How the Alexander
Technique can help you and your horse
by Marigold Smith
click to visit Marigold's web-site for more details
of classes and tuition she offers at Healesville
Alexander himself found when teaching his early students that the requirements of theatrical performance imposed a salutary discipline. He concluded that the Technique is best learnt if applied to, and measured against, the rigorous criteria of an established practical skill. We have found that for this purpose Horsemanship is ideal. Walter Carrington - Issue editorial Direction Vol 2, No 1 1973
Are you ever frustrated with yourself or
your horse ?
Does ease, lightness, smoothness and togetherness seem elusive ?
Trying harder or doing more hours in the saddle doesn't seem to
help with your suppleness and ability to move freely with your
horse's movement.
Riding horses means we need balance, co-ordination, supplenss and
mobility. Tension of any sort interferes with all and any of
these things.
Stiffness, unevenness, lack of balance, out of sorts - we notice
this in our horses but in us it's too familiar. We are not aware
that we grip with our knees, tighten in the stomach, hold our
breath, sit to one side of the saddle. Perhaps some of these we
do notice but can't change. These habits happen to various
degrees depending on how long we have been riding. Riding is a
long refined skill but whatever our level, our aim is to move
freely with and not interfere with our horse's movement.
Riding instruction is mainly about horse education. To
systematically connect his mind and body while progressively
developing his balance and gymnastic ability to move freely and
easily on curved and straight lines, over obstacles, carrying a
rider. Where is the help for a rider ? Instructors mean well when
they tell us to sit still, not to move our hands and legs. But
even trying harder and harder our legs still move or our head
nods. We hear and understand the instructions but somehow our
left hand still hangs on to the rein. No matter what we do the
horse falls in to the left and seems stiff to the right. Does any
of this sound familiar ?
Perhaps none of this rings true but your horse has a history of
lameness or a sore back. Having done all the right things, vet ,
saddle check, farrier, teeth, chiropractor, massage etc the
problem re-occurrs. It maybe time to check out YOURSELF.
Rider - crookdness, unevenness, tension, lack of balance,
co-ordination, lack of ease and suppleness is often the source of
horse unsoundness. Surprisingly, the everyday that we do often
effect your horseriding skills. Stress, strain, tension, poor
postural awareness, affect the ease of the way we move.
Stress-filled lives plus bad furniture design contribute to many
painful problems. The way we sit, stand, turn, pick up things is
so deeply ingrained and taken for granted. So familiar are your
tensions, crookedness, stiffness, that when put right it will
feel quite wrong. The way we carry our handbag - always the same
shoulder ? Our child - always the same hip ? How tense were you
after the argument you had this morning ? Or the unresolved issue
at work ? How about being stuck in traffic ? All these things
effect our way of being on our horse.
The Alexander Technique can help a rider develop suppleness,
co-ordination, correct muscle tone, stability and sensitivity -
these are the foundations of good balance and body control needed
before you can find elegance and ease admired in the horse and
the rider that moves as one.
In an Alexander lesson or participation in an initial workshop,
we work partly on the ground. A teacher uses gentle guiding hands
as you sit, stand and walk. This helps you become aware of your
habits of tension and how they interfere with your movement,
co-ordination and posture. Paying particular attention to the
balance of the head and it's relationship to our neck and back.
Working also, in a saddle on a wooden horse, is a way of
exploring your position with guidance from a teachers hands to
help you release and ease out of tension without the
complications of a moving horse. Being lunged on a school horse
develops the awareness and observation skills that you started on
the ground. This is a learning process that requires thoughtful
participation, to achieve the best result. The aim is for riders
to have an increased awareness of how to work on themselves so
they can manage to change their own difficulties with greater
efficiency.
If you are using your body incorrectly, trying harder merely
repeats and compounds your habits of mis-use. The Alexander
Technique helps awareness of these patterns and teaches you how
to eliminate excessive efforts, allowing you to move easily with
natural balance, more energy and clearer thought.
The Alexander Technique can be particularly useful for
For further information about Marigold Smith and her riding and Alexander technqiue school and residential centre, click here
School of F.M. Alexander Studies
330 St. Georges Road
North Fitzroy (corner Holden Street)
Victoria, Australia
Tel: 61 3 9486 5900
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