Seat changes!!!

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~Howrse~Mad~

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I really want to perfect my seat, i have posted several topics previously of different aspects of gaining the correct seat. I have took up regular lessons (every other week) and i just feel like my position isn't right, even though the instructor says it's fine. I dont feel like it is just being me being obsessive, i just feel my leg is never underneath me, even though i am abit of a worrier. i look at riders who have an amazing seat and i wish i had a better seat, i feel like i don't alway sit up straight, that my leg is never in the right place, and i really just want to get it right. How can i get a good seat other than riding with out stirrups, lessons and 2 point - forward position. Also i always tend to rise too high in trot, i do try to rise lower, and i only try to rise when my horse's momentum throws me forward, but i always seem to fail in rising lower, any tips on helping me? Thanks. I am a young rider who is fourteen and i am concentrating on mainly having fun, but in the not so far future i want to compete, and i just want my position to be right full stop, i look at my other friends who have been riding all their life who are a similar age, and their riding seems faultless.
 
I can assure you that your friends' riding isn't perfect - nobody's is, not even Olympic Gold medal winners!
If you can afford it, a lesson on a mechanical horse that analyses your seat would be useful for you.
 
Ditto what Pearlsasinger says. Don't beat yourself up and worry so much no-one is perfect. Comparing yourself to other people who have ridden longer than you is bound to knock your confidence and worry you that you're not as good as them. I'm sure your seat is much better than you think. You stay on don't you? So it can't be that bad :) How about asking a friend to video you riding? Looking at that you might be surprised just how good your seat looks.
If you feel you might be rising too much, you could maybe try lowering your stirrups a little so you don't have so far to push up. But most importantly, relax and just enjoy the ride because if you stop focussing on it so much, you'll probably find it just all naturally comes together by itself.
 
FWIW .... Lots of practice, lots of lunge lessons. If you really don't trust what your instructor tells you, change instructors. Good luck :)
 
Thanks everyone :)! great advice, what about tips of getting my leg underneath me in trot and canter, just practise? And my lessons?
 
Could it be that you're trying to achieve a 'classical' seat whilst using a GP saddle and that's why it doesn't feel right? There's nothing wrong with riding in a GP saddle and its possible to have a perfectly adequate position for general schooling etc. But if I want to have maximum effectiveness in my riding and for it all to feel effortless and simple, I need a dressage saddle so I can lengthen my stirrups and really get my legs round the horse. With the stirrup bars (and therefore my legs) slightly further back, I can sit properly upright and influence the horse with just a shift in the balance of my seat.
 
To help with the rising trot tuck your bottom in underneath you and imagine a string from your belly button pulling your pelvis forward towards the horse's ears whilst keeping your shoulders still. If you can do a rise forwards 2" and then back into the saddle rather than thinking of rising up and down it will help keep your upper body stiller. If your upper body is still, relaxed and directly above your hips it then becomes easier to keep your legs still directly below your hips.
Also try slowing and increasing the speed of your trot with your rising, this will give you more control over how you rise and how long you are out of the saddle. Also alternating between short periods of rising and sitting trot can help improve your seat. Using half halts and becoming more aware of how the weight of your seat can affect movements can also improve your seat. When you are doing lateral work you will need slightly more weight on your inside seat bone for leg yield etc so try to become more aware of how your weight feels on your seat bones through the corners so that you feel more and think more about what you are feeling. You should be feeling an equal weight on both seat bones.
These things take a long time to become natural so don't expect too much at once. If your instructor says your position is fine can you get someone to video or take photos so you can see what the instructor sees?
Enjoy your riding and the more you do the better you will feel.
 
Also in rising trot it isn't so much about how high you rise compared to others. It all depends on the horse too. You need to think about being in sinc with him not how high/forward you need to be. It seems to be the Fashion to rise lower but when you look closely some that rise low are not in sinc with their horse and should actually be 'rising' more
 
It really is just a matter of practice and being really, really diligent with yourself. Lessons on the lunge without stirrups or reins will do a heck of a lot for your position, as well, provided your instructor is putting you in the correct place to begin with.

With regards to the rising, I've never understood this desire to rise 'small'. We want the horses to have more impulsion, to step under and engage their backs and hindquarters, yet we're unwilling to match that power with our own? Smaller rises will stifle the movement of the horse. You need to be able to match the energy of the horse and really think of opening up the angle between your pelvis/upper thigh to reach the top of the rise. The stronger (controlled, and not necessarily faster) the rise, the more impulsion the trot will have, as a rule. Obviously sitting trot is a totally different ball game and requires completely different muscles.
 
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