How can I improve my riding position

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Shiraz

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My horse has been on rest since last Oct and after lots of groundwork I'm back riding her for 15mins to start off with.

I've noticed that my position is worse and my faults are glaringly obvious but not sure how to fix them.

My most obvious ones are that I look down, hunch my shoulders forward and don't bend my elbows. As I'm consious of all of these I try to focus on them. When I bring my shoulders back/straight my back hollows, no matter how I try to straighten it it doesn't seem to work; do you have any suggestions?

I'm also weaker down my left side and therefore fall out to right (my horse had rotated pelvis and did/does drop to the right and move saddle etc so I think this may be where my problem stems from). How can I strenghten my left side?

I'm riding with no stirrups and am very aware of my position so I am working on it but if you guys had any advice and hints/tips they would be hugely appreciated, thanks x
 
even after a week of not riding I feel 'all wrong' so you must feel strange after a long break, especially as you can only do 15 mins at a time. Maybe be a bit kinder on yourself and take your stirrups, at least until you feel stronger, and concentrate on stretching. maybe warm up before you get on with some stretches, long slow yoga type, and then continue once you are on to really relax and lengthen those tight muscles. Sure you'll be feeling much more comfortable in a short while, as your body gets used to riding again.
 
As for hollowing your back I think most of us do. Try sitting slightly more forward at the front of the saddle (pommel) and tip slightly back on to your bum if that makes sense, you may feel you go slightly behind the verticle and your lower leg moves forward but it rounds your lower back and then you can stretch your ribcage skywards and take your shoulders back. once you get used to the feel of it you can then work on stretching through your hip to get your lower leg back - it does take a lot of time as you are asking very tight muscles to stretch so don't be too hard on yourself, it is great you are so aware of your posture. By taking your weight slightly back through your upper body you will help your horse take its own weight on to its back end and it will encourage better balance for you both. Hope that makes sense! I say this as someone who is still trying very hard to get a better position - it seems to be taking me a very long time, technically I know what to do but putting it into practice seems much harder!
 
When I started bending my elbows more I found it caused me to take up a stronger contact. Which was good as I needed to do this anyway! But something to be aware of probably! Also if you are looking down (which I started to do when I was trying to sort my hand position out!) I found it helped to look through the horse's ears. I'm sure you're not that bad, have you been videoed?
 
Thanks for your replies; I keep meaning to start pilates but never seem to get round to it
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I look down to see what my hands/her head are doing too but I'm trying to stop. I've lost any "feel" I had so I end up looking instead of feeling how she is going.

I've not been videoed since I last rode her in October but I rode my friends horse in a school with mirrors. She's beautifully schooled and I had her going like a hollow giraffe my seat and legs are that weak
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