Going for a hack needn’t be a lob-about on a long rein – it’s a great time to work on your own position and fitness. Try this exercise in trot to boost your own strength – and see how much you improve each time you do it. If you prefer, you can also try this exercise in an arena or field.
to put your lower leg in the correct position with the weight in the heels
to make your seat more secure
to stretch and build up the necessary muscles
The setup
No setup required: you can do this in an arena or out hacking. Using a neck strap will help you balance without pulling the reins.
Three positions to practise in trot, to help develop your balance and strength
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
How to ride this exercise
Put your stirrups at cross-country or galloping length.
Go into an active trot, and slip two fingers under the neck strap in case you need to balance. Adopt a racing position (pictured above, left), tucked up with your bum out and your hands low. Push your weight through your heels, allowing the ankles and knees to absorb the horse’s movement. Do not rise to the trot. You should feel the burn!
Sit up slightly as you move into a light seat as though you were preparing to jump a fence (pictured above, centre), with your bum lightly brushing the saddle but not full rising trot.
If you can balance well in these two positions, try the extreme version which is to stand upright in the saddle (pictured above, right), with your legs straight (still no rising), absorbing the movement through your ankles, knees and core. Do not rely on your hands. Keep the weight in the heels, using the neck strap if you need to balance.
The more you practise these three positions, the more you will hone your balance, strengthen your muscles and develop a correct lower leg position.
Start with short intervals to avoid fatigue, gradually building up your stamina over several weeks.
Pitfalls to avoid
1. Leaning too far forward
This puts weight on your horse’s neck and forces your lower leg back. Instead, push your weight through the heels and slide your bum back to redress the centre of balance.
2. Gripping with knees
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
This causes the lower leg to slip backward and destabilises you. Keep the weight through the heels, using your calves to keep you in place.
3. Swinging legs
Try shortening the stirrups, so that you can hover more efficiently above the saddle allowing your horse to move underneath you without you interfering.
Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
