Buckaroo Texan Blog

There is nothing like riding as one with your horse!! Have your ever had trouble sitting your horse at the trot and lope? Does your horse not seem to understand your cues going right but does great going to the left. You may have stiff hips. To really ride with your horse you need to be flexible.

Here are some things to look for if you think you might have stiff hips:

1. You ride like a clothespin. Yes, this sounds funny be is exactly how you feel to your horse. You are sitting in your saddle and think you are getting with him at the walk but when you go to a trot or lope, you seem to shoot up out of the saddle no matter how relaxed you try to get.

2. You can’t get on your horse! Stiff hips on one or both sides can make you so inflexible that you can’t bend your legs into mounting position and swing up smoothly

3. No matter what your brain tells your legs to do, the horse seems to not respond to your cues to bend and turn and if you over compensate to make sure he understands, you come up out of the saddle or feel very wompy jawed in the saddle. This can be your stiff hips not letting your legs get into the proper position for the cue. Stiff hips can cause a brace from the hip all the way down through the leg.

Here are some natural solutions that will help stiff hips:

1. Yoga- these are stretches that strengthen the body and your core. Certain exercises will work on the whole body to get it in balance and certain ones can be done to work on the stiff hips and legs. This is something you can do and get benefit from in as little as 10 to 15 minutes a day, 4 to 5 times a week and make you a more flexible horse rider.

2. Acupressure Chiropractic work can put your stiff hips back in alignment. Especially if you feel some pain in your hips after sitting for a period of time and then getting up to walk and it feels like your get go just won’t go. The acupressure work generally needs to be followed up with exercises and supplements to keep you strong and flexible.

3. Natural supplements to fight inflammation, like XanGo juice. I conferred with a friend that had started the XanGo juice about the same time I did. She had been having the same difficulty with one of her stiff hips being out of alignment. We had both struggled with the same type of problem for quite a long period of time. My friend noticed she was more even, sitting in the saddle and could independently use her right and left legs with greater accuracy and was not feeling the awkwardness, soreness and tightness as before. It came on as a gradual change for both of us over a couple of months. That was 5 years ago, and both of us are having our joints and hips stay fluid and flexible.

My training is in the Buckaroo Way and I offer consultation services to those who believe in partnership of horse and rider.

 Jeannie