Sunday 6 August 2017

International Event Rider Daisy Berkeley talks stickability

International Event Rider Daisy Berkeley talks stickability


Our ambassador event rider Daisy Berkeley has had a busy summer, with top ten placings for her youngsters at BE100, including the seven year olds Caroline and Electoral Role, and a second placing with the nine year old Midsummer Picnic at the prestigious Novice Regionals. Meanwhile, the eight year old Ballinteskin Cooper S placed twelfth and eleventh at Barbury and Rockingham two-stars respectively, showing great promise.

Daisy is an incredibly experienced eventer, having contested many world class events, and being a former British Open Champion and winner at the prestigious Blenheim horse trials. A British eventing team stalwart, Daisy has medals in all three colours from the European and World Championships, as well as the Olympics.


She says that the importance of your position and seat cannot be over-estimated as an event rider. “As riders, we are often put in a difficult situation such as the horse stumbling, spooking or jumping a fence awkwardly; usually he won’t be intentionally unbalancing you, but you are still compromised. Ultimately, we must be able to stay in the saddle for our own and his safety,” Daisy tells us.

“You must learn to acquire your own ‘Safety Seat’ - the deeper the seat, the less likely you are to part company, so this must be established as your most basic tool to be able to use whenever needed. An excellent method is to have lunge lessons with your instructor; this will allow you to be able to ride without reins so that you can focus solely on your seat and position and not worry about steering or pace.

For more novice riders, try to pull the pommel of the saddle up into your body with both hands, pushing your seat downwards - the purpose is to give you a very secure feeling and a real insight into how you should be riding into his movement. It is particularly helpful in improving your sitting trot. More advanced riders should be able to cross their arms on the lunge and obtain the same result. Lunge work is the safest environment to learn to work without stirrups, and eventually be able to slip your feet in and out as required in trot and canter. 

Throughout your sessions, you must remain in the centre of balance, i.e. not tipping left, right, forward or backward. Do not hollow your back, but ensure it remains as straight as possible; however remember that your pelvis needs to move with the movement of the horse; it is a common mistake to be too rigid - aim for flexibility and allow the movement to be absorbed up through your pelvis. This is the art of the deep seat!” Daisy continues.


“You must be able to go into your ‘Safety Seat’ at any given moment, whether you are cantering across country in a forward light seat or jumping, or even relaxed out hacking. It can be automatic to tilt forwards in moments of danger, but you really must learn to sit ‘up and deep’ when needed. It is very important to build your inner core strength and flexibility of the body.

“A good ‘off horse’ exercise is to work with a giant Swiss ball, such as can be found in gyms, and literally practise your deep seat position, learning to balance on the ball without it rolling around. Play around with it by tilting slightly left, right, forwards and backwards to simulate loss of balance and learn to get back to the centre of gravity. Other simple inner strength gym workouts include planking and squats. 

Don’t forget to invest in good quality breeches and undergarments to allow you to focus on your training and riding - obviously Derriere Equestrian offers a comprehensive range of products,” concludes Daisy. 

Derriere underwear is fabulous; discreet and very comfortable,” Daisy says. “The breeches are extremely smart and very flattering. Excitingly, I have started to get into yoga. When I heard that Mark Todd is quite a follower, and remains supple at his age, I thought I would give it a go! It has made a great difference to my core strength, balance and flexibility. When I combine this with my wonderful Derriere clothing, I hope to have that edge we are all looking for, so roll on next season!”

Daisy says “Derriere underwear is fabulous; discreet and very comfortable and I love the Derriere Equestrian Performance Padded Panty and Padded Shorty options” Daisy says. “The breeches are extremely smart and very flattering. Bear in mind also that a good sports bra is essential, in order to both carry and open the shoulders, and not focus on any discomfort caused by breast movement,” Daisy concludes.


Loving my pants and breeches. They are amazing. Daisy Berkeley   

www.derriereequestrian.com

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