Hi, I’m still learning and have been using my calves. The other day someone mentioned that my seat would improve if I used my thighs more. I’m using them when I stop or a downward transition. Should I be using them for trot, canter, etc.? Thanks in advance for the info.
Dressage59, your question is almost like, “how do you ride dressage?” It seems to be a simple question, but not. Essentially calves are used as the “go” signals (pulsation of the calves) for walk and trot. Everything else is mostly thighs: bending, direction, half-halts, etc. And since all of these are everything dressage, you use thighs for just everything. Thighs are part of the rider’s seat.
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I was taught that your thighs should be loose and you shouldn’t grip with them at all.
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As a first level rider who circulates through a litany of ultra green rides, I use my thighs a lot. When I’m sitting the trot on a schoolmaster (the handful of times that happened) my thighs were mainly just “there”. However, on these greener horses I have more contact with my thighs. I find that a few degrees more of pressure/contact/support/your word of choice allows me to help a green horse stay straighter without picking with my hands. My calf has just enough contact to stay stable but I do my best to only engage my calf for lateral work or to give a bump if a horse falls behind the leg. Most of my steering and gait changes are coming from my thigh and seat.
The reality is that most of my rides will never see a show ring and if they do it will be at training level or BN/N eventing. For most of those rides the only “seat” they will ever experience at the trot is my thigh because I exclusively post on them.
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Good article. The only thing I can say is the word “long” will not likely ever be in the description of my legs. Flat, maybe. but Long - not so much:no:
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What makes the most sense for me is to think of the thigh being almost ancillary to the seat. Meaning that whatever seat aid I give begins with the pelvis specifically, and since the hip bone is indeed connected to the thigh bone, my thigh follows what my actual seat is doing. If I start thinking especially hard on what to do with my thighs I tend to get “legsy.”
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I have the opposite problem!:lol:
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When I watch Paralympic riders, especially those missing legs or with a minimum of control over their legs, I am amazed at the level of communication they have through their seat and balance alone.
The goal is to not not have to grip with any part of the leg. Constant gripping with calf, knee, or thigh will create a dulling of the aids. As was stated earlier, much easier said than done!
Calf and and heel are driving aids, and I tend to feel my thigh is more of a supporting aid (theoretically). For example, using it to encourage lifting a dropped shoulder or nudge him up falling in on a turn.
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Long as in “feeling long” and “as long as it can”.
It has nothing to do with the lenght of your leg but with the feeling of that draping leg.
Don’t get discourage, we’re not all 6’. 
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I find it depends on the horse. I use my thighs mainly for down transitions. I try to keep them soft otherwise. On some horses using my inside thigh along with calf for bending seemed to help.
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Of course I get this. In fact trainer and I were discussing draped leg just yesterday. But - I still dream of a leg that is 3-4 inches longer. Debbie McDonald, however, is my hero.
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all the time, its part of the seat and plugging in. It helps the rider support her own pelvis and weight and not plop down on the back. This creates a nice place for the horse and encourages throughness. Most riders are either way way too supple or crack down on the back too hard- seat bones way too into the horse.
Specifically, rotating the thigh in and filling out the lumbars to create a neutral spine.
I also believe in 70% thigh and 30% seat, 0% ankle. Its a bit different than I was taught in the past, but man has it changed how I ride. I was too locked in the ankle and the leg was too long.
The thigh is used in turning, bend, and just about every lateral movement for positining- beyond this initial alignment I talked about above.
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I find that how I use my thighs contributes to my horse “reading my mind”. She’s light off the aids anyway, because I hate riding a heavy horse, but the vast majority of moving her shoulders and ribs comes off my thigh.
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I heard Steffen Peters say in a clinic years ago when someone asked this question (paraphrased): “From the knee down is the gas pedal, from the knee up is the collecting aid.”
I took that to mean that your thighs are an extension of your seat. Keeping your thigh soft and not closing them when you use your lower leg is part of the “separation of the aids” which is a key piece in the early training of the rider. You don’t have an independent seat if your thighs are tensing when you use your lower leg.
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Almost all of our turns come from me turning my head and the thigh following, unless Missy Mare is strongly motivated to go in the wrong direction, then we have reins for back up. But we can ride circles and voltes on the buckle with just my thigh pressure. I’m not even sure I consciously taught it, just one day it was there.
If I try to turn her primarily off the bit, she gets angry and resistant.
I’ll have to think through and try out what else I’m using my thighs for. Perhaps they don’t become the most subtle aid while you are still posting trot a lot, as I am.
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Ride without stirrups, work on steering without using reins, then work on transitions. You will find you have to use your thighs to maintain balance - because of this they end up working as the main point of communication for your horse. If you rely on lower leg, you will tip forward or backward pretty well constantly.
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The inner thigh is played like an accordion. Sometimes it is loose and relaxed and following the forward movement, Closing them stabilizes the seat, along with the action of the core, and helps hold the body in place, whether for a half halt, when they and your core hold for a heart beat or a transition when slowing down, always complimented whether HH or downward transition by the sending action of the lower leg. The inner thighs along with the core are used constantly in transitions within the gait.
Learning to use the combinations of muscles is best learned on the longe with an educated horse.
The thigh whether right or left turns the shoulder in conjunction with the turning of the head and shoulders, instead of using the reins which really only turn the head and neck, as well as supporting collection, which actually comes from behind.
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Actually I find that I use the reins more for influencing the position of the head and horse’s balance, but downward changes of direction and speed have more to do with thighs and balance. Of course the reins are there for backup. I can ride maresy with no rein contact if she has a bridle on. Hop on her in turnout with no bridle and she just wanders where she wants.
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In a perfect world I use my upper thigh to encourage the horse to bend through the rib cage or to “close the door” when needed. So essentially I use my thighs to help to mold the horse’s body or as a half halt to tell the horse what I want. If I’m going to change direction, I may close my inside thigh to help the horse stay connected through the outside rein by encouraging them to bend through the rib cage. Or I might close my outside thigh if I feel like the horse is drifting and ignoring my other aids to turn. It would depend on what the horse needs at the particular moment in time.
I say in a perfect world because one of my thighs is much weaker than the other so it’s a work in progress.
My goal is not to grip with the thighs all the time because then the horse just tunes your thighs out. It’s hard to give an aid to move off my upper thigh if my thigh is always on the horse to begin with. All I can do is make my strong aid even stronger. In fact, my horse will either slow down or halt if I really grip with my both my thighs.
I think you naturally grip with the very top of your thighs as needed to keep yourself in balance. I know when I do this I actually feel plugged in and drapped around the horse, rather than just perched on the saddle.
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I hadn’t consciously thought of what my thighs are doing until I read this thread. So yesterday when riding I started to use my thighs for bending and lateral work and my horse went so much better. None of my trainers and I have had quite a few, some of them BNTs never mentioned thighs. Thanks Coth once again.
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