Lets talk seat bones!

Shawnakiwi · Foal

Lets talk seat bones!

Marlene · Advanced

Hi Shawnakiwi,
Not sure just where my sacroiliac is, but for many years I've had a shortening in the back muscles just above the hip on the left side, which threw my whole everything off, right up to my neck. The physio basically said if I could get my lower back organized, the rest would be much improved. Make sense. The first time they fixed it properly, I actually felt like I was falling the other way at first, because my muscles were so used to pulling away trying to correct the spasm that was now gone. Any way, I got in the habit of daily doing the kind of stretches the physio did, like crossing the leg over and hanging it over to edge of the bed. I also do stretches of the upper back, neck, and butt stretches which a physio doc showed me. I also found some of the Taichi exercises on walking properly really get those core muscles and balance improved. All exercises should be done gently and daily. Strengthening is as important as stretching. But get a physio to show you because doing exercises the wrong way can aggravate problems. Also when you are riding, have someone watch you from the back and side to let you know if you are lopsided, or leaning too far forward, slouching, hanging arms too far forward etc. in other words a trained riding coach can be valuable for all this. I also use ibuprofen and muscle relaxants (at night) to help as being in pain sometimes causes us to compensate and overuse of the wrong muscles. I've also found considerable improvement in my muscle strength since taking a good Vit C, D, calcium and magnesium supplements.

-- Edited by Marlene on Thursday 18th of November 2010 05:35:44 PM

Barbara F · Grand Prix

Hi there,

There is an interesting exercise you can do in the saddle. Halt your horse and lift both legs up until your can feel both seat bones.

You might have to raise your legs quite a bit, but at a certain point, you will very obviously notice that one seatbone has more contact with the saddle.

With both legs still up, fiddle and adjust until your seatbones feel even. Then try to keep the feeling and slowly lower your legs. This is an adjustment you can do at walk and trot too. It sounds odd but it works. Just keep lifting your legs to find your seatbones, then adjust. It gets you really aware of putting even weight in your seatbones and in a very short time, you will be able to adjust without raising your legs.

Now, this one is not an exercise, but an interesting thing to be aware of. When you stand, are you resting on one leg then the other? I used to do that all the time, then an osteopath pointed out that it was making me crooked. Now when I stand, I stand "square", with equal weight on each foot. That one adjustment has helped me a lot in keeping evenly balanced in the saddle.

Eventer15 · Yearling

Same thing with me. I was always so uneven. When I got new stirrup leathers one streached to 4 inches longer than the other! I just found that trying to be aware of you balance constantly really helps. Just try to always keep it in the back of your mind. Also, taking your legs out of the stirrups and lifting them away form the saddle for 5 second intervals (its really hard. 5 seconds is a long time) is a good exercise. Youll fall off if your not centered, and it streanghthens your uppel leg tremendously.

myvanya · Yearling

I have issues with my SI as well and it causes me to get very uneven over time. I have to get adjusted by a chiropractor every few weeks in order to sit straight; as I get more out of whack I have to be more conscious of the weight in my seat bones. I find the exercise Barbara described to be helpful as well as making sure I strengthen both my abdominal and back muscles so I can intentionally make sure I ride with my abdominal muscles engaged and my back relaxed so I am suported through my core and straight but loose. I hope that makes sense.