# Targeted Exercises for Jumping Position/Standing Trot?



## Danneq (Sep 18, 2020)

My instructor recently started having me prepare for jumping by standing in the stirrups at a trot, sometimes sitting/standing for a certain number of beats (eg sit two, stand two, sit two, stand two) or just holding the position. The idea is to work on strength and balance.

My problem is that I have weaksauce noodle legs. My core is slightly better, but clearly still not good enough.

Since I cannot get on a horse every day to practice, does anyone have some ideas for exercises I could do at home to improve my strength for this? I have a number of very good exercise programs that I like (in particular, a book called _Fit to Ride_, plus the Yoga With Adriene routine for equestrians) but as a person who is very lazy busy, I sometimes have difficulty fitting these programs into my day. (Adriene's routine is about half an hour, and the ones from the book can run longer. So while they're both very good, they're not much good to me if I never have the time to do them.) Having some targeted exercises that I could fit in while I'm e.g. waiting for dinner to cook would be such a big help.

So... Squats? Leg lifts? I have an exercise ball, also.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Cycling.

Buy or borrow a bike and use it as much as possible to get from A to B or just for leisure exercise 

Try to cycle without sitting on the saddle as much as possible.


----------



## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Standing in the stirrups isn't much different from standing on the ground. It doesn't require a lot of strength. It is a balance issue. If you can borrow a western saddle, you can use the reins with one hand and hold the horn with the other. Walk, trot and canter, straight and in turns. using the horn _as much as needed and no more_. It boils down to having YOUR balance in synch with the HORSE'S - and I don't know of a good substitute to riding, standing in the stirrups, as your horse accelerates, slows and turns. With one hand on the horn, it is much easier to stay in synch long enough for your body to learn the balance.

It is also easier with the stirrups lower, so if you are doing it at jumping length, you might want to drop them a hole or two as you work on the balance.


----------



## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

I agree with @bsms that a lot of it is figuring out your balance point and that depends on the saddle you are riding in. So you really just need to do more of it in the lesson. Maybe ask if you can focus on it for a whole lesson to just play around and find your balance point. On your English saddle, have you got a monkey strap on the front of the saddle? Or do you ride with a neck strap that you can hold on to? Do that with one hand and find your balance. It may be that the saddle setup puts you in a position where you cannot balance. I get this is certain saddles because I have very long upper legs compared with lower and the stirrup bar is in the wrong position for me. When I am in a sitting position, I can muscle the stirrup into the correct position, but once up in 2-point or posting, gravity takes over and there is physically no way that I can get to a balance point even though I have very strong leg and core muscles. 

In terms of general exercise to fit things in around your day, if you want some shorter yoga, try out Five Parks Yoga Run the Year series. They are all 10 to 15 min and great (I like Erin from Five Parks because she has a very calming gentle voice and only talks when necessary).



https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=five+parks+yoga+run+the+year



For short strengthening things try (just search for these on Youtube): Barlates Target 10, Barlates Target 20, and Barre Centric Mini Series.

There are also plenty of 10 min calf workouts that you can find on Youtube. Calf raises (many variations on both legs and single leg) are always great to do and easy to fit in. My daughter has to do them daily for ballet and she does them while brushing her teeth. So they are a great multitasking exercise.

The Horse Stance is another great one to do while standing and doing other jobs:






Not saying that any of these are exercises that are specifically going to help you with 2-point, but they are all good general exercises that you can fit in either while standing or in a short period of free time.


----------



## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

Also, another thing I do, which makes you feel a little weird but who cares, is I often just walk around (the house, at the park, any stretch of nice clear pavement) in walking lunges. I just do them in sets of however many I can get up to until I hit muscle fatigue.

These exercises are also easy to fit in and fall into the category of looking weird but are effective not just for riding but life in general (they are the types of things my daughter gets prescribed by her sports podiatrist to keep her body healthy for the demands of dancing in pointe shoes for ballet):









7 Balimo Exercises To Improve Your Balance In The Saddle


Improve your balance in the saddle with these 7 Balimo exercises from top sports physiologist Eckart Meyners.




practicalhorsemanmag.com


----------



## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

@bsms I agree that it is a balance thing but you do bend your knees, your knees aren’t straight as they are when simply standing on the ground. Seeing that you/we ride regularly it is easy to underestimate how much specific muscles we build without even noticing.

If I don’t ride for while I get a bit of a wobbly lower back after five minutes even though two point is my favorite and I ride a lot in it. (I loved riding one pregnant mare, I would ride the whole half-hour lesson in two-point to save her back as per my instructors orders)


----------



## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

It is harder to stand without knee movement. When the military had us stand in formation for long times, they warned us to discretely flex our knees and legs. It does take some leg strength because of our need to control our up/down movement relative to the horse's back. But that issue merely makes me _tired._

Those muscles can be trained off horse by doing small squats - NOT deep knee bends that can be hard on our knees, but lowering and raising our hips 6 inches. That could be done standing around doing dishes, for 60 second intervals while cooking, while watching TV, etc.


----------



## 3Horses2DogsandaCat (Apr 19, 2016)

If you have limited time for exercise, squats are a fantastic exercise to squeeze in! It doesn't take a ton of squats to work all your leg muscles.


----------



## Danneq (Sep 18, 2020)

Oh, is _this_ what two-point is? I've seen it mentioned but never really understood it.

Thank you for the advice, everyone! I know that my balance is just as important as strength, I should have been more clear. I will be looking over everyone's advice and incorporating things into my routine. Did some lunges today while making dinner.


----------



## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

Yay, well done on the lunges. Every little bit helps. The other thing you can do if you have a bit of clear wall space in the kitchen is wall sits. Start with the time to fatigue and then try increase by a few seconds each time. 

Yes it is a mix of balance and strength. Like you do have to have certain muscles strengthened to do it, but if you don't find your balance point, it is not something you can muscle yourself into. And I guess the reverse is, if you can find your balance point but you don't have enough strength, you will fatigue quickly and start doing wonky things with your position. It is one of those things that when you get it, it feels really nice to do.


----------

