Learning to sit up

[Draftmare]

This year it seems that my years of schooling dressage, but in a hunt seat saddle, are coming back to bite me in the rear. At a clinic earlier this year I got the comment during the ride-a-test portion that I needed to sit up more. Then again at a show a few weeks back I got the same comment. I talked to my instructor a bit about it, but she thought I looked fairly upright… Fast forward to last week when I started schooling in an actual dressage saddle and I can really, really feel how tipped forward I am. Every posting stride I bang my, uh, nether regions, on the pommel of my deep seated dressage saddle.

So how do I undo years of schooling in saddles meant to be ridden in a more forward seat? I try to think about tucking my tush under, but I always seem to inevitably end up sitting more on my pubic bone and thus tilted forward.

[Shagyas_Rock]

It is always difficult to un-learn and relearn something. I started out riding hunt-seat and this was something I had to work on too. It takes time because you have to re-train your perception of what your body is doing. In general I found that if I thought I was sitting up straight, I probably wasn’t and had to position myself so that it felt like I was leaning backward a bit, at which point I was actually sitting up straight. Feedback from your instructor, or any helpful “eyes on the ground” can help, as well as mirrors. if you have access to an indoor equipped with them. Best of luck!

[Tanny98]

It just takes time. There are a lot of body parts working in unison to create a nice silhouette in the saddle. As dressage riders we are forever working on perfecting and reestablishing our effective position. I do position work weekly.
Is your instructor a dressage instructor? What seat work has she done with you?
If you would like help off of the saddle look for you tube videos discussing exercises that target the hip hinge and neutral spine.
Also plenty of videos of pros giving tips on seat position out there.

[merrygoround]

You really would find eyes on the ground helpful for a week or two, You brain-body awareness internal gyroscope tells you that all is well when you are tipped forward. It takes work, and constant reminders to get those shoulders back, and elevate that chest, particularly when your body screams “but you’re falling over backward”.

[2tempe]

I have (mostly) overcome years of fetal position, two point or free form riding - It took a trainer who is very diligent about rider seat and aids hounding me endlessly for about two years. I’m on the wrong side of 60 so it was a process for sure. Its many parts: think shoulders back and down. think about not “rocking” in the canter - where upper body moves back and forth. think about seat (arse) moving with the horse - only the part below the waist. think about not gripping with knees and thighs. think about looking out, not down. OMG its quite a list. And think about engaging your abs. This last one became possible as I gained control of my other moving or not moving parts.

[netg]

Are you sure the dressage saddle isn’t partially creating the problem for you? I can NOT ride in a correctly upright pelvis in a saddle with a scoop type seat or a wide twist, and a low rise in front means I have to work far harder to lift in front or I will get tipped forward. I am understanding you correctly that the problem is in your pelvis, not in your shoulders, right?

That’s something your trainer may simply not be seeing. It’s something I have to revisit very often because I’m built swaybacked and duck butted. What has helped me most recently was thinking about how I move in a walk on my own feet. Then in the saddle, I think of feeling the hind legs and walking forward in my pelvis (iliac crest, on the sides) as my horse moves, using the lower ab muscles to pull the pelvis forward. I repeat that feeling in the trot with the changed gait, and the two together basically put me upright without having to think about it.

[Risuena]

No advice, just commiseration. I recently decided I really need to deal with this bad habit and will be following this thread closely! 2tempe - yep, I also rock with my upper body at the canter. Good visualizations and I’ll try to remember them!

[MissAriel]

I also transitioned from hunter land and faced some of the same issues. If at all possible, get some lessons on a longe line so you can really focus on your position.

I will also say that saddle fit for the rider can be nearly as important as saddle fit for the horse. I have ridden in some saddles that put me in a horrible position, and recently got a new-to-me saddle that fits both me and my horse and the improvement in my position and our riding is remarkable.

[Training_Cupid]

Seconding MissAriel - I’m working on this too and longe line lessons are super helpful to get me used to the feeling of sitting correctly.

[Draftmare]

This is our saddle: http://imgur.com/a/25OUH.

I have been watching some YouTube video, and most talk about sitting on your butt bones, and the straight line from ear to heel, which is all fine and good at the walk and canter…I just can’t seem to get the hang of not tipping forward at the rising trot.

[see_u_at_x]

It might just be me or the angle of the photo or something, but that saddle looks like it’s already tipped forward. If so, you’re never going to be able to sit up where you need to be because an essential piece of equipment is working against you. Maybe it’s just the shape of the saddle and I’m imagining it, but I’m guessing that even if it fits your horse, it MAY not fit YOU very well.

If it isn’t the saddle, then don’t despair, OP. It took me a long time to retrain myself to sit up correctly. Lots of repetition and reminding from my trainer. And you know what? Just the other day, I was complimented by a really tough critic that I sit up very well nowadays and how impressed she was at how I worked through that phase of my riding. If I can do it, so can you!

[phoenixrises]

So I started from the QH/Arab world in the 80s and 90’s you want to talk about tilted forward! I still struggle sometimes but the correct saddle OMG what a difference. I finally sprung for a custom saddle and sat in a fair few while hte fitter was out. the “right” saddle was like a glove, I felt 10’ tall and everything just fit. Sat in others that pitched me forward, another that made me feel like it was trying to split me in half, but the right one was ohhh so right. I still tend to round my shoulders and have to consciously think about pulling them away from my ears. But I start every ride with specific stretches (for me) that helps me get everything together. If I feel myself moving away from that during a ride back to the stretches I go. Muscle memory is a bitch to relearn.

[sorrelfilly721]

I have the same issue. What helps me is thinking about tucking my tailbone into the saddle while pulling in my abdominal muscles and keeping my shoulders back all at the same time.

[Scribbler]

As far as saddle fit, check the position of the knee blocks. If they are too far back they will push your leg back and cause you to tilt forward. As far as posting trot, try posting the minimal you need to ride the gait. You might not even fully clear the seat. That could help if your desire to lean forward is connected to doing big posts.

If the saddle is whamming you in the crotch I suspect it doesn’t fit you perfectly. My dressage saddle doesn’t hit me there even when I am purposely riding two point as a strength workout.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

I spend all day sitting and tend to walk tipped forward which carries over into riding tipped forward. So I have tried to become much more aware of stretching tall, pushing my shoulders back, and tipping my pelvis under whenever I get up out of my chair at work.

[Manahmanah]

As already mentioned the saddle does not fit this horse and is tipped quite forward already. You’ll be fighting against this saddle to sit upright until you fix this.

[otterhound]

Is this of any help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RroRA7GcIHk

[otterhound]

Is this of any help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4m3UUxmbPI I found Mary Wanless (founder of Ride With Your Mind) enormously helpful in working out the actual “how” of riding. =)

[CFFarm]

Longe lessons are a great way to start to change a hunt seat background. With someone else at the controls you can concentrate on “looking at the sky”.

[Draftmare]

In person the saddle doesn’t look that downhill, it has also been reflocked since that picture. Sydney herself is slightly downhill, but I still feel like I should be able to sit like a dressage rider and not a hunt seat rider.