Correcting the rider's seat


The rider, who is able to perfectly support a horse from the saddle, fulfils three qualifications:

1) his seat follows the horse instead of interfering it;

2) his ability of coordinating his own body is so advanced that he can use every single part of his body independently;

3) his body awareness is so well developed that he can feel when and how intense he has to use his aids.

Schooling the rider in these three points - especially the right feeling for his own body and the right aids - is my utmost concern.

I want to enable the rider to analyze his body and to check if he is in a good balance independently.

Often the rider has to change his seat just a few millimetres to position his body optimally. But these few millimetres are essential to make rider and horse feel comfortable together.

First the rider's upper body is brought into a good balance. Then her legs and hip joints get released and repositioned.

Finally this is the base for good riding. Only a rider, who is capable to coordinate and balance his body, has the possibility to support his horse finding its own balance under the saddle.
When schooling the rider, I also have to pay attention to the aspect that not only the horse but also the rider is not totally symmetrical and straight and therefore acts differently with his both body halfs. If a human usually uses his right hand to do things for instance, he will have trouble when doing the same moves with his left hand.
So I have to help both the horse and the rider to gather more straightness during the training.

To get there it's important to me that the rider can really feel what changes can be reached by repositioning his seat. Many of my students are amazed when they find out how less is necessary to influence a horse - negatively and positively.

The rider feels the movement of his hip joints better, when he lifts his both arms sideways. Asking the rider what changes could be reached by repositioning the seat.

The exercises I use come from Sally Swift's Centered Riding method.
Centered Riding is based on the knowledge about anatomy and biomechanics of horse and rider and schools the rider's body awareness by using inner pictures. It is applicable to all riding styles and enables even riders with physical handicaps to ride their horses both effectively and gently.

In August 2011 I became a Centered Riding Instructor but finally decided to not extend the validity of my licence due to personal reasons since 2016.