Equipilates™ helps you to become the rider your horse would choose |
Alignment-Breath-CentreFeeling wonky or stiff?
Do your stirrups always feel unlevel? Riding on one rein is much more tricky than the other? One particular movement a battle on every horse you ride? Sitting trot a struggle? Want to look and feel more elegant and in harmony with your horse? Equipilates™ encompasses precision biomechanical screening techniques with targeted movement, imagery and touch to help you upgrade your riding. We do this by including riding-specific exercises and really engaging your senses to improve your symmetry, shock absorption and 'feel' . Sounds great, right? Why is this something we need as riders? Your position has huge impact on the way your horse can move underneath you; your dynamic alignment influences every aspect of your riding, from where your legs are positioned on the horse's sides to how you can apply a half halt aid. Biomechanical restriction can correlate with poor posture and vice versa-if any of the deep muscles in your core, and even muscles in your arms and legs which are connected in muscular chains through your core are overactive or tight (there's a difference!), it really affects how you absorb the shock of your horse's movement, for example in the sitting trot. If you aren't absorbing shock really evenly through the front/back and left/right of your body, it blocks the thrust coming from his hindquarters through his spine and affects his movement. |
Biomechanical restriction affects your 'loading', or weight distribution. If your weight is unevenly distributed over both sides of the horse, perhaps loaded forward or back of the vertical line of gravity or you find it more difficult to turn your body one way compared to the other (or all of those things!) your body will be giving signals to the horse to move in a certain way, even if you aren't aware of it. Even tiny deviations have an impact on how you and your horse work together.
Many riders spend a fortune on having their horses treated by the physio/chiropractor, their saddles checked and refitted regularly and yet are unaware of the huge impact their own riding has on their horse's ability to move freely and whether the treatment of the physio/chiro/saddlefitter is effective on a long term basis. As one half of the partnership, it is important that your body functions to the best of its ability. It is also vital that you ride your horse in a biomechanically helpful way which develops his training mentally and physically, to ensure that the money you spend on his welfare is not wasted.
Sometimes trainers struggle to correct their client's positions because the root cause is not addressed; this can be frustrating for trainer, rider and horse! People sometimes struggle for years with exactly the same issues; specialist knowledge of human anatomy and movement AND how you use your body whilst riding, plus how the horse influences you is required to help you make the necessary changes. This is where Equipilates™ comes in!
Founder Lindsay Wilcox-Reid's clear, simple explanations of how to recognise and maintain correct alignment plus her knowledge of intrinsic biomechanics, Pilates, the Franklin Method® and how to apply those principles and techniques to the rider's needs makes a better functioning body, and better riding, accessible to everyone. Through carefully selected exercises and programmes in group classes or one-to-one sessions, Equipilates™ will support you in your journey to develop your body into a more balanced, more co-ordinated, more elegant, more efficient and functionally stronger version of itself. Team Equipilates™ has qualified teachers throughout the UK and around the world, passionate about helping YOU and YOUR horse achieve more. More symmetry, balance, flow, athleticism, partnership and harmony. What's not to love?
Many riders spend a fortune on having their horses treated by the physio/chiropractor, their saddles checked and refitted regularly and yet are unaware of the huge impact their own riding has on their horse's ability to move freely and whether the treatment of the physio/chiro/saddlefitter is effective on a long term basis. As one half of the partnership, it is important that your body functions to the best of its ability. It is also vital that you ride your horse in a biomechanically helpful way which develops his training mentally and physically, to ensure that the money you spend on his welfare is not wasted.
Sometimes trainers struggle to correct their client's positions because the root cause is not addressed; this can be frustrating for trainer, rider and horse! People sometimes struggle for years with exactly the same issues; specialist knowledge of human anatomy and movement AND how you use your body whilst riding, plus how the horse influences you is required to help you make the necessary changes. This is where Equipilates™ comes in!
Founder Lindsay Wilcox-Reid's clear, simple explanations of how to recognise and maintain correct alignment plus her knowledge of intrinsic biomechanics, Pilates, the Franklin Method® and how to apply those principles and techniques to the rider's needs makes a better functioning body, and better riding, accessible to everyone. Through carefully selected exercises and programmes in group classes or one-to-one sessions, Equipilates™ will support you in your journey to develop your body into a more balanced, more co-ordinated, more elegant, more efficient and functionally stronger version of itself. Team Equipilates™ has qualified teachers throughout the UK and around the world, passionate about helping YOU and YOUR horse achieve more. More symmetry, balance, flow, athleticism, partnership and harmony. What's not to love?
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses also have their own alignment patterns; often they are similar to the rider's but not always. Lindsay's expertise as a dressage trainer, movement therapist and Franklin Method® Equestrian Trainer means that when teaching you on your own horse, she can help you to work through corrective exercises to improve your horse's way of going through improving his posture, flexibility and spinal alignment, which in turn helps you maintain your position more easily. See dressage training with Lindsay. Here at HQ we are lucky enough to have Martha, our mechanical horse, as well as a fully equipped Pilates studio so we can work out whether the wonkiness is down to you, your horse, or both! |
Work with me at Equipilates™ HQ
Rider tuition takes place either with me, Lindsay Wilcox-Reid at Equipilates™ HQ in Ripley, Derbyshire as detailed below, or with one of her regional, qualified Equipilates™ members, located throughout the UK and worldwide. Contact each trainer directly to find out the different types of tuition format they can offer you. Not sure what Equipilates™ actually is? Find out more HERE.
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I work with clients of all levels individually for sports performance and rehabilitation in the Equipilates™ Performance Studio using the mechanical horse, large Pilates apparatus and a variety of biomechanical screening and movement therapy techniques.
Work with me one to one |
Online group sessions here are a unique blend of exercises specifically designed to improve your riding. Want to work on your position and partnership with your horse in a fun, friendly group dynamic with lots of support and plenty of individual attention? Our online coaching programme is perfect! Find out more
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There's lots to offer you here at HQ...you can book sessions, packages or purchase vouchers for the different tuition options we offer. If you're not sure which is best for you, let's have a chat so I can find out more about you and your riding. Contact me HERE to arrange a call or click here to go to the booking page
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