Does your seat have a solid foundation?
We all know the old adage, “No Hoof, No Horse.”
And how the foot is the foundation of the horse whether that involves straightness, collection, developing the topline, or anything else.
But what you may not have realized is that this is just as relevant for the rider!
No, we don’t need to trim your toenails!
But we do need to look at developing your foundation so that your seat can become balanced, supple, and straight. This foundation, just like with your horse, comes back to your feet!
It may be that this is a totally bizarre new concept for you.
And it may be that you never considered to look to your FEET to fix your SEAT issues.
- A stable, balanced seat requires stable, balanced feet.
- An elastic, supple seat requires elastic, supple feet.
- And yes, that ability to “stick” (i.e. not get tossed around when your horse spooks, bolts, bucks, or makes any unexpected step) requires springy feet.
And you are not alone.
Through years of experience teaching a variety of riders from all backgrounds, we have seen over and over again that many riders find themselves stuck because they are addressing their imbalance, stiffness, and crookedness at the symptom level.
Meanwhile...
they ignore the culprit because no one looks to the feet.
The feet are, in fact, the foundation of self-carriage for the rider.
A good seat starts at the feet.
THE CENTRAL PREMISE...
Unless your feet are well-organized in relationship to the ground, then you cannot organize your posture to be effortless and your Pelvis COM (Centre of Mass) to be centered over your foundation (which in riding, is your horse).
You also cannot organize your arms to communicate with your horse effectively.
Profound Change. .
How is profound change possible?
How can it be possible with a focus on something so minuscule as the feet?
Well… get ready, because you’re in for a profound ride.
There is a concept in Feldenkrais...
- There are no isolated parts.
- Everything works together as a WHOLE. It is a system.
- When you make a change or influence one part of the body, it has a ripple effect through the rest of the body.
- It is simple, yet profound.
CATHERINE MCCRUM, FELDENKRAIS PRACTITIONER:
“Something extraordinary happened to me when I started to reorganise my feet in this particular way.
I felt my horse's back lifting up and into me, as if by magic.
I did nothing.
His breathing changed.
His whole body felt fluid.
And this experience was so markedly the opposite of that feeling of compressing my horse's back down with my weight.”
INTRODUCING...
A 5-Day Feldenkrais Workshop Experience
with Catherine McCrum, Thomas Ritter, and Shana Ritter.
This self paced self study workshop includes 5 Days of 5-15 minute Pre-Recorded Feldenkrais Lessons (PLUS the recording of a LIVE Q&A).
- Day 1, Finger and Toe Scales - In our first lesson we get in to the details of the toes. In our quest for mobile stability we explore how even the pads of the toes can be tiny bases of support. It's fun to do this on one side only, then stand up and feel the amazing supportive springiness you can get from this short session. Of course you can follow immediately with the second side.
- Day 2, Pads and Heels - This lessons aims to restore our natural human birthright for easy, upright standing and walking (and, of course, riding) by waking up all the joints of the feet. Once the road blocks of muscular contraction start to clear you will feel how your feet even support your head and eyes to be light and free. And that's a truly amazing feeling!
- Day 3, Cascading Toes - In this lesson, we explore how differentiating the toes as you flex and extend your ankles wakes up even more of the sole of the foot to be the foundation of effortless, upright posture. Furthermore, intelligent toes give you the capacity to glide your weight effortlessly to the left and the right, to front, back and any direction you please.
- Day 4, Gliding Feet - This lesson is a deep exploration of the foundations of stability and the freedom this can give to the rest of you to be agile and free. We also explore your habitual strategies for weight shifting and discover whether these help or hinder you in terms of your balance and security in the saddle. The slow weight shifting movements in this session reveal so much about how optimal organisation of your feet assists you to move effortlessly through life, but also how a small collapse on to the inside of one foot can set up a fixed spiral in your torso which creates complications when you're riding. Includes recording of a Q&A with Catherine McCrum and Thomas & Shana Ritter.
- Day 5, FeldenFoot Lesson in the Saddle - In this lesson, Catherine McCrum teaches a student while riding introducing the FeldenHorse Transmission of Force, Gliding Feet in the Saddle, Hands on Gliding Feet, and an additional FeldenHorse session post-ride.
BONUS: An exclusive podcast of the recordings so you can listen anytime, anywhere (especially while on your horse) with just your phone. So easy!!
Join the Community each day for discussion in the FeldenFit Facebook Group
Full, Lifetime Access to all recordings, course materials, and the Facebook Group beyond the 5 days of the Workshop.
Workshop Price = €40
*Other Currencies Available.
"A few months ago I broke some toes when my horse stepped on my foot. After a month off riding I was back in the saddle however I found my balance was compromised and my injured foot was also burning in the stirrup. Catherine suggested I try her new series ‘FeldenFoot’.
I did the first day and it was brilliant. The injury has caused my 3rd and 4th toes to point up and not make contact with the floor. The exercise really addressed that and helped with my stability. The exercise also made me very aware of how much I’d been compensating. After doing the lessons I realised some of the soreness in my foot was from the original injury, but much of it was sore from compensating. These foot-focused exercises are really helping me unravel the compensations so that I can be in the best possible balance while my foot heals."
Caroline Duff-Riddell, South Africa
"The foot is magnificently complex and the anatomy tour in the course was a great insight into the landscape and unique stacking of the bones in play before I got hands on.
I loved the idea of playing scales on my toes, and it was great to explore their mobility interdependence along with Catherine's observations. At the end of this session, I felt a far more consistent contact with the floor and a greater sense of balance and stability.
The experimental mobilisation of the feet was not only fascinating but it revealed how a lack of mobility can reverberate up my leg, through hips and back, something I struggle with in the saddle.
By involving a flexion and arching of the toes through the movements, I immediately felt a release of tension through my whole body and when I stood afterwards, I felt softly, yet strongly erect and aligned. So amazing that the movement of the toes can have such an expansive impact on the entire body.
Overall, I’ve noticed an increase in the softness of my footfall and the articulation of my foot. My walking has improved significantly. I feel like I'm whisper walking!
What a fascinating series of lessons Catherine has put together here to guide us to a more intimate understanding of the basis and biomechanics of our fundamental support structures."
Naomi Betts, Australia
And just who is Catherine McCrum?
And her horse, QQ
ACCREDITED FELDENKRAIS PRACTIONER, GESTALT PYSCHOTHERAPIST, DRESSAGE RIDER
Catherine McCrum is an accredited Feldenkrais practitioner and has been teaching sport, fitness and movement since 1986 as first a ski instructor/coach and then as a Personal Trainer. She is also a Gestalt psychotherapist with a particular interest in working with developing awareness of how her clients embody their emotional and psychological patterns. Catherine assists in most of the Artistic Dressage Program courses by providing riders with Feldenkrais-based lessons to improve their body awareness, coordination, balance, and suppleness.
ALSO JOINING FOR THE LIVE Q&A
Thomas and Shana Ritter
We are Thomas and Shana Ritter. Thomas is German and Shana is American, now based in Portugal on our farm of mostly Lusitanos (also a few Lipizzans + one seriously awesome pony for our daughter) by the ocean. Together we run a program of online courses and programs which educate riders how to train their horses themselves, in accordance with classical principles and biomechanics. Thomas is an International Clinician and author of two books and countless articles in many publications. Shana is a USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist. We have studied with Karl Mikolka, Egon von Neidorff, Arthur Kottas, Charles de Kunffy, Hubert Rohrer, Dorothee Baumann-Pellny, and Thomas Faltejsek. Together we create and orchestrate the Artistic Dressage program helping riders all over the world to have better, happier relationships with their horses through correct, gymnastics and a thoughtful, heart-centered approach.
