Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The thing that helped me learn to ride straighter was riding bareback.  I sat 
so that the horse's spine was in the middle of me, it was much easier to feel 
bareback than with a saddle.  The other thing about riding bareback is that 
there are no stirrups to depend on, so you are less likely to try to balance on 
the stirrups.  Some people have tighter muscles in one leg than the other, it 
actually goes all the way up the body, but it's easy to feel in the legs when 
you're riding bareback, as one knee will usually be pointed out more than the 
other.  Usually people who ride crooked tend to stretch one leg down, and 
hike the other hip up and drop the shoulder on the same side as the hiked up 
hip. 
The effect is that the shoulders are unlevel the opposite way that the hips 
are--right shoulder up, right hip down.  One exercise to correct this is to 
raise the low shoulder's arm over your head, this tends to put more weight one 
the seatbone that goes with the hiked-up hip.  One has to develop a feel for 
when the seatbones are equally weighted.  

I'm glad you have noticed this problem now, it's a lot easier to fix at such 
a young age.  You might also look into stretching and exercises for myofascial 
release.  I like the side-sitting one.  When I could do these exercises more 
equally on both sides, my riding got straighter.  There is a book and video 
tape out called "Release the Potential:  A Practical Guide to Myofascial 
Release 
for Horse and Rider" by Doris Kay Halstead and Carrie Cameron.  Great stuff.  
jeri

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