Strengthening Your Seat to Improve Upper Body Posture

To remain secure in the saddle, one must ride in balance with the horse, maintaining a still, "held" upper body, in all gaits, through turns and over fences. Your waist must help to absorb and softly stop the movement from your horse’s back travelling up into the upper body and unbalancing it.

Leaning Out When Riding a Circle

This fault puts the rider in an insecure position. Riders may do this if a horse makes a more sudden turn, or a tighter one, than expected, lurching the rider to the outside. It may also happen when a rider is being lunged, ideally without stirrups, and the centrifugal force pulls her to the outside and maybe off completely.

If a horse tends to track a little to the outside when circling some riders may go with him and try to get him to come in by pulling on the inside rein, this however just frees his outside shoulder and makes it easier for him to lean out, making things worse. With horses that bank, the rider may compensate rather ineffectively by actually leaning the upper body out rather than sitting upright and moving the seat to the outside a little.

Be very firm with yourself about keeping your upper body erect and central. As you ride, think about keeping the centre of your chest, your breastbone, aligned with the crest of your horse’s neck and your face directed between your horse’s ears.

Make sure that your outside stirrup is not longer than your inside one and get a friend or teacher to check that you do not sit to the outside, drop your outside shoulder, carry your outside elbow to the outside instead of keeping it at your hip or tilt your head to the outside, all of which can, almost subconsciously, incline you towards leaning out.

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