If you have been following the previous articles you should now be able towalk and trot standing in the stirrups while balancing on the horse, using a neck strap forsupport. You may also be able to stay in this position without having to use the neck strap.You should now be able to absorb the movements of the horse into the hip, knee and anklejoints.

Any stiffness in these joints will prevent you from being able to do this and will cause youto feel insecure. If you are feeling more stretch on the outside of the ankle than theinside when you stand in the stirrups, check that you are loading the inside of the ball ofthe foot correctly. Many people roll their weight to the outside of the foot withoutrealising it which causes this soreness.

Now you need to be able to move your seat with the horse. Unless we are giving the horse aspecific aid with the seat, our seat must follow the movement of the horses back. In walkthis means that as well as the pelvis moving forwards and backwards slightly (following themovement, not shoving the horse along), the seat bones should dip alternately as the horsewalks. When the horse takes a step the belly swings to one side as the back leg on that sidemoves forward through the air. If your seat is following the movement of the horse’s backproperly you will feel each seat bone dip and lift in turn.

In trot, the belly of the horse also swings to the other side as each back leg swingsforward through the air. When standing in the stirrups and balancing on the horse the ridershould be able to feel the alternating dipping of each side of the horse’s back. If therider is allowing their weight to travel down the leg without blocking the movement bygripping with the thighs or knees they will feel each heel dip slightly in time with thisdipping of the horse’s back. Therefore the rider can now tell where each leg is during eachstride by feel alone.

To achieve ‘sitting’ trot bend the knees (kneel down), from this standing in the stirrupsposition, lowering the seat into the saddle. Keeping a certain amount of weight going downinto the feet as you ‘sit’ to the trot means that your legs stay engaged rather thandisengaged. When the rider’s legs disengage they creep forward and upward which unbalancesthe rider and starts up the vicious circle of gripping and raising the centre of gravity.This causes the rider to feel even more unbalanced. Keeping the legs engaged and under thebody means that the rider absorbs the movement of the horse down and out through the legsrather than up and into the torso, neck and head (causing the wobbling midsection and headthat is often seen in riders during sitting trot).

Make sure that you keep breathing, engage your stomach muscles and lift the sternum. Keepthe back of your neck long as if you are being lifted to the sky by the hair on the top ofyour head.

When practicing this you may only be able to get a few good strides of sitting trot at atime before you begin to bounce. As soon as you feel yourself start to bounce go to stand upagain and this will redistribute some weight back down into your stirrups.

Experiment with how much weight you need in your seat in order to achieve a good sittingtrot. When riders get the hang of this technique it is usually a light bulb moment (for boththe rider and the horse) as the rider feels the horse relax in the back and lift up to therider due to the rider moving correctly with the horse.

This is the third in a series of articles explaining how to solve rider problems. Jane Myersis the author of several books and teaches riding and horse management.

Disclaimer: While the author and publisher have taken all appropriate care to ensure theaccuracy of this articles content, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage from orincurred as a result of any reliance on the information provided in this article.

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