Online - The Rider’s Seat: Function, Biomechanics, and Pilates-Based Exercises
Saturday 24th May 2025 14:00 - 16:30 HRS BST
The Rider’s Seat: Function, Biomechanics, and Pilates-Based Exercises with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
The rider’s seat forms the essential connection between horse and rider, creating the foundations for effective communication and optimal performance. A functioning seat allows for subtle, harmonious interaction, while asymmetries or dysfunction can lead to compensatory movement patterns throughout the rider’s body, ultimately affecting both rider and horse.
This new rider-focused course explores the seat from a biomechanical perspective, discussing the common causes and challenges of rider pelvic dysfunction and incorrect seat mechanics seen in equestrian disciplines. In the final module, the course will discuss Pilates-based exercises, offering practical assessment techniques and targeted exercises that can be performed both on and off the horse to improve seat function and overall balance and coordination. This course is ideal for riders, as well as coaches, instructors, therapists, saddle fitters and other professionals who work with riders to enhance skill, function, and performance.
This course comes with a video replay, CPD certifcate, and live Q and A.
Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire, BSc (Hons), PhD, FHEA, BHSI
Dr. Russell MacKechnie-Guire is a leading figure in equine biomechanics, combining academic expertise with real-world equestrian experience. He is an Associate Professor at Hartpury University, where he contributes to research and teaching in the field of equine performance and health.
Russell graduated from Warwickshire College in 2006 with a BSc (Hons) in Equine and Human Sports Science, and gained his PhD in Equine Biomechanics from the Royal Veterinary College in 2019. His doctoral research, “The Relationship between Saddle and Rider Kinematics, Equine Locomotion, and Thoracolumbar Pressures in Sports Horses,” focused on the complex interactions between horse, rider, and tack.
Founder of Centaur Biomechanics (2006), Russell has extensively researched how saddle fit, bridle design, and girth configuration affect equine welfare and performance. His current research focuses on the horse-saddle-rider interface, spinal kinematics during ridden work, and the effects of rider asymmetry on the equine back.
In addition to his academic and research credentials, Russell is a qualified BHSI coach and Pilates instructor, bringing a unique rider-focused perspective to his work on symmetry, posture, and core stability. He is also an active dressage competitor, further grounding his scientific insights in practical riding experience.
Russell regularly presents at international conferences, collaborates with researchers globally, and consults for the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme (Team GBR). He is a member of the Team GBR Scientific Advisory Group, the Society of Master Saddlers Scientific Advisory Group, and chairs the Horse+Rider Subgroupwithin the International Task Force on Laterality in Sports Horses, and sits on the ethics group for the Danish Federation.
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