- Speaker #0
Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're doing something really quite unique, I think. We're looking at human posture, Pilates, but through the eyes, or maybe the ears, of a horse.
- Speaker #1
That's right. A specific horse, actually, Gandor, a former elite Arabian racehorse, who is now, believe it or not, a key part of the teaching team at Studio Bio Pilates Paris.
- Speaker #0
Okay, so what's the mission here? What can we possibly learn about our own bodies, our pelvis specifically from Well, from a horse, even an elite one.
- Speaker #1
Well, think about it. His entire career, his speed, his power, it all depended on perfect alignment. So the idea is, what insights can we get from a creature whose biomechanics had to be so efficient? The sources point to some key differences, but also a really powerful sort of simplified philosophy about movement.
- Speaker #0
And Gander's role isn't just symbolic, right? He's called the ear, a living mirror for the studio owner.
- Speaker #1
Exactly. It sounds a bit out there, but it's highly technical. Horses are incredibly sensitive to tension, vibration. Gander can apparently sense if someone's weight is off, if they're stiffening up. Just tiny cues.
- Speaker #0
How does he show that?
- Speaker #1
Subtle shifts. The way he orients his ears, maybe a tiny adjustment in his neck. It's instant feedback for the instructor. Basically saying, okay, something's not quite just or right about this person's balance.
- Speaker #0
Wow. That's quite something. A living biofeedback machine. Okay, so let's start where Gander's expertise really comes from, his athletic past. Section one, the pelvis, the athlete's center.
- Speaker #1
Absolutely. For any high-performance athlete, human or equine, the pelvis is fundamental. It's the bridge, you know, the necessary passage between the trunk and the legs. It is the center of gravity.
- Speaker #0
And if that center isn't stable, if Gander's pelvis wasn't aligned mid-race...
- Speaker #1
Loss of power. Simple as that. Momentum leaks out. The kinetic chain breaks down. It's the same for us. If our pelvis shifts too far forward into anteversion... or tucks too far back retroversion, the whole system compensates.
- Speaker #0
Compensates how? What are the knock-on effects?
- Speaker #1
Well, that compensation causes problems. Antiversion, that forward tilt, often means an overly arched lower back, maybe sacroiliac joint strain. Yeah. Retroversion, tucking under, that tends to flatten the spine, puts more pressure on knees, ankles, even breathing can get restricted. Right. And what's fascinating here is the direct link Gander makes. He apparently remembers that feeling a horse running with too much antiversion, loses stride length, loses power. They're fighting their own body.
- Speaker #0
So that feeling of inefficiency, of losing power, it's the same whether you're a thoroughbred or just, you know, someone trying to move better.
- Speaker #1
Precisely. It's that core feeling of fluidity versus restriction. His experience is grounded in that physical reality.
- Speaker #0
Okay, that makes sense. Let's pivot then to the Pilates concept they teach there, living neutrality. Neutral often sounds static, rigid. But living suggests something else.
- Speaker #1
It really does. It's not about locking into one position. Gander's perspective, or the one attributed to him, is that neutrality is this juste equilibre, this right balance. It's dynamic. It allows for suppleness, responsiveness. Think of a horse in a really good easy trot.
- Speaker #0
That's the feeling.
- Speaker #1
Finding that sweet spot for the spine where it's efficient, not compressed.
- Speaker #0
Exactly. And to find it, we do need a bit of anatomy. The sources get specific about the ASIS and PSIS, those bony landmarks on your hips.
- Speaker #1
Right. The anterior superior iliac spine at the front, posterior superior at the back. You can usually feel them.
- Speaker #0
And neutrality is defined by how those two points relate to each other. But here's a really crucial point, something instructors absolutely need to know. Okay. It's slightly different for men and women.
- Speaker #1
Ah, how so? Does it really matter in practice?
- Speaker #0
It matters hugely because if you cue based on the wrong model, you create imbalance. The sources say for men, neutrality usually means the ASIS and PSIS are on a strict horizontal line.
- Speaker #1
But for women, anatomically, the PSIS, the back points are naturally a little bit higher than the ASIS at the front.
- Speaker #0
So if you try and force a woman's pelvis into that strict horizontal alignment.
- Speaker #1
You're essentially pushing her into a slight retroversion of tuck. You might be trying to correct something that's actually her natural physiological neutral.
- Speaker #0
And that would flatten her lower back, maybe tighten hamstrings unnecessarily.
- Speaker #1
Exactly. It introduces stiffness, fights the body's natural structure. It destroys that living quality we're after. Understanding that nuance is key for personalized alignment. It's a real aha moment when you get it.
- Speaker #0
Definitely. That's a game changer for instructors. And to help people feel this, there's Gondor's postural mantra, something quite poetic.
- Speaker #1
Yes. Sacrum Lord Caged Thornacek Legere. Heavy sacrum, light rib cage.
- Speaker #0
Heavy sacrum, light rib cage. Explain that.
- Speaker #1
Think of it like this. The sacrum needs to feel grounded, anchored, stable like his hooves firmly on the earth. Solid connection. But the ribcage, the upper body, needs to feel buoyant, mobile, free, like his mane flowing. It's about stability and lightness together, not just rigid bracing.
- Speaker #0
I like that imagery. Okay, let's unpack this diagnostic side more. If Gandor is this living mirror, how does he quickly size up if someone's pelvic anchor isn't set right? He looks at three dimensions, right? Right. He,
- Speaker #1
or rather the instructors interpreting his cues, break it down across the three anatomical planes. First, the most common one, the sagittal plane.
- Speaker #0
Forward and backward tilt, like a rocking chair.
- Speaker #1
Spot on. Pelvis tilting forward, aces drops lower. That's anti-version. Tilting back, aces high-o. Retroversion, easy to see, usually, and it affects everything up and down the chain.
- Speaker #0
Okay, plane number two.
- Speaker #1
The frontal plane, side to side. Is one hip, one iliac crest, hiked up higher than the other.
- Speaker #0
Like leaning in the saddle.
- Speaker #1
Precisely. He apparently feels that immediately in a rider, uneven pressure. It creates a side bend in the spine and presses one side. Often affects breathing. You see it when people stand, too.
- Speaker #0
Makes sense. And the third plane, the trickiest one.
- Speaker #1
Rotation. The transversal plane, this is about twisting, is one aces further forward than the other. Ah, okay. If you see one aces as, say, more anterior and a bit lower, that tells you that whole side of the ilium, that hip bone, is rotated forward. It's subtle, but it massively impacts how your load muscles can work.
- Speaker #0
The sources also mention the greater trochanter, that big bony lump on the side of your upper thigh bone, the femur, why focus there?
- Speaker #1
Because its position relative to the iliac crest tells you the truth of the hips, as the source puts it. Is the hip joint itself sitting in flexion or extension? Also. For instance, if that trochanter is sitting way forward anterior to the crest line, it usually means the hip is in extension. That often goes hand in hand with a flatter lower back, maybe that retroverted pelvic tendency. A hip that's stuck or fishy can't absorb shock well. Gander would feel that stiffness instantly. In a rider, it kills the horse's ability to spring.
- Speaker #0
Okay, that detailed observation is fascinating. Which brings us to section four. How do you take all that anatomical data and actually do something with it? How does it become practical for a student?
- Speaker #1
They use a simple, clear three-step method. Sentir, nomer, agir. Feel, name, act.
- Speaker #0
All right, walk me through it. Step one,
- Speaker #1
feel. Sentir, it starts with the student's own awareness. Place your hands on your hips, breathe. Can you feel it? If both sides move evenly, is there tension building somewhere? You have to connect sensorially first what's actually happening.
- Speaker #0
Okay, build that internal map. Then, NOMR, name it.
- Speaker #1
Yes. This is where the instructor, informed by Gannuer's cues or their own sharp observation, gives precise feedback. Okay, I see your left hip crest is a bit higher. Or, your right asis is slightly forward. Naming the specific asymmetry. Clear objective.
- Speaker #0
Not judgmental, just anatomical fact.
- Speaker #1
Exactly. And that leads directly to step three, ager, act.
- Speaker #0
The exercises, the correction.
- Speaker #1
Right. Based on naming, you act. Maybe it's activating the deep core stabilizers, the transverse abdominus, pelvic floor, the multifidus muscles along the spine, or maybe it's stretching muscles that are too dominant, like tight hip flexors, pulling the pelvis forward into anteversion. They use specific Stop Pilates exercises tailored to these needs.
- Speaker #0
Can you give some examples which exercises are particularly good for this pelvic work?
- Speaker #1
Sure. Footwork on the Reformer is a big one.
- Speaker #0
Why footwork specifically?
- Speaker #1
Because pushing the carrot away and controlling it back immediately shows how well you maintain pelvic stability under load. Any rotation, any tilting, any hip hiking, it becomes really obvious. It tests that base of support.
- Speaker #0
Okay. What about someone stuck in that backward tuck, the retroversion?
- Speaker #1
For that global pattern, the pelvic curl is key.
- Speaker #0
How does that help?
- Speaker #1
It forces you to articulate the spine, peel it off the mat bone by bone, rather than moving the pelvis and lower back as one stiff... block. It encourages mobility segment by segment. Then you have things like knee folds or hip release for basic hip mobility and finding center.
- Speaker #0
And for the side-to-side imbalances, the frontal plane?
- Speaker #1
Lateral work, things like mermaid stretches, side overs on the equipment. They specifically challenge and rebalance that side-to-side symmetry in the torso and hips.
- Speaker #0
What about rotation? That seems like the hardest one to fix.
- Speaker #1
It can be tricky. Yeah. And the source of stress, correction, starts from the ground up, always. Meaning? Meaning lapui, just the correct footing. Before you fix the pelvis, you check the feet. Is the weight balanced? Evenly distributed between the ball of the big toe, the ball of the little toe, and the heel. If your foot's rolling in or out, the pelvis will be unstable. You fix the foundation first.
- Speaker #0
That makes sense. Like the horse's hoof needing a solid landing.
- Speaker #1
Exactly that principle. And for rotation, the exercises often start unilaterally, working one side at a time.
- Speaker #0
Why one side?
- Speaker #1
Because the problem is asymmetry. You can't fix a twist by doing the same thing symmetrically on both sides. You need to target the side that's rotated forward or backward. guide it back towards neutral, stabilize it, then integrate it back into balanced two-sided movement. Every exercise becomes like a well-executed stride or foulé originating from a stable pelvis.
- Speaker #0
So we've gone deep into the anatomy, the observation, the correction. What's the big takeaway here? What does this all mean for someone listening, maybe thinking about their own posture or movement?
- Speaker #1
I think the main message is that this precision isn't about achieving some kind of perfect static aesthetic. It's about efficiency. It's about longevity. Right. The core philosophy Gandor represents is that neutrality is living. It's adaptable. It has to be able to shift, to breathe, to alternate between stability when needed and controlled mobility when needed. It's not a rigid grace.
- Speaker #0
It's a strategy for moving well for longer.
- Speaker #1
Exactly. A strategy to reduce wear and tear, to keep joints healthy. And the advice for instructors is powerful. Observe like a cavalier, like a skilled rider. because every tiny pelvic shift Changes the whole picture, the whole kinetic chain. Millimeters matter.
- Speaker #0
And the final thought, the message from the horse to us.
- Speaker #1
Patience, perhaps. Finding pelvic neutrality isn't a quick fix or just about looking good. It's a fundamental approach to moving with more comfort, more efficiency, and less strain over your lifetime. The goal isn't to be perfect. It's to be just, balanced, right for your body.
- Speaker #0
A really profound way to think about it. Learning about ourselves from the wisdom of a thoroughbred. Amazing. That's it for this deep dive.
