Western Lesson: Sit Straight

Knowing how to balance correctly on your seat bones can be tough for new or inexperienced riders, but it’s important to learn. As the old rhyme goes, the seat bone’s connected to the leg bone; the leg bone cues the horse and the horse responds. Read on to learn more about your seat in a western riding lesson.

Beth Bass, coach of more than 35 Appaloosa Horse Club World and Reserve World Champions, has her riders work on three exercises to improve balance: standing stirrup, knee up, and one-stirrup balance.

“There is a time and a place to sit with more weight on one side than the other, such as lead departures or if you are asking for the horse’s hip in,” says Beth. “But I teach my riders not to consistently sit heavier on one seat bone than the other.”

Claire, one of Beth’s students, tends to sit on her left seat bone and put more weight in her left stirrup. When Claire sits too heavy on her left side, her horse, Plain N Simple, drops his shoulder away from the weight, turns his head and pushes his rib cage away, making his movements awkward. Claire has been working to sit far to the right to understand where the normal and balanced position is in her saddle.

Beth says that you may notice one of your feet slips out of the stirrup more often than the other, even if the stirrup lengths are the same. That is one sign that you may sit heavier on one side. Other signs include the horse always drifting one way away from the heavy pressure.

Western Riding Lesson for Sitting in Your Seat Straight

Here are Beth’s helpful exercises to sit in your seat straight so your horse can perform to the best of his ability during a western riding lesson.

1. Standing Balance

The first exercise to do during a western riding lesson that can help a rider sit in their seat straight is trying to find balance while standing. Beth has all her riders stand in their stirrups and push down through the heels before staring a ride. The exercise stretches your muscles and works on core balance. Your navel should be centered in line with the saddle horn but not pushing against it.