How can a rider perfect their position?
EXERCISE 1 A BALANCED LOAD
First things first, though, and it is very much up to the rider to develop a keen awareness of their own position. As an adult riding a pony, an equestrian needs to consider their size and weight, and how their balance impacts their mount’s. Horses and ponies do such a great job of carrying us and balancing the extra weight of a rider, but we can always help them out.
Think about throwing a rucksack on your back for a hike. I bet you would prefer it if the straps were the same length on either side and the load inside was balanced. I remind all my clients that no matter what size they are or their horse is, it is important that they make themselves a balanced load. A rider’s position in the saddle is key, but what constitutes a ‘good’ position?
I teach this in stages, so that at any moment a rider is only thinking about one element until it becomes muscle memory.
Here are the six areas to think about to perfect that position in the saddle.
How to ride it
1 The first step is to remember that your shoulder, hip and heel should all be in alignment with each other, so picture a vertical line running through them all. That sounds simple, but check in during transitions. Are you tipping forward or back?
2 Look up and ahead. Our heads are the heaviest part of our body so focus on sitting tall, lifting your chin, looking through the horse’s ears and carrying your head centrally. Even dropping your head forward could load the shoulders and encourage a pony onto the forehand — which they are often inclined to do.
3 Keep your elbows soft with a small bend. Try repeating “elastic elbows” to yourself and think about the idea that while they move with the pony they should maintain that bend and a straight line from the point of your elbow to the pony’s mouth.
4 Sit equally across both seat bones. Do you put even weight through both? It’s important to mention that I want the rider to feel as though their seat and hips move with the horse, so aim to feel like you are an extension of the horse rather than you’re the passenger sitting on top.
5 An even ribcage. Here, I want you to imagine that you have a spring on either side of your rib cage and that you want to keep them level. If one is compressed and the other stretched you won’t be balanced.
6 Finally, consider your leg position. A rider’s leg position is hugely influential when it comes to their position in the saddle, especially when they are doing something that requires more effort; for example, lateral work. You might grip more with your knees and as a result tilt your upper body forwards. Before you ask for a movement think about what you want your legs to do and the reaction you want so that you can avoid having to shift your whole body.
EXERCISE 2 LOOPS AND CIRCLES
This exercise involves a 10m loop with 10m circles during, before and after it. It might sound complicated, but it isn’t.
How to ride it
1 Check out the diagram (right )tosee how to ride it and start by just riding the 10m loop, then adding in the 10m circles when you can ride the loop and maintain the same rhythm.
2 The circles can only be added when the horse is feeling more balanced. This exercise will get the pony’s barrel moving, and as a result his back, which is key for longitudinal suppleness (over his back) and essentially ground cover and engagement.
EXERCISE 3 FAIR AND SQUARE
Ideally, for the square exercise, the poles need to be set out to create a ‘frame’ in which to ride the square (right). The square can be ridden without the poles, but they do give accountability when things don’t happen when they should. The idea of this exercise is to target transitions at a specific place in the arena, just as you would in a dressage test.
How to ride it
1 Firstly, trot around the square and ensure that you can get in and out of each turn without any trouble.
2 Once you’ve had a play, the challenge is to ride a trot-walk-trot transition coming in and out of the four corners of the square.
3 Trot in, walk the point of the turn and around it, then trot out of the turn.
4 If you think that this is too much of a step up for your pony, just ride the transition in one corner and then every other corner, and so on.
5 When you’ve mastered all four with the trot and walk transitions you can try them in canter and trot instead.
EXERCISE 4 THE BARREL BEND
This is a three-loop serpentine with a 10m circle figure of eight. OK, so this sounds complicated, but I promise that it isn’t. It is important to know that when you ride this exercise it isn’t about getting through all of it as quickly as you can.
How to ride it
1 Start in walk and think about getting the pony to move his barrel from side to side as you ride the shapes, particularly in the changeover.
2 When you’re happy that you’ve nailed the movements and maintained a correct position, try it in trot.
3 If you want to, you can start with one or two elements of the serpentines (no circles) or the serpentine with just one circle each time you cross the centre line. However, your focus must be on taking the time to pass his barrel from one leg to another. Working on this is not only going to make the pony more supple around your leg, but also over his back.