Meyners Seat Symposium at Star Light Farm Wows Participants
By Vera Vogt

The greater Atlanta area had another opportunity at top European instruction with a leader in his field. Eckert Meyners, who has been publishing literature for the riders in Europe since 1985 and is professor at the Sports University in Lueneberg, Germany, shared his wisdom from the fields of biomechanics, the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, kinesiology, acupuncture and his own research.

Providing instruction that was both theoretical and practical, he actively engaged the participants. We learned amazing things about our own bodies and how quickly they can be improved within minutes through easy exercises whether we were sitting, standing or walking. After this, we watched demo riders whose weak areas were diagnosed and then, after a few on-the-ground exercises, remounted and demonstrated a clear shift in improvement in their bodies AND their horse's movement.

A number of things seemed like magic tricks. One was his ability to show how a simple manipulation of one body part completely loosened another that most people would not see interrelated. For example, after loosening the area just under the skull, the rider sat much suppler. Another was tickling someone on their sides under their ribs increased coordination. Then there was the thumping on your sternum to release fear. Also, pressing your tongue lightly behind your upper incisors will help your balance. ( By the way, he said many European show riders thanked him for the latter two.)

Many different tips helped with balance, coordination, flexibility and correct muscle usage. He showed us how using muscles that have been "turned off" or "dormant" gives the overused muscles a chance to relax and makes the overall movement almost effortless. It also allows us to "feel" the horse, then to "listen" to the horse's body language (though our body) and lastly, to respond to the horse with minimal resistance from OUR bodies. (For those of us over 40 or those who sit a lot at work that has a special meaning…) We also learned that by educating the brain through suppling one side of the body, the brain would transfer this learning to the other and then almost instantly both sides would be supple.

There was plenty of humor, too. Prof.. Meyners is an excellent compassionate teacher who makes learning fun. Participants, riders, and horses all enjoyed it. One could see how the horses really were able to move more easily after their riders changed. Personally, I'll never forget two mares who stared with totally fixed astonishment as their riders crawled back and forth along the floor mats. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity for Prof. Meyners to come again to teach us more about our most important tool in training the horse - our body.