Stacking the Vertebrae

I tried to find an illustration or picture of stacking the vertebrae or blocks from the bottom up like I was referring to in my last post, and this was as close as I could get.  Ignore the neck high horse and think about how if any of those boxes slide forward or sideways how it will impact balance.  

I had a really great ride yesterday where I concentrated first and foremost on stacking my vertebrae and low and behold Jet stayed poll high unless I asked him to stretch by making air spaces between said vertebrae.  It especially helps me to think of starting at the base of my spine and stacking my way up.  I feel like I use my muscles and core in a completely different way.  We stuck to mostly working gaits with some easier collectibility like walk-canter-walk and walk pirouettes and the change in our combined balance was AMAZING.  We would both get tired after 2-3 minutes of me stacking and him staying poll high, so we took many breaks, but he was quite willing.  I know that my posture is truly changed because I am SO sore from about the shoulder blades up today.  In a related note, if you look back at my last post you can see how my posture really relates to Jet’s posture.  When I am stacked he is poll high.  When I am not, he is neck high, with the degree varying by the acuity of my sliding blocks.

I’m going to do a couple of more rides with this new posture and then use the Pivo to confirm.  I will do a post with some video (hopefully!) and also my first impressions of the Pivo.  A little teaser, I’m getting footage but only in certain parts of my dressage court and with certain lighting.  Useful for training purposes but not great for shareable media a lot of the time.