On Friday I audited a Mary Wanless clinic. I’ve read her books and have taken a few lessons with someone who trains with her. Hearing her explain her theories and work with the riders made it all much clearer. For those readers not familiar with Wanless, she specializes in rider biomechanics, helping riders find the right balance point so they can work with their horses rather than against them.
Forget heels down. Think knees down!
November 15, 2009 · 4 Comments
Categories: Commentary · Lessons Remembered · dressage · equestrian · horse training
Tagged: Mary Wanless, balanced seat, rider biomechanics
4 responses so far ↓
Michelle // November 16, 2009 at 8:31 am |
I’ve never heard this before, but it’s intriguing. I’m having trouble visualizing how it looks/feels, but I’m going to go home and try it later! I’m going to look for more info on Mary Wanless too – thanks for the heads up!
dressage rider // November 16, 2009 at 1:40 pm |
I audited this clinic on Sunday. It was very interesting to see the waterskiing riders and how by plugging in with their seat and bearing down changed things.
A lot of similarities to Centered Riding / Sally Swift. I bought another book of course. Mary will be returning there in May.
Clinic Report: Mary Wanless « Confessions of a Struggling Dressage Rider // November 16, 2009 at 9:15 pm |
[...] this post to add a link to EQUINE Ink. She audited the clinic on Friday. Please read her post Forget heels down. Think knees down! to get another perspective. [...]
enlightenedhorsemanship // November 20, 2009 at 4:34 pm |
heels down is CRAYZEE. It’s a good start to think about the knees.
An even better way to approach this is to think of open soft hips and seat bones.
This takes care of knees and ankles. Classical dressage (done right) strikes again.