How to Improve Your Balance in Old Age in Riding Horses

Riding a horse by its very nature encourages better balance by making you aware of your body and how it connects to your horse. As you age, you may find that your balance deteriorates, making it difficult to move around as easily as you once did. Regular exercise, including riding horses, can help you to improve your balance in general.

Instructions

• 1

  Take pictures of yourself on your horse. Note how you're sitting and holding yourself in them. Over time, your body may have developed muscles that are lengthier on one side of a joint than on the other from holding yourself in asymmetrical positions for long periods. When a joint is longer on one side, your brain balances the tension in your muscles by moving the joint toward the shorter muscle. This equalizes the tension in muscles on both sides of the joint and makes your body think it's in a neutral position. When you're on your horse, think back to the pictures. Remember how you were sitting, and "arrange" your body to be as symmetrical as possible over the horse. Put equal weight in both heels.

• 2

  Bend forward at the hips, take your bottom off of the saddle and shorten your reins. Relax your shoulders and back. Drop your heels back in the stirrups, arch your back, balance your weight, keep your shoulders back and hold the shortened reins in front of the horse's shoulders. This is known as the two-point position, which helps strengthen legs and improve balance, according to Chelsey Sawtell, Primary Riding Instructor at Black Friar Farm in Kingston Springs, Tennessee.

• 3

  Put your hands at the crest of the horse's neck, keeping a straight line from your heel to your hip to the front of your knee to your shoulder. If you feel as if you're falling backward, move your heel back; it's too far forward. If you feel you want to grip with your knees to keep from falling forward, your leg is too far back and you don't have enough weight in your heel.

  Put a hand on the horse's neck or grab a handful of mane if you find it difficult to hold onto the reins when you first begin practicing the two-point position. Practice the position when you're not moving or at a walk in the beginning. When you're perfectly balanced in two-point, you should be able to drop the reins and hold your hands out from your sides without losing balance.