The Sound Rider

12/09/2026

Foggy morning work view! The Sound Rider is set up at Harvest Moon / CBLM Championships at Carolina Horse Park today providing physio and bodywork services for riders. Come hang out and watch pretty ponies in the rings!

01/09/2026

Peeped this article today. So glad this is being talked about! The pelvic floor is so important and should not be ignored. It works in concert with our diaphragm, is one of the components of our deep core, and can be weak or tight!

When Strong Isn’t the Answer: The Dressage Rider’s Pelvic Floor 🧘‍♀️

"When I began having pelvic floor issues (urinary incontinence when laughing, coughing, sneezing, jumping rope), I assumed what many women do: I must be dealing with weakness or laxity. After all, I had had children, I was menopausal, and I had heard the message 'Do your Kegels' for years to strengthen your pelvic floor...

The first visit to the physical therapist was life changing. Yes, I am being dramatic. But when you deal with something for so long that you think is normal and find out it, in fact, is not, it can shake you."

With the average age of equestrians being 40, and over 70% of riders being women, we're bound to run into the same "womanly" issues - we might as well talk about them! Let this rider share her secret to addressing and maintaining pelvic floor issues.

🔗 https://wp.me/padgUY-r2L

✍ Heather Benedict

📸 Franke Photo Design, LLC

01/09/2026

Manual bodywork or exercise? Which one is the most beneficial?

In truth, it’s both. Bodywork interventions, such as massage, joint mobilizations, dry needling, cup therapy, or myofascial release are effective techniques to help bring mobility to tissues and assist with control of discomfort via mechanical effects and neurological system changes. However, we often get stuck in a loop if our focus is only increasing mobility with these manual techniques. (You get a massage because your upper back always feels tight after you ride, but it doesn’t take too long before that tightness returns.) Likewise, we cannot strengthen in a range of motion that is unavailable due to restriction or a guarding neurological system. (Despite repeated efforts, you just can’t seem to control your pelvis and leg position during a canter depart.)

There’s always an underlying reason why patterns of tension or restriction develop. Often this is due to dysfunctional movement habits or muscular imbalances. Let’s say there is a freeing up of motion after manual work and the body is able to move in previously restricted ranges. If we return to old habits and patterns of movement, we will continue to reinforce the conditions that created the soft tissue limitations. It’s our responsibility to give our bodies a new way to move and provide balance for those tissues in which we have created newly found freedom.

This is the symbiotic relationship between manual work and movement. They can exist independently, but they are mutually beneficial when partnered. We can use bodywork therapeutically to help with the mobility, to capitalize on the healing power of touch, but we’re missing a major component if we do not promote quality movement as a follow up activity. Mindful movement in our new ranges and/or targeted exercise to promote muscular balance and functional carryover: It’s a valuable piece of the puzzle. If we want to maintain the gains that we get with manual techniques (and eventually decrease the need for them), we have to re-educate our bodies on how to move.

From my perspective, this is how we reap the most benefit.

15/08/2026

I was able to do some dry needling this week with a client to address discomfort and mobility issues in the L hip. This client has both intermittent and chronic symptoms due to an inflammatory autoimmune condition and decades old pregnancy-related pelvic trauma. To brag on her, she is an excellent example of someone who takes ownership of their health and has a robust daily program of physical activity, mobility work, stabilization and strengthening exercises, as well as self myofascial work. We consult periodically to problem solve flare ups or fill out her maintenance program. Several months ago, we did some dry needling of the L hip to address feeling of deep tightness that she felt she could not quite get to with her daily program. She told me this week that the results from that session took away the deep aching tightness in her L hip for about 3 months! She had just started feeling a hint of it again, potentially due to recent international travel, and requested a dry needling session to help get back on top of it.
We’ve gotten the most “bang for our buck” when targeting TFL and the upper gluteals, but also addressed the IT band, vastus lateralis, piriformis, and SI ligaments and fascia. The client’s home program will continue to serve as an adjunct to dry needling treatment as it has elements that focus on counterbalance and mobility of the tissues responsible for her tightness.
Dry needling is not for everyone and is not the only treatment tool available for soft tissue work, but I find it to be an extremely helpful resource to address deep issues that are difficult to access with hands or superficial tools.
Some of our work on the IT band and vastus lateralis is pictured here.

11/08/2026

The Sound Rider is proud to offer mobile physio, bodywork, and wellness to equestrians in the central NC area. As a licensed physical therapist of 12 years and an avid amateur equestrian, Dr. Elizabeth Young is excited to combine her two passions to bring her PT skills and training to the equestrian population. As equestrians, we are extremely attentive in particular about the care of our horses, but we often neglect ourselves. Whether you are seeking regular visits to addressed an injury or the occasional “tune up“ session for bodywork or identifying a symmetry, session, goals, and scheduling are individually tailored to help you keep dancing with your four-legged partner.

Interested in scheduling a session?
Send us a message, email [email protected] or call/text 301-775-3400