Every rider has heard the old line given as a 10 second riding lesson at many of the rent a horse to go trail riding places. Kick to go, and pull to stop. Well good riding actually has a lot more finesse than that – and isn’t quite so simple either.
In this week’s post, I show you how to ride from your seat – essentially using your seat to give cues and direct your horse’s movement. The best part is that horses naturally want to follow our movement – it isn’t comfortable for them to move if we are tense or stiff in the saddle. So this means that we can go forward, turn, or stop just by how we move our hips and how we relax or tighten our core muscles. This does take time to master, and the more you achieve “independent aids” (which simply means that you can move one body part without everything else moving around too) the easier this will come.
Click play below to start watching!
6 Responses
Nicely explained! Thank you.
Thanks Callie watched again riding with your seat, brilliant.
Hi Callie,
I can’t find the equitation video you mentioned comes before this video.
Absolutely loving your videos. My lower leg using to swing around when posting trot, my daughter called me a sack of potatos and that I was just standing up on my stirrups. I was having lessons but they were focusing more on the horse and not my position. When I did ask for some help I was told to rotate my legs outwards and sit right back on my bum. But my toes turned out and my inner thigh was not connected. Since watching your videos my lower leg is soooo much better and my horse is moving more freely.
I do have a question regarding posting. I find my knee is connecting with the saddle. Not sure if it’s actually gripping but I find it difficult to keep my knee off and post using my inner thigh to bear weight.
Also when walking my legs seems to swing around a bit. The only way I can stop this is to have connection through my calf. But is that gripping ? Do you have any constant contact with your leg? I’ve been told so much conflicting advice, eg. Calf needs to be gripping all the time.
Thank you so much. Looking forward to your response.
Hi Jess, I believe this video is the one Callie was referring to! I would recommend checking out these other resources on How to Stop Gripping and How to Get a Stable Lower Leg.
Hope these resources help!
-Julia Burdy, CRK Training Community Manager
Callie, thank you!!! I originally took Saddle Seat lessons. Posture is totally different for that style than for any other, and in all my years of riding (52), no one EVER showed me, or explained to me, how to use my seat!!! That will really help so much, since I’ve been teaching my large pony to turn and stop with no reins. Now I can get better results on a stop, and walk/trot transitions!
Debbie
Debbie, that is awesome! Really glad to hear that you were able to get the concept of riding with your seat 🙂
https://www.crktrainingblog.com/better-riding/tips-for-better-breathing-horse-riding/