Unconventional Athletes Issue 5
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
www.unconventionalathletes.com<br />
Most riders train when young while being “lunged.”<br />
This is when someone has control over the horse<br />
connected to a long lead while it moves in a<br />
continual circle, allowing the rider to practice<br />
their position with balancing exercises while they<br />
have nothing to hold onto with their hands, and<br />
nothing to put their feet into. With the horse<br />
moving, they develop a balanced ‘seat’. It is where<br />
you learn (not all riders do) to become one with<br />
the horse with your body.<br />
While pilates, yoga, jogging and skiing are wonderful<br />
to help and assist in a rider’s fitness and strength,<br />
unfortunately when it comes to riding there is really<br />
only one way to learn – ride!<br />
YOU MUST USE A LOT OF LEG STRENGTH.<br />
DO YOU DO ANY UNUSUAL EXERCISES TO<br />
STRENGTHEN THOSE COMPONENTS TO HELP<br />
YOU TO STAY ON YOUR HORSE?<br />
There are muscles and fitness that a rider can only<br />
build by riding. I have a really beautiful lady that<br />
I have coached for some time in Australia. She<br />
is the fittest woman I know and is a regular at her<br />
gym. After a training session with her horse and I,<br />
she is exhausted. It’s not that her fitness doesn’t<br />
help, it’s just that riding is very unique in not<br />
only its physical demands, but in its development<br />
of certain areas of the brain – intuition and<br />
awareness – that very few sports similarly require<br />
on the same level.<br />
You are working with another feeling; you are not<br />
able to verbally communicate with the horse, but<br />
need to predict and feel what they are feeling and<br />
are what they're about to do. Mistakes in this are<br />
learnt very early on from both partners – the horse<br />
learns to trust the rider’s intentions and the rider<br />
learns to focus, and stay on!<br />
WOULD YOU SAY THAT RIDING WITH NO<br />
SADDLE IS A FULL BODY WORKOUT?<br />
Yes, riding can make you extremely strong physically,<br />
but its true strength is in its capability to strengthen<br />
your soul.<br />
After a rider has had many years of developing the<br />
physical aspect of riding, they have the<br />
opportunity to dive into their soul and work on<br />
the mental and emotional aspects of themselves.<br />
This leads to the self-mastery obtained with the<br />
life skills of a Buddhist monk and the physical<br />
mastery of a martial arts master. There is great<br />
wisdom in riding, but also it can breed its opposite<br />
of great mastered egos, too.<br />
ISSUE 5 VOLUME 1 Page 14
Change language