HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR SEAT?

 

How Can You Improve Your Seat?

 

One trainer once said “balance your horse under a place where two spines meet: yours and your horse’s”.

 

1. Sit at the Halt

Sit on your horse at a halt and notice your position above your seat bones. Where is your head and your shoulders. Don’t forget your actual feet. Your legs need to stay down and around your horse, weighted in your heels. Your heel  should be aligned with  your hip. This provides a  good leg and seat base keeps you safely in the saddle. 

 

2. Notice Any Tension

Notice any tension in your back, shoulders and neck. The tendency may be to stiffen up as you try to get your position into what you think is a “perfect” position. Relax, take a breath and let your seat bones support your skeleton as if you were standing.

 

3. Start at the Walk

Squeeze your horse into a relaxed walk on a loose rein. . Notice the rhythmic motions of your horse. Allow your seat bones to move in rhythm with your horse’s feet. If you stiffen up, your body will not be able to move in synchronicity with your horse.  I like to imagine that my pelvis is a bowl of soup. In order to keep the soup from spilling, I need to keep my pelvis level. If I lean forward, or arch my lower back, the soup will spill out of the front of the bowl. If I lean back, or round my lower back too much, the soup will spill out of the back. 

 

4. Do Less, Feel More 

Sit relaxed and follow the movement of your horse, Allow for the natural nodding movement of the neck. Many riders try to produce something with their seat. Instead, try to feel where the horse is not straight and only correct the body parts that fall out. 

 

5. Breathe

Don’t forget to breathe. When learning something new it’s easy to find yourself holding your breath.  Noticing your breathing will help you relax your body and sink into your seat bones. If you’re not breathing, your horse will feel  your tension in the saddle. 

 

6. Walk in Patterns

Practice moving your horse in various patterns at the walk. Try riding some circles, serpentines or random patterns at the walk. Try stepping over some poles, all the time noticing your position. Are you symmetrical? Do you have equal weight over your seat bones?  If you trail ride, notice your position as you move down the trail. 

 

7. Look Up! 

I have a habit of looking down at my horse’s shoulder when I ride. I don’t know what I think is going to happen, but it’s a bad habit and one I work on constantly. Many riders look at their horse’s ears when they ride. Keeping in balance means keeping your head and neck in alignment with your shoulders. When you look down, you’re throwing your head and neck out of alignment. Try this: pick a point on the fence or somewhere across the arena. Focus on that point, keeping your horse straight and your gaze up. Practice that until it becomes a habit.

 

8. Drop Your Stirrups 

Riding without stirrups is the easiest way to develop a secure, quiet seat. Devote 10 minutes of every ride to riding without stirrups. 

9. Close Your Eyes 

Best done on a lunge line or an enclosed area. Close your eyes and try to determine each beat of the walk and which foot is moving. How does each footfall affect the way your hips and seat bones move?  Walk a straight line down the center of your arena with your eyes closed. The way the horse drifts will give you some clues as to how your body weight is distributed.

 

10. Ride Bareback 

If you feel confident enough, riding bareback is one of the best ways to feel your seat bones in relation to your horse’s spine. Since there is no saddle, it allows you to feel the horse’s movements much more naturally. It almost forces you to move your seat with the horse’s movements. Doing all the exercises and movements bareback will fast track the development of a deep seat.

 

11. Lengthen and Shorten Strides

Practice lengthening and shortening your horse’s stride at the walk. Set up two ground poles a few natural strides apart. Practice walking between the poles one stride less by activating your seat and having your horse respond by lengthening his stride. Conversely, practice shortening his stride by slowing your seat and having your horse fit in one or two extra steps between the poles. Also practice using your seat to really sink down deep and  bring your horse all the way down to a halt without using the reins.

 

12. Grow Your Confidence

Grow your confidence at the walk before moving on to the trot or other gaits. Once you feel confident at the walk, squeeze your horse up into a sitting trot. Try just a few strides at first then sit deep and bring him back to a walk. Eyes up! This is a great exercise for practicing transitions for you and your horse and will help in building confidence as you move to faster gates. 

 

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this lesson on developing a deep seat. Whose riding style do you admire? Let me know in the comments!

If developing a deep seat and riding with more balance is one of your goals, you might be interested in learning more about setting and achieving goals with my free goal setting mini course. Get it today by clicking the link below.

 

Enjoy the Ride!

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