Improving my seat while out hacking

Natassia

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I got my new horse on loan 6 weeks ago, I'm bringing him back into work and its going really well, however due to his mild arthritis and him being unfit for lessons at the moment I haven't ridden in a school or had a proper lesson for months.
Before I got him I had regular lessons at a fantastic riding school, alternating dressage with jumping and in my year there I learnt more than in the 9 years I had been riding previously. Then I shared a horse and had a few lessons on him but mainly hacking and some schooling.
I'm enjoying hacking out my new horse and he's coming on, but I feel my riding standard is starting to slip, can anyone recommend any things I could do out hacking to improve my riding? I did quite a lot without stirrups this morning and noticed how awful I'd become
frown.gif
 
There's no difference really in my mind to either riding in the school or out on a hack - and you can still work on your position, and the horses way of going. That's what I try and do anyway.

Don't ride without stirrups on the road though.......
 
I had my first ride on my new horse on Sunday and she was really on her toes and jogging to get back to her companion. I thought about my position and realised if i sat back a bit more (on my bottom!!) than I usually do she would then stretch down and forward and slow down a tad! I do lots of wok on my position out hacking, i dont think you need a school - what you do need is to know how to focus your attention to get better results in your horses way of going - I do this by trial and error!!!
 
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