Physical Intelligence and the Coach

So how does one identify a good coach for the upper body physically intelligent horse rider? What does such a coach need to do that may be different to other coaches of horse riding?

The rider needs to develop physical intelligence in the lower body. This does not happen overnight. Nor does it happen in a single step. That is, physical intelligence will develop in various constituents of the lower body - hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles and feet - at different rates. A supportive coach needs to understand this, and not punish the rider for developing physical intelligence faster in the knees and slower in the ankles and feet. Rather, the coach needs to encourage physical intelligence to develop in the other areas.

Have you ever heard the term "you're gripping with the knees" or "you're gripping with the thigh" barked in a lesson? The coach is correct in what they notice. What they need to realise is that physical intelligence has just developed in the knees or the thighs, but it hasn't developed in the ankles or the calves yet, so we need to focus on that.

Another thing the coach needs to be aware of, is that a lot of upper body problems stem from lack of physical intelligence in the lower body. So while the upper body position should be corrected, the problem will not go away until sufficient physical intelligence in the lower body is learnt. If the rider is hunching forwards, you can tell them to sit up straight. But sooner or later they will be hunched again. The coach needs to focus on building the rider's core strength and leg strength, as well as correcting upper body problems.

Physical Intelligence and the Horse Rider

The horse is capable of travelling at a gallop of up to 60km/h, negotiating obstacles, shying from dangers, and coming to a complete halt within a few metres. It should be obvious that any rider needs a high level of physical intelligence. Those who are physically intelligent by nature are the ones that can be galloping on their first ride. Those who have less physical intelligence, may need a few lessons before they feel comfortable cantering and galloping.

In addition some riders will have more upper body intelligence, whereas others will have more lower body intelligence. The truth is this. On a horse, lower body intelligence is more important. If you have lower body intelligence, you legs will naturally do a lot of the things that keep you in the saddle. If you feel secure in the saddle, you won't hunch and hang off the horses mouth. The horse will feel good, and be willing. You will gain confidence and ride better. As you ride better, then horse will gain trust. And so on. Upward spiral to success. Brilliant.

If you have more upper body intelligence (like me) then you need to work, think and train your legs. Your natural reaction will be to rely on your upper body to keep you in the saddle, rather than your legs. The only time the upper body will keep you in the saddle is if you hunch forward and hold onto the horse's neck. This will make the horse freak out, it will make the rider less confident and more likely to hold on more, which in turn makes the horse lose trust. Downward spiral to giving up.

The good news is that you can train your legs to have the required intelligence. It's not actually that hard. But you need a coach who understands your problem.

Physical Intelligence

One day, when we were downhill skiing, my brother said to me "Skiing is all about getting your upper body right. Once you move your upper body right, everything else just happens". I glared at him, as he easily beat me to the bottom of yet another run, in far superior style.

The problem is that my brother has a lot more physical intelligence than me. But most of that physical intelligence is in his lower body. So of course! When it came to skiing, his legs were already doing all the right things, and he just needed to work on his upper body. It was the same with dancing. When you watched him dancing from the waist down, you'd see chiselled movements of a well trained ballet dancer. (He was doing folk dancing, practicing once per week). When you watched him from the waist up, he was just your average guy doing spins, leaps and other dance moves. (Then he actually started working on his upper body, and those movements became beautiful too).

Each person has some level of physical intelligence, an ability to adapt to physical situations as they happen. And where physical intelligence is missing, good practice will make close to perfect. It appears that sections of our body can have various levels of physical intelligence too, as is apparent from my brother's example. In his case it was the upper body versus the lower body. But I presume it could be more refined than that. Possibly shoulders versus calves, or left versus right.