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[RC] forward seat - k s swigart

Melissa Alexander said:


My husband, who has just had his first couple of riding lessons
since camp 20 years ago, and I were just having this conversation. His
academic background is Physics, and he was arguing that if someone

wanted a

secure seat on a horse, they should be riding low along the top, not

sitting

up straight. I argued and said that riding straight aligned our

centers of

balance, and he just shrugged and said from a physics standpoint that

just

wasn't the most secure seat.


The problem with riding low along the top is not that it is not secure
(that is, after all, why a more forward seat is used for jumping horses)
but rather that it doesn't allow you to use your seat as an "aid" (i.e.
it restricts you ability to give instructions to your horse with
anything other than your hands).  How much you "sit up in the saddle"
depends upon how much steering and brakes you want to have.  The more
upright you are in the saddle, the more you are able to use your weight
to give direction to the horse.  The longer your stirrup up to the point
where you are reaching for them(i.e. the more contact your leg has with
the horse), the more use are able to use your leg for this purpose.

The reason that some people feel that sitting up straight is more
"secure" is that security comes not just from being balanced on the
horse's back, but also from being able to control the horse's movement
(and thereby keep the horse more balanced, or to keep it from jumping
out from underneath you :)).

The "chair" seat, on the other hand is the worst of both worlds, it is
unsecure blance-wise because you are upright in the saddle, and it is
unsecure control-wise because it doesn't put either your weight or you
leg in a position where they can effectively give direction to the
horse.

kat
Orange County, Calif.




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