by Dressage Rider Training

In this article, I will run through rider back stretches and hip mobility work to help release lower back and hip pain in riders.

The human body has this amazing ability to heal itself. At any age and in nearly any state especially when given the right environment to do so. Our body will put up with a huge amount of silly movement and poor lifestyle choices for a long time because we have a large amount of functional tolerance built into us.

However we shouldn’t abuse this high tolerance and instead, we should ensure we listen and take care of our body on a daily basis. Because those little signs and symptoms that do appear can turn into bigger uglier problems later on if not taken care of. Just as a tree moulds to its environment over the years from the different weather patterns, so too does our body.

So if that environment is creating niggles and imbalances, which you ignore and only fix the symptoms, it could continue to be an issue for much longer. So given that we have this amazing body that can repair and heal itself with the right tools and environment it makes sense that we would want to pay attention to both areas when aiming to improve our rider wellbeing.

These rider back stretches and exercises are designed to help relieve lower back or hip pain, which is an incredibly common problem and often created because of the environment our bodies are placed in each and every day. So as much you want to do these stretches, pay attention to other possible changes you can make to your daily life. Such as when we sit this can be for long durations at a time and this can cause tightness in our hamstrings, shoulders, hip flexors, and compression in our lower back. To combat this, consider adding in more standing and walking into your day. Try this, for every 30 minutes of sitting you do per day, aim to do 2 minutes of walking or aim to spend 50% of your day on your feet, be it with a stand-up desk or walking meetings.

Read more: 12 Stretches to Release Lower Back and Hip Pain In Riders

by Jen Roytz

We’ve all heard the saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” Horses have to be thirsty in order to consume water, and the lynchpin in that scenario is salt.

Dehydration in horses–or any animal–can quickly escalate from mild to catastrophic. Their internal environment is water-based, and salt is the driving force behind the regulation and distribution of water in and out of cells.

“Salt is 39% sodium and 61% chloride. When consumed, salt will split in the body into the separate minerals to be used independently (as electrolytes),” said Dr. Kathleen Crandell, PhD, a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research (KER). “Both these minerals have independent roles in the body, but mainly they work together balancing fluid movement in and out of the cells and acid-base balance, as well as electrical impulse conduction in nerves and muscles. Further, sodium is needed for transport of substances across cell membranes, like glucose.”

The more a horse exercises and sweats, the more water they need to consume to prevent dehydration, and as such the more salt they require in their diet. While forage, grass and concentrated feeds contain salt, it is not enough to adequately meet a horse’s dietary needs, especially a high-performance equine athlete, such as a racehorse, making proper salt supplementation key.

Read more: Horse Health: You Can Lead a Horse to Water…