How To Improve Your Seat - ForTheHorse

How To Improve Your Seat

How to Improve your seat in a true and functional way? 

We're going to get clear on this so that it makes sense to you and your horse. 

When you say to yourself, "I need to improve my seat?!"

How does it feel when you say that to yourself?  Do you feel empowered? 

Are you excited when you say it? Or do you feel resistance? Anxious? 

If you feel resistance and anxious, there's reasons for that. 

So many riders actually wait too long to start working on their seats and the reasons for this it's totally understandable, but it isn't helping your horse or you to not work on your seat. 

It's not your fault, either.

It's understandable that you've been waiting to do this, because if you've been searching, trying different courses or different coaches, and you're still stuck, I totally understand because this information is not out there.

It's just not available very frequently.

In our Harmony For the Horse Program we help you to improve your seat in a true, functional way that is best for your body so you can finally reach your highest intentions with your horse.

CLICK HERE to discover more about how we can help you to reach freedom, achievement, oneness and joy that you most seek when riding your horse.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?

There are four basic backgrounds of riders that I've worked with in the past. 

I've helped hundreds of riders with their seat and with their horses to get the results and the bond in connection with their horse that they're looking for. 

#1 The Seasoned Rider


You've ridden for years and years but now you're finding that maybe you’re in pain when you ride.

Maybe, you're just not getting the results that you're looking for, or yearning for.

Maybe you're not able to do the lateral work, the way that you want to do it and feels like too much forcing.

#2 The Fearful Rider 


Maybe, unfortunately, you've had a fall, or you've had an accident with a horse and you're harboring a lot of fear and anxiety.

On the other hand, you love your horse so much, and you want to do the best that you can for your horse.

But you find yourself saying, “I don't know what to do. I'm scared, but I want to do this, but I don't know what to do.”

On the other hand, you may say to yourself, “I don't have that, okay, I'm not fearful of my horse, I am totally confident, I'm not scared.”

I can guarantee you that if you're not getting to ride your horse the way you want to ride your horse, with ease and flow, or if you're not getting the results that you want then you have something going on...I see it all the time.

#3 The Obedient Rider 


The obedient rider, the obedient learner.

You do what you're told in the lesson. You work really hard at it. You apply the aids. You're doing this, you know all the drills, you're doing that, but you might find yourself saying, “I don't know how to feel it.” 

"It's too much. I'm overwhelmed."

#4 The Searching Rider 


You're searching for answers.

But you haven't found a solution yet. You maybe understand a lot about dressage and you're getting just enough results that it seems okay, but still there's something missing for you. 

I know, I've been there too. 

You're not happy with the way you ride. You want to be better. You just don't know how.

This is what's happening.  I'm going to tell you what's happening and tell you why...

The reason why you're not able to improve your seat, is because your resistance or your anxiety is causing you to end up self-sabotaging yourself. 

or ...

You're becoming mechanical with your riding. You're riding by rote because you're just doing what you've being told to do

or ...

You have just not found the instruction that you need, because it's just simply not out there very much.

Some people say to me, “You're a beautiful rider. I just want to ride just like you, but you're a dancer so it's easy for you. I can't do that.”

 Well, I have to say that it's not easy. 

No matter what your background, it's not easy. You may have different skill sets that you can transfer. But it's not easy. 

But there's one thing that it can be and that's simple. 

Let me take my wisdom from my dance background and my riding background, both of which I reached very high levels to teach you so that it doesn't take you so long. 

It's not about the seat. It's not about positioning. It's not about framing. It's not about the aids. It's not about obedience to the aids, the list goes on and on. 

What it is about?  It's about your body.

The seat is actually your spine, it starts with your spine, sit bones, legs, arms and hands, your entire body. 

If you don't approach your riding, from your seat, being your spine, talking to your horse's spine, you will not be able to improve your seat the way that you want to do it.

Ride with your spine first, because this is the basis of all movement, whether you're a dancer, a singer, or a rider.

I've taught all of these people my process for improving their "seat" or their movement.

When you discover what your true alignment is, and your true movement, as a rider, from your spine, then you can improve your seat and then you can improve your movement from being dysfunctional movement to functional movement.

Then you can condition your movement to be patterned so you have functional movement patterns in your riding. You may need to adjust some things right from being dysfunctional. We all have dysfunctional movement patterns.

THIS IS HOW WE HELPED ONE OF OUR STUDENTS IN OUR PROGRAM...


Kate came into our program as basically a searching rider.

She had a lot of knowledge, she understood a lot of things really well. She had in-hand work working very, very well. She had a great knowledge and implementation of how the spine worked, on a certain level.

She knew theoretically about the alignment of the spine processes; the transverse rotation, but she still didn't know how to improve her "seats", the spine relating to your horse's spine, your body.

I work with her using the tools that we use in our program to help her to discover her body and what she needed to do with her body.

So then she could actually then start to feel. She could use intention. She could use intuition and focus to ride. And her brain, she could use her intellect and her thought processes to ride physically.

I showed her how to let go there how to let go and to use her body  in a functional sound way.

Is that something you would like to do?

Would you like to know how to improve your seat so that you can ride in a sound and functional way for yourself and for your horse?

After we worked with her, she could now know where her spine was at any given moment in time, and therefore know where her horse's spine was at any moment in time.

And this completely changed her life. 

It completely changed her life with her horses, and completely changed her life altogether.

Everything started to make sense to her. Everything that she'd done in the past, all of a sudden came together and started to make sense to her. Because she had experienced it through our program through our tools that we use, she had felt it. She had actually lived it. And she had experienced how this actually made sense to her and her horse. 

So now you might actually be asking the question, how do we teach this in a lesson format? Well, it's easy. We have a proven framework. This is the framework that we use,  

  • Identifiable,
  • Repeatable
  • Duplicatable

IDENTIFIABLE

We identify what's going on within your body, your mind, your emotions, and get very clear on what's happening first. 

REPEATABLE

Next, we make it so that it's repeatable.  So you can condition the functional patterns that we've now set up so it can be repeated time and time and time again. 

DUPLICATABLE

Then we make sure it is duplicatable. This is where the freedom comes in because when it's duplicatable, you can do it on your own and you are no longer a coach-dependent. You don't need an instructor standing there by your side all the time telling you what to do one step after the other and giving you orders and putting you through your drills.

No, you are then able to duplicate what we give you, and this is what gives you the freedom so that you can then work on your improvement of your seat anywhere and anytime that you want. 

If you'd like support to improve your seat in this way, so that it makes total sense to your horse and you where are working from your intuition, intention, focus and brain, rather than what someone told you to do then...

CLICK HERE to schedule a call with us!

About the Author Chris Adderson

Chris Adderson teaches riders and horses how to move with ease and grace to create astounding results and lifelong relationships of their dreams. She teaches valuable skills and educational strategies to help you re-ignite your ultimate confidence and self-belief so that your horse willingly partners with you, in lightness, and then helps you establish a step by step plan and strategy to support your growth together. This will leave you feeling confident, capable and available to step into your genius as a rider to serve your horse.

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