A short instructional video transcript in which Mary Wanless explains spinal biomechanics for riders, framing the spine as two main hinges (hip joint and mid-back) and demonstrating how combinations of hip and mid-back movement produce common posture errors (e.g., hollow-back lean back often seen in novice and some dressage riders). The clip also includes a brief product promotion for a Fleck carbon composite schooling whip and a discount offer for members.
The spine acts like we've got two hinges. Two big hinges are, first of all, the hip joint. Now, the hip joint is inside you at about this level. And from your hip joints you bend forward and bend back. So that's a hip joint change. And can you do a lean back? Okay, now, in doing her lean back, Milly's brought in the second hinge, your mid back here. Let's come to neutral a minute. So in your mid back, you can hollow your back, lengthening your front. Oh, my God, she can do that so much it's frightening. And you can round your back. Okay. So you then cave in at the front. Now, most of you watching are going to be either hollow backed or round backed. Okay. In the hollow back or the round back. As we've done it here, we've only involved this hinge in the way we just did lean forward and let's just try and do lean back, only involving the hip joint. That's a lean back, but you can't go very far on lean back before the other hinge starts to join in. So on one hinge only, we have lean forward and lean back, round your back and hollow your back. We could go lean forward and hollow. We could go lean forward and round. We could go lean back and hollow. We could go lean back and round. That gives us the most ways in which people start going wrong. And very often both hinges are involved. It isn't just as simple as lean forward or hollow your back. It might be, but you really want to try and diagnose yourself going, do I use one hinge or two? Do I just lean forward, lean forward and hollow? Lean forward and round? Do I just lean back? Do I lean back and hollow? Do I lean back and round? This is the hollow back you see on more novice riders. A lot of dressage riders are back here really thinking they're doing the right thing. They're doing, lean back and hollow your back. And. And they've been told, grow tall, stick your chest out, be elegant. And this is their idea of how elegant should happen. And they're presupposing themselves to back pain. And I'm going to suggest that their weight is less over his center of gravity, that they're actually less effective than they could be. The Fleck carbon composite whip is the only schooling whip we use or recommend for both our ground and ridden work. It's beautifully light and balanced and can transmit energy without all the wiggle and wobble of normal whips. It takes only the slightest movement from the rider's hand and is stiff enough to allow for precision placement. Check it out on our online shop. We only sell products that we use personally in our day to day work. Members of dressage train TV get a full 15% off any of the products. Sam.
