The riding doctor : a prescription for healthy, balanced, beautiful riding, now and for years to come

After leaving horses behind to attend college, medical school, and finish her residency training, Dr Beth Glosten decided it was time to ride again and discovered that suddenly, as a middle-aged woman, riding horses was really hard!

Gone was the natural balance and confidence she had experienced in the saddle as a child.

Instead she struggled with tension, awkwardness, and an aching back.

Dr Glosten's own frustration with riding prompted her to put on her 'medical hat' and apply her clinical research skills to figure out what it would take to not only create the harmonious picture of horse and rider moving together, but also feel good while doing it.

She found that the skills for balanced, skilled, beautiful riding are the same tools every rider needs to ride in a healthy way; in a way that optimises the function of the many joints in the body rather than causing excessive stress, wear-and-tear, and pain.

In this book, Dr Glosten shows others how best to improve their posture and position in order to prevent unnecessary physical degeneration, ensuring they can ride, and ride well, for many years to come.

Readers will find basic (and useful!) rider anatomy that is easy to understand, as well as over 50 step-by-step, do-it-yourself exercises geared toward developing riding skills. Throughout, case studies share rider stories that illustrate the kinds of physical challenges experienced in the saddle in midlife, and how they can be met with proactive, pain-free solutions.