Dismounted Workshop
Welcome!
Important exercises to help you explore the building blocks of skilful riding in the comfort of your home.
Sessions
Build your awareness away from your horse; benefit when you ride.
We recommend that you work through these exercises in the order that they are presented. As the exercises are progressive, it is good to take some time to practice to become competent at each before you move to the next.
Have fun with this, and give us your feedback in the comments! We’d love to see photos or links to videos of you doing the exercises.
Seatbones
Seatbones and their influence on whether you are round backed or hollow backed.
Popping Up
Finding 'just right' with your seat bones.
Pop Up Part 2
What is the shape of your sitting surface? How is it influenced by rotating your thighs in or out?
Slingshot
Adjusting your centre of gravity backwards
Bones: Pelvis & Spine
Mary points out key landmarks in pelvis and spine.
Comments
Ask questions, let us have your feedback and post photos or links to your YouTube video here!
Enjoyed re visiting seat bones and looking forward to more coming dismounted workshops.
Yes the seatbone exercise wil show you another level of subtle noticing everytime you do it.
Love it! The exercise of halving between round and hollow back gave me a good sense of how subtle out-of-neutral can be.
Yes it is so important to go to each extreme to understand the feeling of hollow and round backed. Our brain learns by contrast so by doing this you get to really understand the feeling of neutral.
Both of these so valuable! Particularly for me the popping up exercise. In a session with Mary she took me through this and I was mind blown how ‘let go’ I am naturally – stiletto heel let go particularly on my right side (which surprised surprise is where my saddle goes if I am not careful).. re-doing this exercises now, this is still the case and I find the control of my right seat bone changing from popped up to let goes harder on my right side still so I have definitely neglected this aspect. Thank you for the reminder!!
Yes such a valuable exercise which is worth doing regularly to gauge your progress in finding exactly the right amount of hold you need to get two equal seatbones
Interesting that my hand feels my right seat bone much more. I am collapse to my right. A hint?
If you collapse to the right and can feel your right seatbone much more then you are probably leaning to the right and sending most of your weight into your right seatbone which then lifts you up off your left seatbone. See if you can bring your self to level by thinking of almost slightly leaning left and putting weight down into your left seatbone.
If you are still struggling please post a photo and I will help you further.
Ali Wakelin
Eureka! I love the slingshot episode. It really helps to see Mary’s “box” moving forward and back to introduce the movement. As for full-blown sling shot, I really feel it not only in my thighs but in my lower back, like I’m pushing out the curve in my back while also pulling forward through my thighs. I wonder if this movement is what used to be called “bracing” the back or seat?
Hi. Am so pleased you found the exercise helpful. The feeling you have of pushing forward into thighs whilst also pushing back into your back is exactly what slingshot is. It will give you a far greater stability in the saddle as well as helping you to influence the horse’s hind leg in a more effective way. And yes, phrases like ‘use your back’, ‘use your seat’, and ‘make your back strong’ are all referring to slingshot.
Ali Wakelin