Episode #18: The Importance of Balance Training
While most people tend to focus on strength and cardiovascular fitness, balance training is a critical component to well rounded athleticism, and can be done with horses at any level of training.
As riders we have all had that feeling that our horse fell into a halt transition, taking an awkward step to rebalance and catch himself. The inability of the horse to shift his weight back is cause of many poor upward and downward transitions.
And all too commonly, horses struggle to re-engage their balance for the second or third element in a triple combination, resulting in a shortened step, loss of scope or even rails.
Join me for today’s episode where I go in-depth into how the horse’s visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems work together to recover his balance. And, I chat about how we challenge those systems in un-mounted balance training exercises to improve conditioning, enhance under tack techniques and improve automatic reactions in the horse.
The benefits of this type of training are HUGE and include:
Improved functional strength of muscles (which can lead to a reduction in injuries caused by fatigue)
Improved reflex time and co-ordination
Reduced pain in the back, neck and weight bearing joints due to a strengthened core and thoracic sling
Improved static and dynamic posture and postural control
This type of training is the finesse you and your horse have been looking for!
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Please note: The ideas expressed in this podcast are opinions only, and are not substitutes for proper veterinary care, veterinary medicine and other forms of bodywork. The opinions are not intended to be prescriptive or diagnostic in nature.