why therapeutic riding instructors sometimes place riders on the horse sideways, or even backwards?
It’s not just for a change of scenery — the different positions work different sets of muscles. Ask any rider, and they will tell you just how much coordination riding a horse requires. Horses always know when their rider has given an incorrect cue or lost his or her balance, and will provide instant feedback to the rider to help stimulate improvement. Likewise, horses will let you know when you have done something correctly, and the feeling of accomplishment is an unrivaled reward. Repetition of patterns and sequences used in working with a horse also quicken the reflexes and develop motor planning. Muscle tightness and spasticity are alleviated by horseback riding. Merely sitting on a horse stretches three muscle categories: the adductor muscles of the thighs; the back and abdominal muscles; and either the muscles on the front of the leg (when riding without stirrups and a hanging leg) or the muscles of the calf and the heel cords (when riding with stirrups and the heel down or level
