2024

What’s on your Christmas wishlist 🎄❤️

There’s a reason we are the founders & creators of Functional Equestrian Sling training 🛑 Don’t fall for the copycats & make sure you use our 4-way stretch product with a loading breakpoint for your on horse training 🎤🧠

Postage dates as follows;

Within the United States : December 18
International Standard: December 9
International express: December 16

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=892403153074883&id=100069156199052&mibextid=xOYQyo

11/28/2024

As we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, we are reminded of the incredible support and trust you have placed in us. This season is a time to reflect on what truly matters, and you, our clients, are at the top of our list.

We are deeply honored & grateful for the opportunity to work with you, grow alongside you, and contribute to your success. Your loyalty and partnership mean everything to us, and we are committed to continuing to provide exceptional service for years to come.

Thank you for being part of our journey. From our team to yours, we wish you a Thanksgiving filled with joy, love, and gratitude. Here’s to family, friends, and the moments that make life special.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Britta & the P.R team 🍁🦃🧡

11/26/2024

🧠 The why + SCIENCE on band placement for functional rider alignment

✅ ALWAYS have your postural sling under your MIDFOOT, NOT your HEEL!

❌ Please do not take medical advice from non-medical copycats who have no business in advising riders on this!

➡️ SWIPE to read the biomechanics facts

✌🏼❤️🪄

11/25/2024