The pelvis is the largest and heaviest bone in our body. There are many attachment points from the muscular system to our pelvis.
Even a small movement of our pelvis affects the rest of our body.
Especially for riding, our pelvis is very important. It is a point of contact with the saddle and therefore a point of balance.
In this video, I will show you why the position and movement of your pelvis is so important and a simple test to find the best alignment for YOUR body.
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The rider’s seat is the beginning of great riding or poor riding. One of the biggest compliments to a rider is that they have a “good seat,” and developing this seat
Have you ever received the riding instruction of “open your hip” and not sure what it meant? Or have you been accused of leaning forward, but when you try to
The sitting trot is a difficult gait for many to learn. It is not a gait you can muscle through, in fact the more you try to hold yourself in
I signed up for the Balanced Riding course after watching Callie on YouTube. I’ve learned so much from this course. As you start riding when you’re young, you learn the fundamentals, but then you drift so far away from them in different skills that you’re learning that you sometimes kind of forget or don’t appropriately utilize those fundamentals anymore. And she’s really brought me back to that level of understanding specifically how to ride with the seat. And I think that’s kind of the most powerful thing you can learn to do as a rider, is to sit your horse appropriately, not have to rely so much on your reins. So that’s been huge, just completely changed the way I ride.
I just want to say thank you to everyone for all the comments and positive comments I have read while on this site. I have taken many of the free courses offered by CRK training over the past few months and it has help with my confidence. I actually rode my daughter’s horse for the first time outside in the ring since she came home from a free lease September. I have practiced many of the lessons and watched many videos. It was just at a walk but I felt confident with every thing I have learnt so far, plus I have learnt that I am not the only one who gets nervous and that it is okay to be nervous and thanks to Callie’s lessons I have learnt to take one day at a time and work though the times I feel nervous.
As a new horse owner and rider I wanted a training series that would walk me through each step of equitation for a beginner. That is exactly what I got with the CRK Balanced Rider Series. Callie King is a talented horse trainer and accomplished rider and it shows through each of her videos. She is clear and concise when discussing her insider knowledge of horse care, training, and riding.
As with all of the work Callie does, this program is informative, thoughtful, evidence based. The course provides good resources on horsemanship, managing fear, developing confidence. The videos of “how to” help your horse manage his fear were particularly good (in that) helping my horse manage moments of fear, helps me to manage mine.
This is why I so enjoy your videos and webinars. Your approach is so positively based and therefore so kind and gentle while still being very effective. You work with the horse and not against him.
THANK YOU!
21 Responses
Very helpful. Any tips for me as an older rider with osteoporosis and getting a curved spine. Hard to sit straight. Thanks
Hi Calli
I really enjoy all your videos. I do have a question. I ride Western with a large gaited TWH. Do your exercises help someone like me?
Thank you. That was very helpful!
Thank you! I love your proper pelvic position video, exactly what I’m working on now.
Many thanks, Calli – very well explained.
I would only add that breathing out makes me sit down better in the saddle. My horse responds very well to how I breath. I ride western and your video works great for a western rider also
I would like to see video about changing riders idea of turning from an exaggerated inside pull on the rein, or tipping like a motorbike rider, to teaching them to pivot and open the shoulders.
I had underestimated how important of a concept this is! For years I have worked on the exercises in the saddle to promote neutral pelvis position, doing them right after mounting. Taking video had shown me that most of the time I regress into anterior pelvic tilt at some point which not only leads to feeling unstable, but can often contribute to my horses not wanting to go forward as well. So in the past few weeks or so, I have aimed for feeling as if I am in posterior pelvic tilt and checking in with that feeling throughout my rides. Video has shown me that (for now while learning a new movement pattern), if I feel like I’m in posterior pelvic tilt, I’m actually in neutral. My horses reinforce to me that this is correct, and I feel the safest I have ever felt while riding. 🙂
I ride western, so your techniques work for western riders also or just english?
Your calm, comforting voice immediately has my attention and my brain accepting your message. Thank you.
As I got older with lower back problems, I tilt forward when I sit straight hollow back been told to tuck bum & tighten my core but notice this makes both my ponies shoot forward with bum tuck and half halt with core then I have to use legs maintain rhythm. I found this video on opening thigh angle great as I think this solves my problem simply Thanks
I loved the idea of “breathing into your lower back” after placing your hand there. It really helps keep the lower back relaxed. TY!
I too have been told to “tuck your bum”. I also struggle with my lower leg position as my trainer says I need to wrap my legs around my horse to keep my calves in contact, whereas I have always allowed my legs to relax and stretch downward.
As always, very well explained and informative. In addition to my excellent trainer I have learned so much from your videos. Thank you!
Very clear and easy to understand.
The red lines really, really increased my understanding.
Thank you!
I was taught to curve my lower spine, seems lots of people were taught chest up, shoulders back etc. Have seen riders who rode for 40 years sort of collapsed with shoulders rounded. So much that I don´t know, where would you find a good school?
I love watching this young lady. She knows what she is talking about. Thanks Callie
Very thought provoking! I always end up ‘fork seat’ and i have no idea why but it’s extremely painful!
I’ve been hollowing my lower back lately. Any more hints about how to avoid that?
Hi Callie,
I have bursitis in my right hip, I do yoga stretches and do stretches before I get on and in saddle to stretch before riding.
Is there is specific stretch I can do to help the muscles relax more. My left leg is stronger now due to compensating for the right.
Love some tips on toes and feet. I fixed my seat, better back, hips, knees, all that. but now I think my tension moved from my hips to my toes. I found that my toes get super tense and my feet are feeling like bricks.
Also, sitting the trotting poles – how do you help distribute your weight so not so much on the horse.
When I was singing in a choir, I was instructed to breath into my belly – so my belly expanded. When riding, I find better posture if I breath into the spot in my lower back that Calli demonstrated. It’s more like breathing into my chest, but directing the air to that spot in my back.