Rising trot and the vital hip flexors…

I wanted to talk about hip flexors and rising trot with you today. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. Why is it some complete beginners take to rising trot far easier than others? Obviously there is an element of feeling the horses rhythm but I have found the main difference is that the beginners who spend a lot of time in a sitting position, find coming to a good position in rising trot far harder. The biggest contributing factor to this is that those people who have to spend a big proportion of their day sitting down (in a car, at a desk, on the couch) have tight but also very weak hip flexors.

The psoas is the main hip flexor. It attaches to the spine where your bottom rib is and to each vertebra below that. It runs over the front of your hip and then attaches to the inside of your thigh bone at the top. Due to its attachment points, it flexes the hip (brings the knee up towards your body), flexes the spine (hollows your lower back), it also externally rotates the thigh as it brings the knee up.

The hip flexors are absolutely vital to a good rising trot. They need to be flexible and strong to control the rise and stabilise your lower back too.  Riding does strengthen your psoas but it is then also important to stretch it, as it does have that propensity to get tight. However, I think weak, tight hip flexors are one of the main reasons beginners struggle in the rising trot. Lots of us spend long durations sitting, this causes weak, tight hip flexors – the opposite of what we need for riding. Beginners who lead an active life style and have functionally strong and flexible hip flexors do not find rising trot as difficult. Not only for beginners, but for many more advanced riders who struggle to achieve a balanced, rising trot in a good position, the cause is the same.

When looking at crookedness that shows up much more in the rising trot, assessing the hip flexors is one of the first things to do. Checking for equal flexibility and strength.

So the top and bottom of it is – don’t just stretch your hip flexors, work on strengthening them too, especially eccentrically. The more functional they are, the better your rising trot will be.