Why Horseback Riders Need More Than Bad Planks for Back Pain Relief and Riding Performance

Why Stability Comes Before Strength (and Mobility Isn’t Always the Answer)

Buckle up, friends: I’m spicy today.

Elsa has strong feelings about her rider's stability...

I want to call out the mobility/flexibility myth: Riders obsess over mobility, stretching, or flexibility. 

But here’s the truth: the more mobile you are, the less stable you are. And when your body doesn’t feel stable, it locks down with tension and pain.

You also start to grip with your seat, blocking your horse’s movements; or tighten your legs, giving confusing aids; or death-grip your hands, pulling on a horse’s sensitive mouth.

It’s why you stretch your hips and quads before every ride and still feel too tight in the saddle. You’re seeking mobility when you haven’t earned it (see Support & Alignment), and your body doesn’t feel safe enough to let you loose the way you want. 

That’s also when riders get stuck in a cycle of tight hips, flared ribs, and recurring back pain — no matter how much they stretch or go to yoga. Without stability, your spine and muscles are always bracing for safety instead of moving freely.

Want to see if you’re trading stability for fake mobility? Take my free EquiForm Supported Rider Assessment

The Problem with Shitty Advice Online and Bad Planks

Google ‘core workouts for horseback riders’ and you’ll get planks, crunches, and Pinterest-perfect ‘couch to horse trial’ programs. Asking AI to spit out a fitness program won’t fix your issues because what matters are the a) the foundation you’ve likely skipped and b) subtle adjustments to make the exercises more effective and safer.

Spoiler: most of them will leave you tighter, sore, or hurt. Here’s a better place to start.

If you’re planking with your head down, your upper back collapsed, and your ass in the air, you’re not actually strengthening your body; you’re more likely to sustain an injury. Instead of scaling the exercise, you’ve been given advanced techniques without a foundation. And without the simple tweaks that make them safe, you’re more likely to get hurt than get stronger. These are bad planks, and you'd honestly be better off not doing them, especially if you already have back pain.

You’re far more likely to injure yourself with all those spine and muscle short-cuts. This is why so many riders end up with sore backs and spasms after well-meaning ‘core workouts.’

If you want to know the tweaks that make planks, dead bugs, and bird-dogs actually safe and effective, I walk you through them step-by-step in my EquiForm Supported Rider Guide

Why I Still Love Planks (and Bird-Dogs, Dead Bugs, Push-Ups…)

Let me be clear: I’m not anti-exercise. Far from it. I LOVE doing some of these things (and others I try to avoid until my trainer evil-eyes me). But I’ve been lifting for over 15 years - and I still need someone to keep an eye on my form! It’s not that I’m intentionally cutting corners (most of the time...). 

Our bodies also want to find easier ways to do things, and they will cheat. The focus needed and the body-awareness you build over time is why lifting can be so incredible for stressed out brains - you have to really, truly pay attention, use your breath, and go slower than you think to get it right.

Most riders do advanced exercises too soon, before they’ve built support and alignment;  or they do them wrong, sacrificing form, which is how they injure themselves or reinforce bad patterns. And it’s so easy to do because some of the fitness influencers or professionals you’re following are also doing them wrong. I see so many necks cranked down, ribs flared, butts in the air - these may seem like small things, but they’re not - they’re sort of the whole point.

There’s a difference between a solid half-seat over fences and a wobbly one, right? It’s in the fine-tuning. Same with stability and strength work.

How Professionals Get It Wrong (and Riders Get Hurt)

I once heard an equestrian physio suggest adding weight to a single-leg deadlift — one of the more advanced lifting positions out there — because ‘building strength matters.’ Fair point. It’s a great exercise.

She also went on to say that you should add weight even if you’re unstable; just use a prop to hold on to.

This is the kind of hubris that drives me up a wall. This advice is setting someone up to fail. At best, they compensate. At worst, they get injured. In riding, stability work, or strength training, I would so much rather take someone back a step than move them forward too soon. What’s the point? What do you actually gain by rushing the process?

What Stability & Strength Actually Mean for Riders

Plain-English: Stability is being able to hold yourself without bracing, without muscle compensation, without spine curve sacrifice. It’s sitting the trot without clenching your thighs. It’s posting without falling forward. It’s staying steady in half-seat over fences so you’re ready to support your horse to the next fence.

It's using breathing, spine cues, and intentional movements (instead of momentum) to perform an exercise, whether that's a dead-bug or a walk-to-trot transition. It's stilling the excess wiggling and replacing it with fluid engagement and contact with yout horse.

When stability comes first, your body finally trusts that you are safe to move about the planet and you will get the mobility you want. That’s when your muscles stop spasming to hold you back, you stop throwing out your back when you pick out a hoof, and you move with confidence, not dread.

You & Your Horse Win When Stability Comes First

Real talk: forget mobility for a hot sec and dive into creating stability. Here's what you get:

• Your transitions are smoothing → no falling forward or getting left behind

• Independent aids → no more clamping thighs or bracing abs

• Horse moves freer → you stop blocking their motion

• Confidence grows because your body feels trustworthy again

• Back pain decreases because your muscles finally support your spine instead of over-bracing to protect it.

How I Help Riders Build Stability Before Strength

I don’t hand out cute Pinterest-ready workouts. I use spine cues, motor control, and strong foundations to build stability first, then add strength when my clients are ready.

That’s what makes my EquiForm Supported Rider Coaching different. No circus tricks. No wasted hours. Just results you feel in the saddle and in your back. 

We’re not doing fancy moves; we’re building better foundations.

If you’ve been skipping ahead and not feeling results, or don’t even know where to start because the Google is overwhelming, I’ve got you. You need the 4 Steps Horseback Riders with Back Pain Usually Skip!

Through a 21-question screening, I'm going to walk you through your internal support systems, your alignment, your stability, and integration, in and out of the tack. You’ll get a score and clear instructions on what to do next with those four steps.