Question:
How can I lighten my seat?
Answer:
I have found a couple of things that work really well and that I teach to all my students.
First of all, the larger the surface area that supports your weight, the fewer pounds per square inch are pressing down on the horse's back, which makes the rider feel lighter and more comfortable to carry for the horse.
The smaller the surface area, the more pounds per square inch, which makes the rider feel heavier to the horse.
From a strictly physical point of view, the entire area of the saddle from the top down to the part of the ribcage where the ribs and the saddle flap are vertical can be used as a weight bearing surface.
The rider can increase or decrease the weight bearing surface of the seat. If you concentrate all your weight on your seatbones, then your weightbearing surface is very small, which can be useful for a brief moment when your intention is to flex the grounded hind leg between the body mass and the ground.
If you distribute your weight over the entire area between the insides of your knees and your seatbones, then the weightbearing area is several times larger, and the pressure is taken off the back and spread around the rib cage, which allows the horse's back to swing more. And that allows in turn the hind legs to step more underneath the center of gravity.
This is what some 19th century authors referred to as the 5 point seat. They added the knees to the familiar 3 point seat as weightbearing surfaces.
By the way, the vertical shoulder/hip/heel alignment remains intact throughout all of these weight shifts.
Spreading the weight out over a larger area requires a greater engagement of the core muscles, a deeper forward-downward stretch of the rider's knees, and an inward rotation of the femur in the hip joint.
The more the core muscles become slack, the more the rider sits like the proverbial sack of potatoes with all the weight resting on top of the spine.
The more the rider pulls up his knees and heels, the more the weight is concentrated on top of the seatbones.
The more the rider turns his knees out, the smaller the weightbearing surface becomes, and the more weight sits on top of the seatbones.
When you engage your core muscles more and stretch your knees more, you will feel a lifting of your entire pelvis, as if your body weight flowed downwards from the seatbones to the inner thighs. Use your adductor muscles as cushions, so that they stay relaxed.
When you reduce the stretch and/or the engagement of your core muscles, you will feel that your weight seems to rise from your knees to your seatbones.
Think of the body mass, or the weight, as a liquid that flows and that can be poured. Then picture the horse under a shower. The water will not collect in a pool in the middle of the back. Instead, it will flow around the rib cage and drip to the ground. The rider's weight should basically do the same thing. It should not get stuck in the middle of the horse's back, like a pool of water, but it should continue on down and around the rib cage. From there, it should flow through the horse's legs into the ground.
For instance, if you stretch your right knee a little more, when the right front leg is on the ground, you can send your weight more through the right front leg into the ground. If you let the horse feel your left seatbone when the left hind leg is on the ground, you send your body weight through the left hind leg into the ground, etc.
You should always feel the connection between your weight and the ground through all four legs. When you lose this connection, then your weight is trapped in the middle of the horse's back, and the back becomes suppressed. It can no longer swing.
The second important factor in lightening the seat is the elasticity of the hips, knees, and ankles. They are the rider's main shock absorbers, which means that they must be very supple, so that they can open and close during every stride.
Their flexibility is also linked to the core muscle engagement. Slack core muscles always lead to tight surface muscles, which prevent the joints from moving. Well engaged core muscles allow the surface muscles to relax, so that the joints are free to move and absorb the motion of the horse's back.
When you ride a horse with a flat back movement, and you want to increase the swinging of the back, try to emphasize the upswing. Start out by following more passively, then try to invite a higher lift of the back by letting your pelvis swing a little higher than the horse seems to lift you for 2-3 strides. You do this by increasing your core muscle engagement, by stretching your knees more, and by using the momentum of the gait to lift you up.
Horses behave in some ways like water. They follow the path of the least resistance, and they tend to find and fill openings that the rider leaves with his seat. If you swing a little higher with your pelvis, many horses will already lift their back more to fill the space that you are creating. If they don't, then add a nudge from both knees or both calves, or a light vibration of the whip at the same moment, so that the grounded hind leg pushes more, and the horse lifts his back. Your hands may have to breathe a little more, so that the top line can stretch more, which will also help to increase the amplitude of the swinging of the back.
If you increase the upward swing of the back by lightening your seat, the horse will engage the hind legs more underneath the center of gravity. However, if you stay there permanently, the horse will also start pushing his croup up and fall onto the forehand with stiff hind legs.
If you increase the downward swing of the back by sending your weight more through your seatbones into the grounded hind leg, you can flex this hind leg and increase the collection. If you do this permanently, the hind leg will become cramped, and won't engage any longer, because the back is not allowed to lift enough. So the horse falls onto the forehand and becomes stiff as well.
The key is to keep the seat supple and mobile, emphasizing different aspects of the stride at different times. Sometimes you sit lightly and emphasize the lifting of the back for a couple of strides. When the hind leg has arrived underneath you as a result, you can emphasize the flexion of the hind leg through the down pressure of your seat bones for a couple of strides. It's the mobility of the rider's seat that keeps the gait and the horse's back fresh and lively. It's a little like giving the horse a back massage. Any stiffness or immobility in the seat will create stiffness and sore muscles in the horse's body.
Thomas Ritter
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