Page 15 - CR NEWS Summer 2020

Purpose: To release tension in the rider’s upper torso; open and widen the front of rider’s shoulders; and promote deeper breathing. This exercise can be done while rider is mounted, at a standstill.
Safety Consideration: If done mounted, this exercise requires the rider to place their reins on the horse’s neck. If this does not seem safe, I recommend the rider dismount to do the exercise.
How to do this Exercise:
It’s helpful for the instructor to stand in front of the rider’s horse, facing the rider, and do the exercise with them. This may encourage the horse to stand quietly, and provides a visual aid for the rider to do the exercise. Set reins on the horse’s neck, to allow free use of both arms.
Instructions:
Imagine holding a large piece of taffy be- tween your hands at chest height, with fingers curled into the taffy toward the your chest. Hands are close to the chest, and elbows at shoulder height, straight out from your body.
Visualize stretching the taffy by slowly pulling your hands away from each other, imagining a little resistance to the pull, like stiff, stretchy taffy might provide.
Pull your hands out wide until arms are fully extended, creating a stretch across the front of your chest. (You might then imagine the taffy pops into two pieces.)
Then open your fingers, turn your palms toward the ground, and slowly allow hands and outstretched arms to go back to your sides.
To deepen breathing: Repeat this exercise three or four more times; inhale as your arms stretch out wide, feeling your lungs fill with air; then slowly exhale as your arms gently drop to your sides.
After the Exercise is Done: How do you feel through the upper body and shoul- ders? How does your breathing feel? n
Carol O’Donnell Wilson is a Centered Riding Level IV Apprentice, living in Meriden, Kansas.
Exercises Without Hands-On... Continued from page 14
while at a walk. After a bit of practice, if it is safe, the rider can continue this punching
exercise while trotting.
After a while, the rider will find that the punching synchronizes with the movement of the horse. Allow the rider to find this synchronicity; don’t just tell them. This exercise loosens up the shoulders, helps the rider move with the horse and improves the sitting trot.
Conclusion
I often talk riders through a range of exercises in which no hands-on work is required. This is especially effective in group lessons, as one-on-one body work takes time away from the other students. n
Lucile Bump is a Senior Level IV Centered Riding clinician living Guilford, Vermont.
ATTENTION:
NEW SECTION IN CR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ABOUT VIDEOS BY CR INSTRUCTORS
Please note that there is a new Section 11. 8 in Centered Riding Policies and Procedures about Video Production by Centered Riding Instructors. (Also, if you have not read it, please read Section 11.5, Trademark and Copyright, which was posted earlier this year.) You can follow this link to find CR Policies and Procedures on the Centered Riding website: https://www.centeredriding.org/page/policiesandprocedures
COMPARABLE PARTS
The horse is your mirror. His body reflects yours. Your horse will be tight where you are tight. Your horse will be crooked where you are crooked. Achieve harmony by finding balance and alignment in yourself.
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Pulling Taffy Stretch
By Carol O’Donnell Wilson