06/26/2026
🤨A common saying is, “Take away the horse and see if they land on their feet.” I think there’s a better test.
Take away the horse and ask whether they could maintain that same position on a beam that’s only as wide as the stirrups.
If balance alone was stopping you from falling, which position would you choose?
Being upright isn’t the same as being balanced.
Many riders can hold an upright half seat on a horse, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re balanced. Instead, they’re using extra muscle activity through the legs and body simply to stop themselves falling, rather than using those muscles to absorb movement and communicate with the horse.
Balance comes from keeping your centre of mass over your base of support. When that’s in place, your body can make the constant small adjustments needed to adapt to the horse’s movement without losing stability.
That’s why top riders often look so still. They’re not rigid, and they’re certainly not doing nothing. In fact, they’re making hundreds of tiny adjustments through their feet, legs, pelvis and trunk to absorb and respond to the forces created by the horse.
Because they’re already balanced, those adjustments are small, efficient and almost invisible.
When a rider starts out of balance and is already using extra muscle activity just to stay upright, those adjustments become much bigger. They lean, grip, brace or pull to stay on, or simply fall forwards or backwards as the horse changes speed or direction.
The goal isn’t just to stay upright it is to have independent balance where you can adjust your body to adapt to the horses movement (the energy and forces created).
If we stop chasing positions and start understanding the anatomy, biomechanics and physics behind them, riding suddenly becomes much easier to understand. That’s exactly what I teach in my Rider Physio sessions and inside Riding Ready, helping riders develop the physical ability, body awareness and understanding needed to create an effective position, rather than simply trying to copy one.
