The seat

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My riding lessons started last week and I have been quiet since, and for good reason! I have been investigating my seat lately!

Last Tuesday I showed Bent my ridden work with Bröta, and he asked me to take off the saddle and ride, then put it on again and ride and then “Hmm, I think we need to give you a pillow”. The thing is that my horses are kind of wide and I can’t spread my legs enough and still relax my hip joints. This meant I was sitting a little bit on the rear part of my thigh muscles and my knees were crawling upwards. With a pillow on the saddle you come up a bit further from the back of the horse and then you don’t have to spread your legs as much. The result was I could straighten my upper legs a lot (place them more vertical) and have my knees more under my seat and still relax in my hip joints. This is the seat you want to be able to influence your horse with minimal aids.

The grey pillow on top of the saddle enables my hip joints to relax.

You want the flat inside of your thighs lying against the chest of the horse. The front of the thigh muscles you use to influence the chest and front legs and the rear of the thigh muscles you use to influence the hindlegs.

Changing the seat lead to me being a bit unstable and unsecure in my body which Bröta of course hated, so we used the last week to explore and find harmony together. Now we are on the right track again and the lesson today went pretty well. We were working in walk and trot with collection and forward.