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For horseback riders, winter means frigid temperatures, icy arenas, and often less time spent in the saddle. However, just because you are not riding as much over the winter, doesn't mean you have to let your skills slip. If you are looking for ways to maintain your fitness for horseback riding during the off-season, cross-training with a winter activity can help you stay on track.
For millions, skiing is a popular winter pass time. The sport is great for bettering balance, fitness, strength, and gets athletes out enjoying the great outdoors in stunning natural environments. Surprisingly, horseback riding and skiing overlap in many ways, making practicing one beneficial for the other. If you are an avid horseback rider and are looking for a way to improve your riding over the off-season, consider giving skiing a try.
Benefits of Skiing for Horseback Riders
Even though at face value, the two sports seem very different, horseback riders can reap numerous benefits from skiing that transfer directly to their work on a horse. Horseback riding is a complex sport that forces riders to display strength, coordination, and balance. Skiing requires many of the same skills as horseback riding, making it a great sport to turn to when you want to improve your abilities in the saddle.
Improves Fitness
Skiing is great exercise. Whether you are cross-country or downhill skiing, both require a lot of strength and endurance. Going skiing for a few hours will really get your heart pumping, and your arms and legs tired. Many don't realize how much fitness they need to ride a horse. Being physically strong and having good cardiovascular endurance can help you feel less tired and more secure in the saddle after a long ride. Going skiing a few days over the winter can help you keep your fitness up even if you are not riding much.
Develop Body Awareness and Improve Coordination
Horseback riding involves an immense amount of body awareness as riders strive to control their horses with the smallest movements. To a well-tuned horse, a tiny weight shift or movement of the leg means something. To ride a horse like that, you need to be in complete control of your body and know where each part is and how it needs to be moved. Controlling ourselves on skis requires the same fine motor control and body awareness.
Skiers need to keep track of where their skis and poles are at all times so as to not trip themselves up. Small shifts in balance over one leg or another along with tiny turns of the feet control a skier as they capitulate downhill. Moving too much or too little in any direction can send you off course. Skiing allows you to master fine motor control and coordination so when you get back on the horse you are able to give more accurate aids.
Improves Balance
Riders must exhibit a strong sense of balance to keep themselves over their horse's center of gravity. Being balanced is essential in being able to effectively aid the horse and decrease your burden as a rider Even small imbalances can affect how the horse is able to perform. Skiing is a great way to improve your sense of balance and create an evenly distributed seat on the horse.
Skiers have to balance on just a couple of inch wide skis and control themselves using subtle weight shifts. Once you get the hang of whizzing downhill or charging down a trail on skis, sitting balanced on a horse will feel easy. You will eventually become acutely aware of how to position yourself over your center of gravity. Skiing forces you to develop a new sense of balance that can be transferred to your time in the saddle, creating a more secure and effective seat.
Learn to adjust hip and knee angles to absorb shock
Especially during the sitting trot, jumping, or moving over carried terrain, the rider needs to be able to absorb movement through their low back, hips, and knees to keep their horse in balance. Skiing also asks practitioners to use their body to absorb shock through a subtle opening and closing of hip and knee angles. This can help riders get better at moving with their horses, facilitating effortless communication.
Improving Your Position and Skiing
Horseback riders spend a lot of time working to master the perfect position. Having a good position means you can cue the horse better, be less of a burden, and have a smoother ride. If you want to create a stronger position in your time off the horse, taking up skiing can be a good way to help perfect your riding.
The ideal position is the same across all disciplines with only a few variations. When in the proper position, a rider should...
Be balanced over the horse's center of gravity
Have a straight line running through the head, shoulders, hip, and heels
Two-point is a popular variation that allows riders to get off their horse's back and have increased balance and control for jumping or working at speed. In the ideal two-point position, the straight line will run only from hips to heels, with the shoulders brought forward and hips pushed back to keep the rider positioned over the horse's center of gravity.
This same position is utilized by skiers every time they go downhill. This crouched-over position helps skiers stay balanced over their center of gravity and use their legs for shock absorption as they shift side to side and whizz downhill.
When people first start skiing, this position can feel strange and unbalanced. However, over time, they will build strength and comfort in this two-point position and build muscle memory that will transfer to riding. Once you get confident using the position on skis, finding a strong, secure position in the saddle becomes intuitive.
For those looking to improve their riding skills throughout the winter when they may be spending less time on horseback, skiing is a great activity to give a try. After a winter of skiing, many find themselves more secure, strong, and effective in the saddle.