Training equipment for riders to optimize coordination and strength of the pelvic regions as well as the sitting aid.
11/13 cm = distance between the ischial tuberosities
TubTrainer
Tub trainer
Now the horse is by nature not intended to carry a rider - luggage stacked vertically, sometimes unstable and usually very tall. The luggage, i.e. the rider, directs certain gaits, changes of direction, bends, step sequences or other artistic moves. The horse, in its capacity as an obedient herd animal, is always careful to carry its luggage carefully and not to lose it.
The rider should now do everything he can to thank him for his solidarity, distribute the load finely and pack it optimally so that it can follow the horse's movement smoothly and does not upset the balance!
In addition to a careful selection of accessories such as saddles and bridles, species-appropriate posture and good training, regular training for horse and rider also requires special attention to the all-important connection between the horse's back, saddle and rider's pelvis.
The Tub Trainer is training equipment with the aim of bringing this evolutionarily neglected body part into the focus of perception.
In the industrial society of the last century, the human pelvis is no longer sufficiently challenged in terms of its movement complexity. As a tensegrity structure, i.e. dynamically deformable in all directions, it requires a balanced interplay of control, plasticity and activity, i.e. nerves, connective tissue and muscles, in order to activate its restoring mechanisms.
This area of the organ, whose dynamics ensure the supply of metabolic processes, has already been honored in movement schools that are thousands of years old.
Among other things, the increasing number of degenerative conditions in this region, such as hip joint arthrosis, sacroiliac joint affections, intervertebral disc damage, to name just the most well-known, is due to this undesirable development caused by civilization.
As a rider, however, you have chosen movement training that has a positive effect on these symptoms, but be careful: riding also requires precisely these qualities of the entire pelvic complex in order not to provoke disadvantageous conditions in these sensitive joint connections.
Rediscover the pool:
The two ischial tuberosities, called tuber ischii, form the bony contact zone with the saddle and thus with the horse's back. These two bones are shaped like runners that can be rolled over. The rider can either apply pressure to the horse's back at specific points or initiate a rhythmic and driving massage-like movement. In both cases the horse will start moving. Depending on the surface, i.e. the type of saddle, locomotion can occur through avoidance or through motivation/facilitation (facilitating means making it easier).
Similar to the construct of the feet, the pelvis has also been shaped by the demands of evolution; locomotion has always been the driving force of adaptation mechanisms. For many thousands of years of recent human history, the horse was the preferred means of transport. It has become part of human DNA.
Reactivating the perceptual ability of the pelvic region is an important element of effective riding training. The basis of all balance and sitting efforts is a dynamically coordinated pelvis with selective movement skills, the control of which the brain has forgotten with modern sitting culture.
What is essential is the physiological interaction of the three-layered pelvic floor muscles with the lower abdominal muscles, the transitional structures from the lumbar spine to the iliac crests and sacrum, the hip adductors (leg spreaders), which run in a fan shape with short and long pulls along the pubic branches and pull on the inner thighs, and the hip abductors (leg spreaders). , which also run in a fan shape and form the inner layer of the gluteal muscles and control the hip joints. The typical rider's seat requires a permanent abduction of the hip joints, more or less depending on the horse. This also applies to the individual rider anatomy, as the individual hip joint distances can vary considerably. An often overlooked anatomical sticking point is the so-called femoral torsion, a bony rotation of the thigh bones that occurs as a person grows in length and ensures good fracture resistance. If this torsion is too great, the femoral head lacks coverage by its socket and the abduction and external rotation components are restricted. Further special requirements become necessary to optimize the bony unfavorable situation. The conditions for the extensively controlling movement structures, especially with regard to the movement patterns of everyday life, are therefore individual and complex.
With the Tub Trainer we set standards for differentiated, active three-dimensional pelvic training. Selective activation of muscle groups in a synergistic, i.e. cooperative, function and the letting go and dynamic yielding of opponents, i.e. antagonists, is systematically developed and integrated into the original reflex behavior. The coordination of the interaction of the so-called opponents, who in the case of the supporting or holding motor quality co-contract, i.e. work together.
Developing the ellipsoid skid movement of the ischial tuberosity stimulates the lower abdominal muscles and leads to a reflex relaxation of the connection between the lumbar and sacral regions, which is an essential part of the rider's relaxation in order to allow the dynamic vibrations to continue in three dimensions. Reciprocal pressure behavior of the two tuberosities trains the dynamic lateral flexion activity (lateral flexor = lateral contraction) of the lumbar vertebrae, which is particularly relevant in the walking gait. Activating the deep hip fan while mobilizing it helps to initiate the reflex inhibition of the hip adductors and release the groin area, so that the unproductive locking of the knee joints subsides automatically through consistent training.
The hip flexor muscles located deep in the torso, the iliopsoas muscle, deserve a special focus. This is where information from the motor and autonomic nervous systems come together. Being closely connected to the cerebral fear and stress center, it reacts immediately by contracting when danger threatens. It reflexively activates the flexion of the thighs, a relic from prehistoric times, when hunching over presented attackers with a more stable back. Since its origin is on the lumbar vertebrae and their transverse processes, and it runs forward through the abdominal cavity, it pulls the lumbar spine into hyperextension, previously known as a hollow back. In this position, the lumbar vertebrae are locked; neither swinging or springing nor controlled pelvic movement are possible. The intervertebral discs experience maximum shear stress and the spinal canal is narrowed. If the psoas muscle is structurally shortened on one side, it provokes scoliosis, i.e. lateral bending and twisting of the spine. Its close anatomical relationship to the kidneys and diaphragm ensures essential responsibility for breathing and metabolism. (Recommended reading: Liz Koch: The muscle of the soul).
The back of the thigh also deserves special attention. The hamstring muscles connect the pelvis, upper and lower leg, running on the inner and outer sides and starting on the lower leg, they can rotate the thigh inwards and outwards, which is relevant for the correct rider's seat and the provision of aids. This muscle group has a strong tendency to shorten due to the quality of its muscle fibers, as it functions primarily as postural muscles, which limits the fine dosage of pelvic activities. Through regular exercise with the Tub Trainer, receptors (Golgi organs) in the sinewy tissue of origin of the hamstring muscle group are stimulated, which leads to their relaxation, thereby lengthening the entire posterior fascia chain, which leads to a coordinated optimization of the muscular activities of the entire back muscles -
Substantially, the complex function of the entire organism is optimized through differentiated pelvic training. Using the Tub Trainer ensures an improvement in riding level through perception training and the measured use of weight aids. At the same time, the entire organ system is positively stimulated in the sense of health promotion.