The irony of this subject is that the riders who most want to ride well, to ‘get it’, are the type that breathe the worst! As riders get more focussed, verging on panicky, about making the horse go right, so their breathing becomes the exact opposite of how it needs to be to get the changes they want.

However, mention ‘breathing correctly’ to many riders and their eyes glass over. The thought goes through their mind “I think I can breathe okay and there are surely more clever things you need to tell me”. Actually, no. Believe me, it is so important, it could completely transform your mental and physical abilities on a horse.

Just for a minute consider other athletes. A runner, swimmer, archer, golfer. At top level their coaches ensure their athletes are breathing correctly - that is to say using their diaphragm and abdomen and not the top of their lungs only. Riding is no different.

(If you are not sure where and what the diaphragm is, you may like to look up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracic_diaphragm)

Its the basis of the independent seat and hand

Breathing correctly is not only to do with having enough ‘puff’ to keep riding. Its more important than that. Unless you are breathing in a way that allows you to release certain muscles and ‘hold’ with others, you cannot have a balanced and independent seat.

Breathing incorrectly means you are using only the top part of your lungs and not expanding your ribcage lower down. Top breathing, especially combined with mouth breathing (as opposed to breathing in and out through your nostrils), will limit your ability on a horse more dramatically that you will ever realise.

How to do it

Correct diaphragmatic and abdominal breathing is not difficult but it does need you to put some of your concentration on it until it is more ingrained. This is best done off the horse to start with.

Sit on a chair or lie on the floor - wherever you can relax. Put your palms flat either side of your waist as if you are trying to feel where the bottom of your ribcage is. Now breathe in and feel like you are pushing your hands away from your sides outwards. You may see your tummy move outwards as well. This is because your diaphragm is moving downwards to draw air into your lungs like a pair of bellows being opened. On the exhale the diaphragm rises up again to push all the air out.

If you have a friend nearby, they can help you by standing behind you and placing their hands either side of your body at waist level, just under your ribs. They can tell you if you are breathing in the right place (low down) as they will feel their hands move outwards a little. They may also notice initially, until you get it, that your shoulders are lifting when you breathe in and when you have practised a little, that your shoulders stay down.

Light bulb moment.....?

Now you can start to see how essential this is for riding. A large muscle - the diaphragm - is going downwards towards the saddle to keep you down, your shoulders are not heaving up or tense as you try to gulp air in which makes you top heavy. Your arms are now loose and can operate independently. Plus a larger amount of air (which is fuel to the body) now flows through your blood stream and increases your stamina.

Hopefully, by now I don’t need to sell the idea to you anymore and would implore any riders who seriously want to ride better to take this on board. This is not ‘hippy stuff’ - its what top riders/trainers do already and don’t realise that you are not doing it too!

Do it for your horse

An added spin off benefit is that mentally you become more serene and patient as a horse trainer. Many riders who are desperate to improve or to make their horse learn something new can become quite angry and quick to get after their horse if they think it hasn’t responded instantly to their request. Even assuming the rider was sufficiently trained themselves to try to train the horse, the horse may take a few seconds to work out what is required and comply with a try.  Deep, low and rhythmical breathing helps the rider stay calm and gives the horse a chance to react to your instruction.

Try it for a week when you are riding (and off horse too if possible) and see if you ever want to go back to the old way!