Recently while having several “ah-ha” moments during my Pilates and More Balance classes I began to think of how many of our TTEAM exercises are core strengtheners for our equine friends.
In my classes I learned that if I need to make an exercise a little more difficult I can change leg positions or merely change my own balance while performing an exercise. I believe that the same can be said for our horses. Although they have four legs they still need to engage certain core muscles to complete many of our TTEAM exercises.
When we are doing TTEAM Back Lifts we are stimulating the horse in such a way that he lifts his back up and away from our finger pressure. We often start near the front legs and work towards the hind legs. The horse responds by lifting his sternum then his withers and finally his thoracic area where the saddle might sit. This stimulates and engages the rectus abdominus, transverse abdominis and the obliques similar to how many Pilates exercises might engage the same muscles in the human. In the human end of things we are more particular in wanting to isolate muscle groups to let them learn how to be passive. With horses I have not figured out how do help them do this.
The neck stretching exercise that we do helps the horse to extend his neck forward and down while standing. This requires a certain amount of stability in the core to remain in one place and not step forward as we ask the horse to stretch his neck. Again we are working those core muscles.
When we work with the horse in the leading exercises such as The Statue not only are we teaching obedience but we are helping the horse to learn balance, self discipline and core strengthening by only moving one leg or one diagonal pair of legs at a time. This requires the horse that is unbalanced to use his muscles in a different way. Hopefully by doing this exercise you are helping your horse to achieve more flexibility and fluidity. This exercise also involves the gluteal muscles, tensor faciae latae, and the biceps femoris or the muscles of the hingquarters.
If you want to try a human version of this exercise – get on all fours and try and lift (minimally) a diagonal pair of limbs while keeping your back straight, your core engaged, remembering to breathe and keep an even pressure on the limbs remaining on the ground. This is harder than it looks.
Another fun exercise is to stand on one leg with your knee in an unlocked position then take a single step and stand on the other leg. Remember to keep even pressure on the standing foot from toes to heels. To make this exercise more difficult change your balance a little bit. Start by a slight squat, keeping your back straight, with your hands together rein length a part move your hands from the bent knee to the opposite hip. Try this with and without shoes to see if you notice any differences. Then switch your hand position and move from straight leg to bent leg. Is one way harder? Add a small pilates ball to make it more challenging.
When we are doing TTEAM fore leg and hind leg exercises there is again the added factor of balance in the muscle development thus making the exercise a little more challenging. When we raise a leg the horse has to shift his balance to accommodate the new positioning of the legs still on the ground. This involves using those core muscles again in addition to the muscles of the neck, chest and hindquarters. Since we move the horse’s limbs in many non-habitual ways we are also opening up new neural pathways that were unavailable before we started, so in my opinion the horses get a bigger benefit.
If you think about the tail work we do, Chaining the Pearl, Tail Slides, Tail Pull we are asking the horse to again engage core muscles and remain flexible while we are doing the exercise and to stand squarely and in balance. Many horses find this hard in the beginning but after they get the idea of what is being asked, I have found that most horses improve dramatically very quickly.
Even the Forelock Slides change the horses balance side to side as well as forward and back I have found that Forelock Slides often help him to release and lift up his back. Forelock slides can directly help your riding but helping the horse to start to learn to come up through the withers and eventually to learn to lighten the front end. To feel this have someone do forelock slides on your horse while you are mounted. You can feel it!
One the most remarkable aspects of the TTEAM exercises that I have mentioned is that they actually take very little time to do and the benefits that your horse receives are incredible. I noticed that when I take the extra few minutes, literally 5-10 minutes, just a few times per week my riding and training horses make a measureable improvement in some small yet remarkable ways. I spend less time warming up and more time riding the exercises that help my horse continue to develop strength, flexibility and fluidity. The addition of the TTEAM exercises helps my horses and I to continue to enjoy at least a 1% improvement with each ride, often there are larger breakthroughs.