The objective of this weeks blog is to share some of the learnings from Hobbs et al (2020) awesomely comprehensive review. Applicable to riders (non dressage riders too), coaches, judges and all horsey enthusiasts. Click on the text below for the full open access paper and for references..
I will highlight the points that I found particularly interesting, but first, lets introduce the paper:
Aim: “As a first step in achieving an evidence-based classification system for the sport of Para Dressage, there is a clear need to define elite dressage performance”… p.1. “The aim of this review is therefore to identify objective measurements of horse performance in dressage and the functional abilities of the rider that may influence them to achieve higher scores.” p.3.
Design: 58 articles were reviewed (14 for horse and 44 for rider) by Hobbs and colleagues.
NB: This review is commissioned by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) as part of a bigger project..
Beautiful Abbie O’Brien and Revelwood Fleur show us how its done..
“A basic requirement of a competent dressage rider is to have an independent seat, which implies that movements of the rider’s pelvis follow and compensate for the horse’s trunk movements allowing the arms and legs to act independently to follow the horse’s head and neck motion and to give aids to the horse.,” p.9
Walk:
“Horses usually walk symmetrically unless they are unloading a lame limb (Buchner et al., 1995) or show marked sidedness (Byström et al., 2018), although rider asymmetry, such as differences in rein tension, can also influence horse symmetry (Terada, Clayton & Kato, 2006; Kuhnke et al., 2010; Eisersiö et al., 2015),” p. 10.
“Münz, Eckardt & Witte (2014) suggested that the pelvis of less skilled athletes moves ‘‘ahead’’ of the horses’ movement and Wolframm, Bosga & Meulenbroek (2013) found lower interclass correlations between horse and rider motion in walk compared to canter. Out of phase timing of the rider with the horse may disrupt the rhythm of the horse and result in greater energy expenditure for the less skilled athlete to maintain an active walk,” p.11.
TROT…
“In skilled riders, pelvic motion is independent of trunk, head or other segment motion, which requires dynamic postural control (Engell et al., 2016). When the rider achieves an advanced level of dynamic postural control, it improves the harmony between horse and rider (Peham et al., 2001; Münz, Eckardt & Witte, 2014), and translates to higher average dressage scores (Peham et al., 2001),” p.13.
Trot:
Horse
“Shorter stance durations, greater fetlock extension, faster extension of the hock and rotation of the pelvis in late stance, and flexion of the hindlimb joints are all related to the ability of the horse to store and release energy and they are largely responsible for creating impulsion. The physiological condition and conformational traits of the horse will influence the horses’ ability to store and release energy (Back et al., 1994; Holmström, Fredricson & Drevemo, Hobbs et al. (2020), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.9022 12/25 1994b; Morales et al., 1998),” p.12.
“Kinematic suitability for dressage has been compared between different breeds (Barrey et al., 2002), as such, horses may be selected for their ability to produce higher forces at the ground, which will increase dorsoventral displacement and therefore give the impression of greater ‘elevation’,” p.12.
Rider
“For the rider, gaits with suspension phases require pelvic mobility and control in order to follow and amplify the horse’s motion (Münz, Eckardt & Witte, 2014; Byström et al., 2015; Engell et al., 2016),” p.13.
“In skilled riders, the pelvis rotates from anterior to posterior tilt over the stride cycle with a smaller amount of lateral tilt (Münz, Eckardt & Witte, 2014), whilst the trunk maintains a more consistent vertical posture and the head a more consistent and stiller horizontal posture (Eckardt & Witte, 2016),” p.13. i.e. the rider pelvis should move in a coordinated way in the frontal plane, but the trunk shouldn’t be excessively side bending (like a banana).
“The posture of the pelvis and upper body segments dictates how pressure is distributed under the saddle (De Cocq et al., 2009; Gunst et al., 2019), which affects the aids communicated to the horse and also impacts on the horses’ balance (De Cocq et al., 2010b),” p.13.
Muscle activity:
“Skilled riders control body position by coordinating activity level and antagonistic timing of Erector Spinae and Rectus Abdominis muscles (Terada, 2000; Pantall, Barton & Collins, 2009), whilst novice riders display energetically inefficient co-activation of Erector Spinae and Rectus Abdominis muscles (Pantall, Barton & Collins, 2009) and use Adductor Magnus to stabilize the trunk (Terada, 2000),” p.13. i.e novice riders use their back and abdominal muscles in a less co-ordinated manner, and use their inner thigh muscles to stabilise their trunk.
'“Phasic activity in Rectus Abdominis in mid-stance is used to stabilize the rider’s trunk and enable the rider to follow the horse’s movement by rotating the pelvis posteriorly as the horse’s body reverses direction from downward to upward motion (Terada et al., 2004; Pantall, Barton & Collins, 2009),” p.13. i.e. six pack muscle important.
“In addition, phasic activity of the upper and middle Trapezius in early stance is used to stabilize the head, neck and scapula during impact of the diagonal limbs (Terada et al., 2004),” p.13.
“Pelvic motion from anterior to posterior tilt of the rider was found to significantly increase nose up trunk tilt of the horse during trotting (Münz, Eckardt & Witte, 2014). Variations in rider pelvic posture are reported (Byström et al., 2009; Münz et al., 2013; Eckardt, Münz & Witte, 2014; Münz, Eckardt & Witte, 2014; Alexander et al., 2015; Byström et al., 2015; Eckardt & Witte, 2016; Engell et al., 2016), but also depend on the goal of the rider. When actively influencing the horse to improve collection in trot, skilled riders have greater posterior pelvic tilt throughout the stride (Byström et al., 2015; Engell et al., 2016)",” p.14. i.e. riders back the opposite of hollow/sway/rigid.
“ Terada, Clayton & Kato (2006) showed that pitching rotations of the rider’s trunk were compensated by coordinated flexion-extension of the shoulder and elbow joints so the distance from the rider’s wrist to the bit changed by no more than 1.5 cm. These movements were controlled by activation of Biceps Brachii in early stance and Triceps Brachii in late stance (Terada, 2000),” p.14. i.e. to maintain steady contact, use of biceps and triceps in a coordinated manner is required.
Passage and Piaffe:
“Posture of the rider is reported to change with increasing collection of the horse, such as in passage and piaffe. When giving an aid to collect, the rider’s pelvis rotates posteriorly and the trunk rotates anteriorly, thereby flexing the lumbar spine (Byström et al., 2015). Possibly due to the greater vertical excursion of both the horse and rider, pelvic rotation and displacement are more closely coupled to the horse (Byström et al., 2015),” p.16. i.e. riders back the opposite of hollow/sway/rigid.
Canter…
“A reduction in rider trunk lateral bending ROM is likely to reduce amplification of the asymmetry of the gait and improve medio-lateral and rotational stability in the horse (Symes & Ellis, 2009),” p.15.
i.e. the riders trunk shouldn’t be excessively side bending (like a banana).
Canter:
“Heightened pelvic mobility and postural control are required by the rider to maintain balance and harmony with the horse (Olivier et al., 2017), although greater synchronicity is possible due to canter being a three-beat gait (Wolframm, Bosga & Meulenbroek, 2013),” p.14.
“As trunk ROM of the horse in pitch and longitudinal forces increase, a closer coupling of the pelvis in anterior-posterior tilt and greater control of the upper body are required in order to follow the phasic motions of the horse (Lovett, Hodson-Tole & Nankervis, 2005; Wolframm, Bosga & Meulenbroek, 2013; Münz, Eckardt & Witte, 2014),” p.15.
Conclusion:
“From this model it could be concluded that the posture and ROM of the rider’s pelvis, trunk, knee and head and, importantly, the timing of rider pelvic and trunk motion in relation to the movement of the horse are likely to influence temporal, trunk motion and impulsion variables in the horse. The information from this model will be used to develop an empirical study to test the relative strength of association between impairment and performance in able-bodied and Para Dressage riders,” p.17.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss or ask any questions re this fabulous scientific review. Always happy to translate the science speak into everyday language.
Check out the full open access paper with reference list: