Back blogging - Andy Thomas

Andy Thomas eventphysio who is the dog's b*ll*cks

So on Saturday I went to see Andy Thomas

https://www.eventphysio.com/

I am a 'Type 1' as are 90% of riders

My weak left leg

So my left leg is my stronger (stiffer? ) leg

I had always thought my left leg was weakest when riding.

It appears weaker because when I use it my weaker right side fails to support it

Seat bones

Andy asked me to sit on the bench and rock forward and back on my seat bones so far so easy

Then shift onto the left seat bone and rock forward and back, hmm couldn't do that without hitching my right shoulder 'to help' What the actual fcuk ? Does this finally explain after YEARS why my right shoulder hitches forward on the left rein?

Hip mobility 

Andy tested my range of motion



Right side normal range of motion, left side very restricted and stiff

Andy had me lie on my right side and released my left glutus medius and retested

Range had improved and stiffness very much decreased.

 Repeated the seat bone exercise much easier to go left without hitching my right shoulder

I now have a fab little app with my three exercises on it

1. Seat bone exercises
2. Glutus medius activation
3. Clam shell exercise

I've booked an unmounted follow up in September and will then do a mounted session after that

What's it all about then?   

From https://www.facebook.com/eventphysio/


The Dull Aide…or “my leg feels weak”

It is a common complaint from riders in all disciplines that one leg is better than the other in delivering a leg aide. Most riders simply put this down to the offending leg being “weak”, it delivers an aide that feels dull or the horse does not respond well to it . The aide is often late and may not be accurate which causes a great deal of frustration to the rider and inevitably to the horse.

Why do so many riders have this problem and what is the cause? Is it really a weakness of the offending leg? It is common for the rider to complain that they have worked hard on the “weak leg” with little result in changing the offending leg aide which leaves them obviously frustrated that going to the gym to exercise the leg hasn’t changed their problem.

In my experience of assessing approximately 10,000 riders asymmetry, it is no surprise to me that working hard on the offending leg makes no or very little difference. The offending problem is not the leg but the stability of the pelvis on the opposite side it means when the leg aide is delivered the opposite stability is not engaging and the leg has nothing to push against and therefore feels “weak” or dull. Humans work in diagonals just like horses, and if we simplify biomechanics it means that if a rider applies a force there has to be an equal and opposite force to stabilise to allow the movement to happen effectively.

The pelvis is the area that needs to be stable on a horse. The most common leg that riders complain of being “weak” is the left leg. When the left leg is applied using the lateral rotators of the left hip, the lateral stabilisers i.e gluteus medius of the pelvis on the right side need to help stabilise the pelvis so the leg has something effective to push against. In the process of a Testt™️ (Thomas Equestrian Types and Tests) symmetry assessment my experience is that it is very common that the riders lateral stabiliser on the right is “weak” or under-active. When I correct this under-activity in a rider the leg aide becomes almost instantly more effective. The correction is simple and effective and can be maintained and helped continually by activating the offending under-active gluteus medius before riding. Activation takes a matter of minutes and is something I encourage with all levels of my riders from novice to those going down the centre line at the Olympics to help make their aides more effective, efficient and accurate.

#testtactivationkit #eventphysio #symmetryiskeytostability #dullaide