Exercises to help rider get back on her seat bones?

On the lunge get the rider to quit the stirrups.

She should bring her knees up in front of the saddle - in the UK we call this jockey position! She needs to sit up straight while she is doing this. Not slouch! When she has her knees up like this she will feel her seat bones!

Then she needs to take her knees away but up as far apart as she can, remembering to swing her hips and back to keep the horse moving.

Then she needs to let her legs hang long and low.

Then she should grasp both her ankles and bring her feet up to as near her seat as possible and ride a few circuits like this. This exercise stretches the thigh muscles to lengthen the legs, and also brings the knees back so that when she lets go of her ankles her legs will be in the correct position - straight line from ear, shoulder, hip and heel. And she will still, hopefully be sitting on her seat bones.

A series of short lunge lessons should sort the problem out - it did for me! Practise getting the right position and then transitions up and down without tipping or being thrown back! Also do a lot of exercises with the upper body to help build muscles in her core - abdomen and to generally make her "taller".

When she is warming the horse up in the arena she should do some of these exercises while the horse is walking to get herself back into position and stretch and ease these problems and soon it will be something in the past!

Do take into consideration she might have a slight back and stiffness problem that even she is not aware of it. I had lots of instructors screaming at me and turning the air blue because I could never lift my left shoulder. I failed the second part of my instructors' test but the examiner suggested getting my spine x-rayed and it was discovered that I had a quite pronounced scoliosis and no amount of exercise was going to sort that one out. I took a letter with me to the exam, along with the x-rays and passed next time. I will always bless that examiner who had the sense to realise that perhaps there was something physically wrong! (I also had six crushed vertabrae!)

Is the saddle a good fit for your daughter? Just thinking that the problem is worse with one sort of saddle than the other.

Have you tried videoing your daughter so that you can show her when she is doing it correctly and where the problems are on film? She may 'feel' that she is further back than she really is.

When she is tense is she gripping with her knees too much? If she is then her flexing in her hips will be acted and she will not be able to release them. Suggest no stirrup work on the lunge and off. Work the position consistently in walk first. When correct at walk then go onto trot and then finally onto cantering

Also try bare back riding. Finally having her sit and balance on one of those large inflatable exercise balls will help. If she sits incorrectly she will tip off!

Hi Burdfour,

Here's to hoping Zakiit might put in some good advice.

I tell you what... When I was a freshman at riding, my legs would be all over the place.

I never had only one position problem. I had very many. And of course my leg position would interfere with my seat, and vice versa.

My instructor would have me stand in the saddle at the walk.

Not in a 2 point, mind you, but to stand so that I would find my balance and when I could stand indefinitely, I would lower myself into the saddle and hold that position - which turned out to be a very balanced and correct position. The thing is, when one has the correct position sitting in the saddle, it is very easy to hoist one's self up and be balanced. And, of course, vice versa.

And this little exercise helped me a great deal. I could eventually do it at a trot and at a canter (though cantering was incredibly hard and should not be attempted until one can do it without fault at the trot and walk).

So that is my two cents. And I certainly hope that if you try it, it brings positive results at it has done with myself.

ETA: I should also add that I would copy the position of an idol of mine. I would try to think, act and ride like her. And I still do.

You could always request that she tighten her abdominal muscles. Try it and notice the effect it has even when you're sitting on a chair.

Perhaps she should work consistently on her position at the walk until you feel she has pretty much 'got it'.

When I first rode, and I had all those positioning problems, putting me into a rising trot would throw me right off, and so I would generally do more sitting trot which helped with my hip flexibility while giving me the 'freedom', you could say, to keep my position in check.

And I would alternate between standing and sitting in the saddle.

My mother is getting back into riding as well, and she has that problem where she is constantly pushing herself forward and not keeping her heels down.

It seems like her muscles just won't stretch into the correct positions. When shes on the horse, don't let her have stirrups so she HAS to feel the horse. Do a lot of lunging work so she can find herself on the horse and you don't have to worry about him taking off on the wrong cues.

At home, tell her to do a bunch of squats; this will help her build the leg muscles she needs and to get her balance correct if she does them right, and it will get her abs to shape up along with her lower back muscles, because that is seemingly where the problem is. Another big problem most people have is keeping their heels down, and I think if she gets that then her posture and riding will improve dramatically. Ask her to do hamstring stretches at home; such as grabbing your foot and slowly pulling it back so she can stretch it out. This is what I did and now my heels just go down naturally. If her ankles and hamstrings are not flexible, correct position just will not happen.

Sometimes it can't all be when she's in the saddle; she has to do work on her own at home because lets be honest; Horseback riding is A LOT of exercise, so she may have to do a bit of homework to keep herself in shape for riding.

(:

Seat Exercises

I would suggest lowering your stirrups one hole. That way, your leg can hang down lower and it'll be easier to keep you leg in the same position because your leg is in a more natural position. I would also suggest working without stirrups; that helps you get deep in your heels! So try riding a whole day without stirrups (either in a lesson or a free-ride). You can practice posting the trot, standing, and jump position all without stirrups. When you canter, just relax your legs and stretch them in front of you. Don't let the slide back, and hold the pommel and pull yourself into the saddle. These tips should help! Good luck!

Well i would say have her ride without stirrups for a while, first just have her do it at the walk so she gets the feel of having to balance herself without them then just have her trot down the long side of the ring, make sure you run next to her or stay close behind just in case she has trouble stopping him. the only down side to that is she might tense up without stirrups and not be sitting right again.

I lean forward on my crotch a lot too. This is actually quite common. The reason most people do this is because they have never been taught the benefits of a properly upright posture with the weight going directly and lightly downwards on to the seatbones. It usually occurs with anxiousness, kind of like you explained.

Watch her from a distance and get her into the right posture. Ask her to hold it and freeze it for as long as possible.

Walk/Trot no stirrups circle toes (hold onto the saddle)

Trot with no stirrups (she will be using her legs to hold on by squeezing them)

Walk/Trot stirrups, arms out like airplane (you'll have to lead her for this one)

Trot posting with no stirrups (walk first, then build up a trot)

Riding with no stirrups

Sitting trot on the longe line with eyes closed to focus on the movement of your seat.

Lots of sitting trot.

Sitting trot with no stirrups, swing legs back and forth.

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