As horse show exhibitors who are passionate about our chosen sport, it is natural for equestrians to do whatever it takes to achieve a competitive edge to improve our performance. We all know that posture and position can be the difference between winning and not winning a pattern class. But, while practice, saddle time, and studying trends are standard methods riders follow to improve our performance in the arena, working out and exercising are not as commonly discussed.
GoHorseShow recently spoke with amateur competitor and fitness instructor, Cami Van Aken, of Chicago, Illinois about how a rider’s fitness level influences their effectiveness in the show pen.
Van Aken owns Breathe Pilates in Chicago where she specializes in training mature adults. “All of my clients are over 50,” says Van Aken. She’s been teaching Pilates for 20 years and before that, she spent seven years as a fitness instructor. Additionally, Van Aken has been riding since childhood, but entered the AQHA industry six years ago. She shows her mare, Good Tobe Immortal, or “Taylor,” in western pleasure and showmanship. Under the guidance of Jennifer Burton in Gurnee, Illinois, the pair has earned several all-around titles and superiors in both showmanship and western pleasure.
Van Aken (pictured right) made the switch from traditional fitness training to Pilates seven years ago after a lower back injury. “I had been doing a lot of lifting and hurt my lower back. My sports medicine doctor recommended Pilates. I was amazed how quickly I healed. That’s what started me down this path,” says Van Aken.
Today, Van Aken takes pride in working with many of the same clients for 15 plus years. “We’ve gone through life’s changes together and I’ve evolved with them.” She adds, “It’s easy to train a 25-year-old, but I get a lot of reward in working with people who have issues to work through. My oldest client is 85. For me, that’s inspiring.”
“I believe a rider’s fitness level has a tremendous impact on their effectiveness as a rider and competitor,” says Van Aken. In her view, “The more you know your body, the more you can control how you communicate with your horse. When your legs and seat are under your control, you’re better equipped to control signals.”
“It’s important for riders to remember that subtlety is an important part of the equation when competing at a high level,” Van Aken says. She adds, “You’re asking a 1,200 pound animal to respond to minor signals. We communicate with our horse through subtlety, not brute force. And the stronger you are, the more finesse you can have with cues.”
So how do you go about getting stronger for the show pen? For Van Aken, four components are essential to being fit. They are strength, balance, flexibility, and endurance. Below is Van Aken’s take on how the four fitness essentials influence a rider’s effectiveness.
Strength: Though it may seem counter-intuitive, power equals finesse. The stronger you are, the more control you have over your body and the better equipped you are to operate with subtlety and communicate clearly to your horse.
Balance: The better you’re able to balance, the less you get in your horse’s way. Balance influences common issues like leaning. This is a particular issue for select riders because our balance changes as we age. The technical term for this is proprioception and it’s defined as how you understand where your body is in space. In that sense, balance is about so much more than your ability to sit in the middle of the saddle. It’s about how your body sends cues to your small muscle groups to stay balanced. Balance is a matter of your body’s systems working in concert together. A right balance is a “use it or lose it” kind of thing. And since no sport requires better balance than we do when spinning through a reining pattern or two-pointing through an equitation class, it’s an important thing to work on.
Flexibility: Flexibility makes everything easier—getting on and off your horse, staying balanced over seat bones and not sitting forward. Plus, flexibility makes all of those tasks at the horse show easier, meaning you’ll be more fit and ready to ride when it’s time to compete.
Endurance: Endurance gets you through a horse show day. It takes you through a long class with a lot of posting. It’s no secret that horse shows are long, grueling, and often hot. They can test your limits. The more capable you are of getting through an equitation class in a two-point, or just the stress of a long horse show day, the more likely you are to ride at your best.
Van Aken also notes that one vital aspect of fitness that has a particular impact on riders is breathing. “So many people don’t breathe while they ride. A lot of times that’s due to nerves, and we’re all guilty of it. But, if we don’t breathe with diaphragmatic breathing (deep belly breaths) we go into fight or flight response. Our horses sense that change in our body. They can smell it and it triggers their fight or flight response. It’s the reason our trainers tell us that our horses feed off our nerves.”
The more you’re in control of your breathing, the better you’re able to show and perform. Van Aken encourages the rider to breathe deep into their belly so that the belly expands and the diaphragm drops into the abdominal cavity. She says, “It goes against the sucked in stomach look we tend to see. But it helps us ride more efficiently because when you breathe correctly, you have to sit into the pelvis. Plus, you bring in more air, which oxygenates the blood and, in turn, helps you make better decisions. In that sense, there is a direct connection with executing a pattern or navigating a rail class.
Van Aken says that weaknesses in those four areas lead to common problems many riders would like to improve. “In Pilates, we love to talk about the core, and when people speak of rider fitness, it’s what most people think of as most important. But, the thing I see the most when I watch people ride is that they lack strength in their upper middle back. It’s that position you see when people hunch forward through their neck and shoulders. It comes from sitting at a desk, from driving, from all of the activities we’re forced to do for extended periods of time. Our spines aren’t made for all of that leaning forward so we lose strength in the muscles that support the spine.
So, what you can do to become more fit in those four areas and improve your position and effectiveness as a rider? Van Aken offers five exercises you can do anytime, anywhere that will enhance your posture on and off your horse.
1. Chin tucks: Sitting nice and tall with your shoulders down and relaxed, tuck your chin in like you are trying to give yourself a double chin. Hold for 3 seconds and release. Do two sets of 10 repetitions.
2. Scapular Squeeze: Sitting tall with your arms resting at your side or held up and straight out, parallel to the floor, squeeze your shoulder blades together, opening the chest. Hold for 3 seconds and release. Do two sets of 10 repetitions.
3. Chest stretch: Hold arms out to your side with your elbows bent at a right angle, goal post position. Press the arms back until you feel a stretch in your chest muscles. Hold for 10-20 seconds. Do it 2 or 3 repetitions.
4. Thoracic extension: Place your hands behind your head for support, look up to the ceiling allowing the middle of your back to arch while keeping your spine long. Do 5-8 repetitions.
5. Diaphragmatic breathing: Place your hands on your belly. Take an inhale in through your nose. Exhale slowly through your lips as you pull your belly button to your spine. You should feel your abdominal muscles contract until you run out of air. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
As a bonus to those five exercises, Van Aken offers three general exercises—squat, plank, and standing one leg balance—for overall fitness that can also be completed anywhere and will improve the four components of fitness.
Many are probably thinking that they can’t possibly fit one more activity into an already packed day. For those wondering how to incorporate fitness into their active lifestyle, Van Aken offers this advice: “Start small. I’m not a proponent of big workouts that make you feel miserable at the end. Start with 10-15 minutes because you’re more likely to be successful. You’ll soon start to see the direct effects; it may be a small victory like an improved horsemanship pattern—but there’s no better motivation than success.”
About the Author: Elizabeth Arnold lives on a working farm in central Pennsylvania with her husband and a menagerie of animals. She holds an MFA in creative writing. Her work has been featured in numerous literary journals and listed as notable in Best American Essays. She competes in amateur all-around events with her mare, Surprising Huh.
Photos courtesy of Cami Van Aken and Ruehle Photography
