What exactly does this mean and what can be done to fix it?
Easily popped loose/popped off when things go wrong, whether it is a stumble or a spook or a buck or a stop etc. The fix is generally a combo of better overall fitness and more saddle time, especially in two point.
12 Likes
Also called down in the saddle in dressage.
Basically loose in the tack is a newbie. Daylight is seen between elbows and waist. Daylight is seen between knees and saddle. Daylight is seen between butt and saddle.
Basically if you are down in the saddle when a horse shies or stumbles you go with the horse.
If you are not down in the saddle when a horse shies. Horse goes, rider is left on the ground.
It means loose and out of balance. The opposite is someone who is strong and centered, no swinging leg or extra moving around going on (not to be confused with stiff and working against the horse). Being loose in the tack is super common with beginners or those who are learning a new discipline/skill.
This is fixed by strengthening work and proper fitting gear - I can tell you that I’m MUCH looser in certain saddles vs my CWD that locks me in place. Someone else mentioned two point and no stirrup work; lots of two point and stand-stand-sit posting variations + core strength can help a lot.
3 Likes
Lunging without stirrups is also a cure.
2 Likes
Is there a more subtle version for more advanced riders? Like not at risk of getting popped off, but still somewhat persistently out of sync w/ the motion? Some riders try to compensate for this by over-exaggerating their movement (rocking), though this actually is just making things worse.
1 Like
I mean, I see some high level riders that seem to be hanging on by sheer willpower and are always out of sync with the horse. Obviously the horses go well regardless, but it’s not exactly comfortable to watch as a spectator. So, yes, I would say “loose in the tack” isn’t restricted to beginners, but is indeed more common there. Some people are just mounted well enough and have a good enough eye to make up for it 
8 Likes
I’d say there can be a few people who are safe, effective advanced riders but have persistent position errors. They might be super athletic and have strength and balance to cover over some holes. They might have learned wrong. They might have their own conformational challenges.
Then there are the rest of us who need to really learn to develop correct form or else we will die. Most of us can’t afford to flop around because we will flop off.
15 Likes
Would you still consider it a strength/fitness issue? I can say from personal experience I have spent many hours without stirrups, but “practicing wrong” and therefore not getting the intended benefit out of the exercise!
2 Likes
Yes. Lift heavy weights*, especially squats and deadlifts, which will strengthen your core, quads, and posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, back). It makes a WORLD of difference to keep you still/tight in the tack.
*With proper instruction, after perfecting your position, and working up from light weight in a safe manner 
3 Likes
One of the hardest things about riding is the amount of movement and flexibility required to have feel and look still. To be “still” on a moving horse requires you to move and follow along. If you are rigid, you will boink off.
Practicing to get stronger, while doing things incorrectly, reinforces bad muscle decisions. Remember “perfect practice makes perfect” not “practice makes perfect”. You need to be doing it correctly, and sometimes (often!) it will feel really strange, look ugly and feel uncomfortable as you break down the old muscle patterns and try to cement the new correct version. It sucks … but it’s worth it.
Do it properly, you will want a coach with an excellent eye for body mechanics and movement. Or someone who can do movement sessions on horseback to be able to identify what muscle chains you are using when. Our bodies are very efficient … they learn how to cheat to cover up weaknesses very easily. And sometimes we were just taught wrong and undoing a years of imperfect practice takes time and work.
I’m currently re-learning how to post - more correctly - and allow me to tell you how terrible it’s been … but my horse loves the new version so we will persevere until the new version is comfortable and innate, and the old version becomes strange and wrong.
11 Likes
It’s also possible be so tight and inflexible (rigid with tension), that it’s easy to get popped off.
A saddle working against you (especially if you’re just a mediocre rider at best, like me) can also really contribute to feeling unstable.
There are a couple of riders who seem almost impossible to unseat–they are usually incredibly balanced, strong yet flexible, have a feel for the horse’s motion, and also a good sense of environment beyond the horse, compensating for varying terrain. I have never been one of those riders!
6 Likes
yep this. The amount that my “tight in the tack” has improved with serious strength training is amazing
4 Likes
I think so! I feel like I’m not as tight in the tack over big jumps (3’6"+) as I could/should be, but (knock wood) not to the point that I fall off even if things go awry. For me it’s less about being out of sync than it is about my leg just not being perfectly secure. I don’t think it’s a balance issue because I can stay balanced doing up-up-down posting or in 2-point without reins / with my arms out to the sides. I think I put too much weight in my stirrups and need to grip more with the whole leg? I have asked my instructor and several BN clinicians though (including Lucinda Green, who has zero compunction telling you if you suck) and they’ve all said I look fine. So I dunno, maybe I’m within normal limits and just hypercritical.
2 Likes
I think 3’6” is where most athletic horses really start to JUMP - and it feels very different from the bouncy canter stride of lower fences. I definitely feel a difference at 3’6”ish or when the oxers get wider.
That said, I’m tall and leggy and I can feel quite loose on slab sided horses - there’s nothing to really wrap my leg around. A chunky pony is better than a 17.2 stick of a creature! The skinnier types make me feel like my entire body is sliding backwards sometimes
Once a rider is accomplished and generally fit, I would think looseness is probably caused in part by tack and horse build - but a really fit and balanced rider with enough saddle time can overcome such challenges.
5 Likes
Check out Alycia Burton…
4 Likes
Interesting topic. Years ago I had a book “Effective Horsemanship”. It was about developing a balanced seat and I did my best to learn it. It has been useful, such that I rarely fell off (competed P schooling I) and am still considered to have a good seat in my 70s. Sad to say I leant it to someone and it never came back.
The gist is to learn to use active balance rather than power to stay with the horse’s motion. Has anyone else read it?
2 Likes
Excellent book on what used to be called the balanced seat. Available as a used book for $6.30 at AbeBooks. or Amazon.
4 Likes
I found Yoga helped me immensely.
I got some useful knowledge from Effective Horsemanship, knowledge that I pass on to my riding teachers who have not read the book.
Someday I might relocate my copy of it (in a box somewhere) and re-read it.
