Quality riding, it is up to the rider

By Kristin Hermann; Images from Pinterest

This article was nominated for the 2025 GMO Newsletter Awards for general interest articles for GMOs with 75-174 members. It appeared in the Three Rivers Equestrian Association newsletter, TREA Branches, September 2024.

Riding is challenging, but it is way easier if you have good posture and are a little athletic. I often talk about the two natural curves in the spine, one at the lower back and the other at the neck. These curves enable the rider to sit and absorb the horse’s oscillating back. If the torso has a correct alignment, the joints from the shoulders and hips more easily function to correctly signal the horse. The rein-to-hand connection with a bent elbow can follow the horse’s nod or longitudinal motion forward and back.

If the shoulders are rounded, the connection with the bit will be compromised. Rounded shoulders inhibit the rider from fluently following the required straight line of connection to the bit.

If you need to work on your posture to sit up whether riding or walking use this image below from Sally Swift’s book Centered Riding. Walk and ride with a raised sternum, present yourself ~ that alone opens the shoulders.

In addition, you can’t just think about correcting your posture when riding; you HAVE to incorporate body awareness into your daily life, not just the one hour you are mounted! If you can’t get to the gym, think about your posture and seat (pelvis) when you drive to the barn, at the grocery store, or while at the computer…. We spend a lot of time in our cars, so sitting up and not collapsing into those comfy seats is a good ideal

Many riders are told more seat, and they push by sticking their tailbone under and end up sitting on the lower spine. This rounds the back! I call it tortoise sitting (like a rounded shell). Professionally, it has been called pocket sitting (sitting on your pockets). Call it anything, but do not do it! Our posture is key to riding, so our three natural aids ( seat, legs and hands) work effortlessly. Using your seat under saddle, should not compromise your posture!

None of the good riders you admire sit on their lower spine or round their shoulders! We have to emulate them. When I first started my dressage journey, I used to pretend I was Robert Dover when I rode. Thinking about how he rode while I was mounted made me sit up straighter and present myself on the horse. Trust me, I did not start that way. I was rounded in my shoulders and slumped. But I desperately wanted to be a good rider, so I did yoga, swam the backstroke, and started sitting up and thought about my posture and how I used my body ALL day! I even purposefully started walking pigeon-toed so my toes did not stick out! VVe want the the side of the leg on the horse, open hips, and not the back of the thigh or calf. VVe were told to look at where the sweat was on our boots. It should be on the side of the boot not on the back seam.

As a riding teacher, half of my job is getting riders in the correct position. I should not have to tell aspiring riders to sit up, fix their pelvis, or open their shoulders. This is the rider’s responsibility! So, if you are serious about connocting positively with the horse, sit up with a lifted sternum, open the shoulders by widening them which allows the elbows to hang by your side, make sure you have that natural lower curve in your back, and do not be a pocket sitter. Sit on your seat bones, not your lower spine, and double check that you are in balance on your seat  and not leaning! If your head is in the center of the horse’s ears ( and yes, you can look around), you are likely lined up and balanced in the center. Just basics!

Today, I do pilates twice a week, and as an aged woman, I am still riding. However, cleaning stalls, moving bedding and hay, and lifting water buckets my whole life has wreaked havoc on my body! But I am still trying. I put my legs up on stools to stretch my hips, I have a posture aid when I sit to teach, and I adjust my back and arms when I drive!  I am continually conscious that my toes point straight ahead when I walk, my shoulders lifted, and my head held high. (Right, this is tough not to look down when we walk.) Only when we have a correct posture can our arms and legs correctly signal the horse effortlessly and allow our bodies to move in harmony with the horse. Riding teachers cannot fix the aspiring rider; we can only point things out~ it is up to you!

Recommended Reading:

The Complete Training of Horse and Rider by Alois Podhajsky

Centered Riding by Sally Swift

Connected Riding by Peggy Cummings

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