Wendy Murdoch - 50 5-Minute Fixes to Improve Your Riding: Simple Solutions for Better Position and Performance in No Time

This book is dedicated to my mom. Thank you for all your love and support.

First published in 2010 by
Trafalgar Square Books
North Pomfret, Vermont 05053

Printed in China

Copyright 2010 Wendy Murdoch

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer quoting brief excerpts for a review in a magazine, newspaper, or Web site.

Disclaimer of Liability
The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. While the book is as accurate as the author can make it, there may be errors, omissions, and inaccuracies.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Murdoch, Wendy.

50 5-minute fixes to improve your riding: simple solutions for better position and performance in no time / Wendy Murdoch.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-57076-455-4

1. Horsemanship--Miscellanea. 2. Horses--Behavior--Miscellanea. I. Title. II. Title: Fifty five-minute fixes.

SF309.M845 2010

798.23--dc22

2010011273

Photos by Wendy Murdoch except: (Bradley Schneider)

Illustrations by Katherine Brown-Wing

Book design by Carrie Fradkin
Front cover design by RM Didier
Typefaces: {ITC Century, Helvetica Neu}

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Wendy Murdoch and Al, owned by Bradley Schneider.

Wendy Murdoch, an internationally recognized equestrian author, instructor, and clinician for over 23 years, teaches her students how to do what great riders do naturally. Wendys desire to understand the function of both horse and human, and her love of teaching capitalizes on the most current learning theories in order to show riders how to exceed their own expectations.

In 1984, while attaining her masters degree in equine reproductive physiology, Wendy suffered a severe riding accident. Her self-rehabilitation started a quest to understand and answer the question of how to ride pain-free, using the body as it was designed. Wendys uncanny ability to find and study with the best people in a variety of fields and her profound curiosity make her unique.

Her studies include an apprenticeship with Sally Swift, as well as extensive training with Linda Tellington-Jones, Dr. Joyce Harman, Jon Zahourek (Anatomy in Clay), and Dr. Hilary Clayton. To help her guide students toward better function, Wendy became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and continues her study with Dr. Feldenkrais first assistant, Mia Segal. Her fascination with the mind/body connection between horse and rider has led her to explore courses outside the equine world and bring that information to her students.

Wendy combines her creative talents with her scientific training to break down larger concepts of riding into simple, easy-to-do exercises for students of all ages, abilities, and disciplines. Her ability to make learning enjoyable, engaging, and fun through in-depth presentationsboth mounted and unmountedwhich are easy to comprehend, helps her students connect the dots and achieve their riding goals.

Wendy writes articles for a wide variety of magazines and is a regular contributor to Eclectic Horseman Magazine. She is the author of Simplify Your Riding and creator of the three-part Ride Like a Natural DVD series. For more information, go to www.murdochmethod.com.

Countless riders, students, and friends have helped in the creation of 50 5-Minute Fixes to Improve Your Riding: Simple Solutions for Better Performance in No Time. I would like to thank all my students whose riding difficulties prompted me to come up with innovative solutions. Many of these solutions were impromptu, and I have since used them to help other students improve their riding. Other ideas came from a variety of sources including my education and training in the Feldenkrais Method, Bones for Life, TTEAM, and my years of working with Sally Swift. It would be impossible to list the source of every idea; therefore, to all who have in some way been a part of this project, my deepest thanks.

For giving the original articles life I would like to thank Darlene Jacobson, editor of the Virginia Horse Journal. In 2004, Darlene asked me to write a series of short, how-to articles. Five years and more than 50 Murdoch Minutes later, these articles have been brought together in this book, published in a number of print magazines, as well as online. I would like to especially thank two publications and their readers