ALL ABOUT THE CORE
Without a strong core it is virtually impossible to perform well in the saddle. In a new series to get the New Year off on the right foot, Clare Gangadeen, the founder of RiderCise®, explains how that core can be boosted with some super simple exercises
NEW SERIES
MOST PEOPLE HEARING the word ‘core’ assume that it refers to a person’s abdominal muscles.
And this is partly true. The core does indeed include abdominal muscles. However, more accurately, the core is made up of a large group of muscles located on the front (anterior) and back (posterior) of the body.
For the core to function optimally, the body needs to engage all the muscles involved simultaneously at various intensities to allow the limbs to function independently while the pelvis and torso remain stable and yet f luid so the rider can move with their horse without inhibiting the equine’s movement and balance.
When these muscles aren’t able to function together it limits that rider’s core’s ability to function optimally. This means that no matter how hard they may try, they will struggle to provide clear, effective aids, and will collapse through transitions and lose stirrups as well as balance.
Additionally, a weak core can also cause the horse to hollow, to be behind the leg, to drop his inside shoulder, rush or slow and lose rhythm and balance and even show abnormalities in his gait, such as not tracking, producing a four-beat canter and struggling to strike off on the correct lead in canter.
Having a clear understanding of what the core is, how it functions and what inhibits its ability to do so is the first step in understanding if your core is working with you or not.
Which are our core muscles and where are they?
The typical muscles we assume to be the core are…
■ Transversus abdominis —The main role of this muscle is to stabilise the trunk and maintain internal abdominal pressure.
■ Rectus abdominis —The key function of the rectus abdominis is to move the body between the ribcage and the pelvis. This is the ‘six-pack’ muscle commonly associated with ‘core’.
■ External obliques —Their function is to allow the trunk to twist, but to the opposite side of whichever external oblique is contracting; so the right external oblique contracts to turn the body to the left.
■ Internal
