After looking at the ankles and knees in detail in previous articles we are now going tolook at the hips of the rider. The hips are the third joint involved in the shock absorbingprocess (along with the ankles and knees) and like them play an important part in correctriding.

If you have been doing the balance exercises on the website (www.equiculture.com.au) youshould by now be able to get your legs underneath you and engaged when riding. By engaged Imean that the leg is under the rider with the correct hip – heel – ankle alignment, ratherthan out in front of this imaginary line or trailing behind it.

If you still cannot do this there can be several reasons for this. The most common being thesaddle and very stiff hip joints.

The saddle plays a crucial part in the correct alignment of the leg. A good stock, westernor dressage saddle helps you to achieve a correct leg alignment by having the stirrup bar inthe correct place. An all purpose saddle and even many dressage saddles have the stirrup barpositioned too far forward which pulls the leg forward no matter how hard the rider tries tokeep it back.

Personally I do not like all purpose saddles for anything but low level jumping. A goodmodern dressage saddle not only has stirrup bars that are positioned well back but also hascorrectly positioned thigh rolls that help enormously with the correct positioning andsecurity of the leg. If you are buying a new saddle check that it helps rather than hindersyou before buying.

Stiffness in the hips (apart from injuries or wear and tear to the hip joint) is usuallydown to not enough flexibility in the soft tissues around the hip. In particular many peopleare tight in the ligaments that run from the hip area down towards the front of the thigh.It is possible to tell if this is the case when if the legs are positioned correctly whilemounted the rider feels uncomfortable. In many cases this area will loosen with frequentriding as long as the rider continues to maintain the leg in the correct position. Giving upand letting the legs slide forward into the chair position will not help. As ever, any realpain should be investigated by a physiotherapist or similar.

Once the hips are positioned correctly the seat should be able to move with the horse.Unless we are giving the horse a specific aid with the seat, our seat must follow themovement of the horse’s back. In walk this means that as well as the pelvis moving forwardsand backwards slightly (following the movement, not shoving the horse along), the seat bonesshould dip alternately as the horse walks. When the horse takes a step the belly swings toone side as the back leg on that side moves forward through the air. If your seat isfollowing the movement of the horse's back properly you will feel each seat bone dip andlift 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.

Making sure that the hips firstly allow the legs to hang correctly and then allow the seatto follow the movements of the horses back is a great achievement in rider development. Wellworth striving for.

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

Read other Equiculture articles

Visit Equiculture.

Comment on this article using the Comment Function below. Discuss this article with otherusers on the Horse Forums.