Equos Scientia - Equitem/Rider

06/07/2023

The shape of the horse’s barrel and length of the rider’s leg dramatically effects the rider’s position.
A really wide horse will push a short legged rider’s knee out, no matter how much they try to rotate the thigh in. A really rounded barrel barrel (not pictured) often disappears under a longer legged rider’s lower calf and heel. If this is the case, they should just get used to the idea of not being able to feel the horse down by their foot, otherwise they rotate the back of the hill towards the horse, which pulls their knee and thigh away from the horse. Even a tear drop shaped horses (middle) might have this effect, but instead of turning the knee out, longer riders will often times lift the heel up to try to make contact. Narrow horses are often a dream for short limbed riders, but feel like a fence board to a longer legged rider.

The important part is to recognize that there is no cookie cutter perfect angle that applies to everyone.

If you see a rider with absolutely perfect equitation, guesses are that both horse and rider are shaped very well, and also well-suited to each other.

I’m not saying to use this knowledge to justify a Poorer position, but you do need to understand how each horse influences your position. If I ride a horse that is extraordinarily wide, I know I am better off putting on a hunt seat saddle and riding with a short stirrup, because if I try to ride with a long dressage leg it torques, my knee joints. We have one particular lesson horse that is both wide and round, and whenever students sit on him, I know I’m going to have to remind them to keep their lower leg off of the horse and keep their thigh and knee firmly attached.

Some horses are narrow around the girth area, but wide further back into the rib cage, and this pushes the riders leg forward. It is what it is, and just like a quarter horse or Tennessee walker is never going to compete at the Olympics in Dressage, a horse, with a difficult barrel shape, is not going to be as easy for accomplish quite as much as a horse with near perfect conformation. For 90% of riders it’s no big deal- your leg position will just be a little less than perfect. But if you have pre-existing problems with a certain joint, or are looking for your next Grand Prix horse that can score 75%, then barrel shape is something you should take into consideration when horse shopping.

06/07/2023

**NEW RESEARCH PUBLISHED**

A new study “Saddle Thigh Block Design Can Influence Rider and Horse Biomechanics”, published in Animals Open Access

Rachel Murray, Mark Fisher, Vanessa Fairfax and Russell MacKechnie-Guire

Link to read full study: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/13/2127

There is increasing interest in the effect of saddle design on horse kinematics, but little evidence of the influence on rider–saddle interaction and how this affects horse movement patterns.

We aimed to investigate the effect of changing the design of the saddle’s thigh block on the interaction between the rider and saddle and the effect this has on rider movement and horse movement.

To do this, we used a seat pressure mat between the rider and the saddle and tracking technology to analyse horse and rider movement. Elite level sports horses, ridden by elite level riders, were trotted in well-fitting dressage saddles that were identical, except for the thigh block design.

During straight-line locomotion when in sitting trot, results showed that a thigh block with a more deformable face (thigh block F) resulted in a greater contact area and more pressure between the rider’s seat and the saddle as well as a more upright rider position when the horse’s limbs were on the ground. An association between thigh block design, horse spinal movement, and forelimb flexion was also seen. These findings illustrated the importance of optimizing rider–saddle–horse interaction.

29/03/2023