Comments on: Flawless Riding Position

By: niavoequestrian

niavoequestrian — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 08:47:36 +0000

These are some great tips! Thanks for sharing

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 11:18:06 +0000

It is so important to look where you are going, a very common mistake that I often see is a rider looking at their horses head. Im guilty of this too and I have to say it is a tough habit to break!

By: Horselover

Horselover — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:06:42 +0000

Great tips.

By: REBEKAH

REBEKAH — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:46:11 +0000

THANKS FOR THE TIPS

By: rachel

rachel — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:10:13 +0000

thanks for the tips!

By: Claudia

Claudia — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:17:04 +0000

I don’t ride western. Although I have to say occassionally I love to do it. It’s wonderful.
But when we talk about maintaining a good and ‘flawless’ seat and position, it’s important in both Western & English. English riding requires the same base of seat for all of the riding. If you don’t have a good base in your seat or position, chances are nothing else will go very well. For English riding it’s good to have your heels down, a steady leg, always keep your hands light on the horse’s mouth. Be sure to give and take with the reins, (please and thank you). And it really helps your posture if you LOOK UP. A lot of riders have a tendancy to look down at the horse’s neck or the ground because they want to keep an eye on every little detail of their position. But because your head is the heaviest of all body parts, it just forces your back to hollow and your whole dynamic in your position while riding changes. If you look up, and as you ride, look ahead to where you’d like to go, you’re going to find it helps a lot more. Your horse will follow your aids because he’s sure of where you want to go. If you look down, it gives the horses wrong aids which causes him to slow down or even stop because you lose your balance and he isn’t sure of where to go anymore. I had a tendancy to constantly look down at my horse’s neck all the time. But I finally got rid of it, which was hard to do considering habits are quite hard to break, but it forms big progress and change in your riding. When I finally got rid of the habit and began looking UP instead of down, I found myself riding a lot better in all the gaits. I particularily had trouble with the sit trot, like most riders, because I found myself looking down, tensing up, giving the horse wrong signals to go faster and my heels would accidently bump him in the ribs and it made things worse. But I relaxed, sat deep in the saddle, looked up and looked to where I wanted to go and it made the hugest difference. It took a while to learn that but some people just tend to grasp on to certain things quicker than others. It’s also important in English riding to remember that with your seat and position, that you must RELAX. If you tense up and brace, it makes everything worse. It’s hard to not be able to relax, but it makes all the difference. And remember to get rid of the habit for ‘piano hands’ and point your thumbs up as this helps keep good contact, and it keeps your shoulders square and elbows in with the hips like needed. But I’m sure everyone would agree that riding and horses are a life long learning topic and that’s why I love it so much. It persents challenges combined with my love of horses which I’m sure all us horse lovers really enjoy! =)

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:56:29 +0000

So many instructors do not understand the importance of teaching beginner riders the correct position. It is the basis of good riding whether you ride Western or English style.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:11:43 +0000

Awesome article! thanks for the tips!

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:13:26 +0000

What a helpful articles! I’ll have to try the tips.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:10:59 +0000

Great tips! But for horsepeople like me who can’t get out to the barn everyday, I find it helps a ton if you work on your core strength. Just generally staying physically active helps alot to, and even if you aren’t an athelete in training it’s totally easy to find an free half an hour to go for a jog or work on resistance training or something in your own home.