I have my coach take photos of me every-so-often because i FEEEL like i’m leaning forward. And i ask her if i am, and she always says no. So i hand her my phone and say: Prove it.
I want her to critique and to correct my riding posture, from toes to nose. Usually she only comments on my nose, and tells me to look up. I do not know what a chair seat is, and i’ve googled it -a lot. Random, unsaddled pic below…is this a chair seat? And i thought holding reins -as if you were driving, (had to google that also), is how everyone holds reins (except western).
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Yes it is. Note the angle of your thigh and knee. Now look how that puts your lower leg out in front of you - as it would be if you were sitting in a chair. Your leg should be under you. On the photo above, draw a straight down to your heel. If the line doesn’t pass through your shoulder, hip and heel, your leg is too forward. If I had better photo editing skills I’d do it for you. Maybe someone else can.
As I mentioned earlier, you should sit on your horse as if he could instantly vanish out from under you and you would still land on your feet. Does that help?
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I appreciate all your replies and will try to answer broadly to some of the questions posed here.
First off, I am a guy so I’m not sure how that changes any dynamics with respect to pelvic position. I’m not 100% sure what comes first with respect to seat back, legs forward, pelvis forward, etc. It all happens so quickly, I haven’t given it much thought with regards to the progression of the seat (or lack thereof). What I can say is that generally I sit and the horse lurches forward which then causes me to try to execute a half halt (which is largely ineffective at this point). This then pushes me backwards as my legs go forwards.
I’m pinching the saddle with my inner thighs to try to half halt so maybe it’s my half halts that are the problem. Some saddles are worse, specifically the ones with the large knee pads since this causes me to push backwards almost at the knee and then my seat falls apart as above so yes, saddle fit is an issue but I still think this problem is present, albeit less so, on better fitting saddles.
I do know my pelvis is rotated forward once all this is happening and I tend to collapse my back which isn’t good. I know what a proper seat should LOOK like in terms of shoulder-spine-hip-knee-ankle alignment but once I start riding, my mind tends to empty and I’m just focused on what’s going on in the moment.
I’ll try and post some videos of me on a few different horses. I live in San Fernando Valley in California. I’ll try and find a biomechanics trainer but it’s been a miserable experience just finding a normal trainer 
I briefly tried some of the trot exercises mentioned here this past weekend on my own and I did struggle with balance when I rose out of the saddle for more than one post during the posting trot so that’s probably an indication I’ve got lots of work to do.
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@centaursam, you said you were using your inner thigh muscles for the half-halt. By any chance when you do this are you also tightening the big muscle on the top surface of your thigh as you look down in the saddle, the rectus femoris muscle?
If you tighten the rectus femoris muscle too much your feet WILL go forward, no matter the saddle, no matter what horse you ride and no matter what else you are doing for your position.
When I am slowing down or halting I have a bad habit of bracing my feet in the stirrups in a forward direction, which moves my upper body back etc… This probably comes from me riding in a chair seat for many years (I started riding at 6 years old, one lesson on how to post, then trail riding up and down steep foothills in the Andes mountains.) It took me many years of so-so lessons and I could not fix myself, it took a Forward Seat riding teacher (rarer than a pegasus) to fix me.
I eventually ended up with the opposite problem, now I have to watch my feet going too far back.
The last year I have been practicing with using my rectus femoris muscle, getting exactly the right tension so my feet stay in the correct position. Too little tension and my feet go back and my heels come up. Too much tension and my feet go forward, I end up plopping back into the saddle and I am in a chair seat. It can take practice to get this right. You will probably get the quickest results if you practice with this one muscle while riding in two-point (grab the mane if you feel unsteady.)
Don’t get too down on yourself. I takes several decades to become a really good rider if you start as an adult. Hey, I started as a kid and I just figured this out last year, after 50 some years of riding horses.
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It sounds like you are trying to use your seat to go forward.
Instead of that, think of lifting your tummy up and forward. This keeps the horse forward not your seat, for collection you lift up your tummy. For sitting trot, think keep the bounce, you don’t want to ground the trot in sitting trot. This is all invisible to the person on the ground. You don’t lean forward or back.
As others have said there should be a straight line from shoulder, hip heel. This doesn’t change for different gaits. Maybe put a crop up inside your jodhpurs at the back. You might feel that if you go to lean back.
When it is a fundamental fault like this. You start in halt, in halt you should be perfect. Use that mirror, then go to walk, if you lose it you go back to halt. Then to trot if you lose it back to walk etc. It may take minutes. It may take several rides before you get to trot. It may take more before you get to try canter, from now on you are not allowed to lean back ever again.
As others have said check you are not fighting your saddle, but as you mention different horses I presume you are riding in different saddles.
Now even sitting in a chair you can try this. We have 2 seat bones. Move one seat bone forward. Even in a chair you will see your femur lengthen and your lower leg come back.
For a circle inside seat bone forward, outside seat bone back.
@eightpondfarm the same for you. There are soft eyes and hard eyes, hard eyes mean you are looking at the horse’s head and it is all you will see, you are in danger of crashing with other riders.
Soft eyes you see all. All the riders in the arena your instructor, people outside the arena. You look at the horizon, you turn your head the way you are going,so if you are heading down the outside track towards A, you should turn and look at C, if you are going to go down the centre line. You will also see if one of your sheep or horses get caught in a fence.
You will end up where you look and if you look down, is the ground where you want to end up? Your goal is to look at the horizon and never ever hear your instructor say look up again.
As above start in halt, use a mirror, next best thing is video. Then to walk if you look down it is back to halt.
For both of you, each time you pass a corner, recheck your position, you can change to every 4th letter or even every letter.
YOU CAN FIX THESE PROBLEMS as it has nothing to do with the horse. Rest assured there will be other problems to fix next! Sigh!
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“I briefly tried some of the trot exercises mentioned here this past weekend on my own and I did struggle with balance when I rose out of the saddle for more than one post during the posting trot so that’s probably an indication I’ve got lots of work to do.”
As SusieQ suggests, starting at a halt, then walk, then trot can be helpful. Can you rise in your stirrups and gently re-seat yourself with no hands at a halt? Think about this - can you stand up from a chair and then sit back down? Why is it easier on a chair than a horse (if it is)? It is really a question of finding the balance point and then establishing muscle memory.
ETA: My choice of example (chair) was probably not the best since “chair seat” has been mentioned several times in this thread. I did not intend to say that rising in your stirrups is the same motion as rising from a chair. A better choice might have been (say) jumping down off a step or climbing a ladder. The key concepts are muscle memory and the balance point, not the chair. Sorry for any confusion.
Establishing muscle memory on a horse is the same as anywhere else. Be particular with yourself and USE the feedback you’re receiving from the horse (as you mentioned) to fine tune the motions. Give yourself plenty of time and rest often.
Just to really confuse you (LOL), you can do a half halt in the rising phase of the trot or in two-point position, so thigh pressure is really not “it.” I think of a half halt as momentarily disrupting the synchrony of movement between rider and horse. Once your synchrony is established and the horse trusts it, any change from the rider will initiate a corresponding change on the horse’s part.
It’s wonderful that you are analyzing and experimenting. Good luck!
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Here’s an exercise to practise. Spend some time in walk allowing your pelvis to follow the movement of the horse. Really concentrate on what you are feeling - pelvis following forward and back/side to side. Spend a lot of time on this. When you have it firmly in your head, ask for a slow sitting trot. Concentrate on that feeling and how it differs from the movement at the walk. Next, start moving your pelvis, against that trot motion, as though you are now walking. Keep that feeling until you actually find your horse in walk. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
If your horse wants to speed up from that slow trot, do whatever you need to do to get back to walk and try again. Fairly soon your horse will understand that you just want a slow trot to work on you and are not asking for anything fancy.
Once you and your horse both understand the exercise (you to influence the horse with your seat and your horse to listen when you change your seat motion) then you can start working on your position. If you are constantly fighting speed, it’s almost impossible to fix a ‘driving’ seat.
If you have access to someone (doesn’t need to be a coach/trainer) who is good at longeing, this exercise is great to do on the longe. Basically the person longeing does nothing except to control speed if it gets away from you. Since you are not having to steer at the same time, it gives you an opportunity to fully concentrate on the influence you can make just by changing your seat motion.
If you have a VERY safe horse, you can practise closing your eyes for short periods of time too, especially in the walk. This will really help you concentrate on the feeling of the motion and committing it to your memory and muscle memory.
Once you can do this exercise while maintaining a good position, you have the foundation of a half halt that you can use in any gait. (when you’re ready, you can do the same pelvis as your only influence to practise transitions from canter to trot too!)
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You might be thinking of the difference between neck reining and plow reining. But if anything, western people hold the reins “driving” style.
The difference between “normal” and “driving” isn’t 1-handed vs 2, but the direction the reins come through your hands. So normally, when riding english the rein comes from the bit to the bottom of your hand (between your ring finger and pinky) and then comes up and gets pinched between the thumb and index finger. A driving rein flips it around so that the rein comes from the bit to the thumb and index finger first, and then the excess goes down through the rest of the fingers. You lose some of your leverage this way, which is why you’ll often hear it recommended for riders who have a tendency to pull as it makes that harder to do.
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That is a great video to illustrate the fact that when riding bareback, you cannot sit in a correct dressage seat. Isabelle Werth is able to ride this horse well bareback because her aids are so refined she doesn’t need anything but her seat. (And I imagine that is a really well trained horse.) That does not alter the fact that she’s in a chair seat as she rides bareback. I would not use this as an example of good equitation while IN THE SADDLE. Makes a difference.
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Agreed Mondo. Thank you for elucidating this point.
That’s why I posted (so to speak!)
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ahh…different directions! i googled ‘driving rein’ and saw how the leather went through the hand and saw what fingers were involved and that was all i saw, not the direction! Thanks for illuminating.
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As you are struggling with the new balance that you need, Think about “ankles under hips”. Particularly as you are doing a posting trot. Also, shoulders over hips , over ankles.
Remember your ankles, knees and hips are the shock absorbers and they should flex as the horse moves.
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You were replying to me?
Balance isn’t an issue for me that i know of. I do look down too much…that i know. And when i do it feels like i’m leaning forward, and i ask my coach if i’m leaning forward. She always says “No. Look up.” Always…lol. I think it’s from trail riding so much…I always watch the ground just in case horse isn’t.
Here’s a pic of me on one of my geldings fourth or fifth ride. He was never green…as in wobbly and unsteady. I think because he’s so broad chested and wide hipped. I think he’s built like a coffee table and just naturally kinda coms rock solid. Even on a greenie with shortened stirrups i just ‘assume the position’…
Other pic above, of the chair seat, well, that’s how i ride bareback…there’s even the groove where the legs naturally go. And bareback is where i, personally learned to balance with the horse. Cause that’s all you have, balance… no saddle or stirrups. Just spine melding into spine. So, yes chair seat, but also, yes, balance.
I think relaxation is the key to balance.
as for positioning…i guess that’s just a lot of time in the saddle under critical tutelage, until it becomes second nature.
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To centaursam about the OP-make your body think of kneeling. This will bring your seat forward and put your heels under your hips. Proper kneeling, not the kind where you lean back against the bench behind you. 
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