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The Horse Riders Interaction with the horse - “Does a chiropractic treatment affect the position of a rider in the Saddle?”
The main emphasis for this research was to provide scientific proof that we can alter the position of the rider and the direction of the force generated by the weight of the rider.
The seat was measured with a Novell Pliance system, which is a sophisticated measuring devise with pressure sensitive patches arranged in a grid work all over the mat. A new saddle was used on a fibreglass saddle horse, and the pliance system was placed over the saddle. The riders were asked to sit in the saddle for a few minutes whilst the reading were taken.
A chiropractic treatment was administered after the reading, and then the client sat in the saddle for a second time. These readings were compared and the results were far better than expected.
The results look like thus: click here (slideshow opens in new window, click on graph to show next slide, slides change every 10 seconds)
The original question was proved to the positive with an overwhelming 75% improvement in the position of the seat of the sample of the riders tested.
One noticeable feature of this experiment was a high incidence of the forked seat in the rider (almost 65% of those sampled showed a forked seat in the results chart). This alters the bio-mechanics of the horse in quite a significant way:
- The downward pressure of the rider has altered from the vertical to a slant towards the horses front feet.
- The pressure from the pelvis is exerted from a different area of the pelvis ie not the peat bones but the pubic rim.
- As there is now more weight directed to the forehand of the horse, the horse will find it more difficult to engage the hocks, and come forward to the bridle.
This is due to the phenomenon of engagement: When the horse engages the hind quarters and the hocks, it has to bring the forehand off the floor to allow space for the hind legs to come underneath the body. When it does this the head will automatically fall to the vertical line that we are always aiming for when schooling.
If we have directed our weight through to the forehand of the horse, there is more weight or force to lift or counteract and therefore it will find it more difficult to create the rounded outline of engagement.