How to Create a Quiet Seat in Dressage?

Our goal as riders is to create a quiet and effective seat. This is done with the ability to absorb the horse’s movement, to stay in balance, and to be supple through the hips. This is achieved through flexibility and strength.

As riders we want to absorb the movement of the horse through our bodies. This actually involves a lot of movement but to the naked eye it looks like stillness.

It is incredibly important to understand the mechanism of the rider in sitting trot. The superficial stillness is achieved by the backs ability to absorb the movement of the horse. The motion is carried through the vertebra of the spine and that stillness is created by the absorption, not by stiffness or being rigid.

 

Your Body Balance is the Initial Step to Create a Quite Seat

In order to create a quiet seat, it requires the strength of your core, suppleness of your hips and proper balance and positioning of your spine. It is a balance between strength and relaxation. Any tension through the body will block the correct motion of a quiet seat. Your body is required to be perfectly balanced on the horse. Any movement too far back is going to affect your balance and also influence the muscles that support you. This will create tension in the wrong muscles and affect your ability to absorb movement.


Creating balance in your body on top of the horse is the first step in making a quiet seat. Any movement too far forward or back and even left or right is going to affect the movement of the horse. When you are in a perfect balance and in alignment with your horse, you then are required to have a strong core to maintain that. Your core includes the muscles of the front and back. It is a strong balanced core that is going to keep you balanced on the horse when the force of movement wants to push your elsewhere. It is then the flexibility of the joints and absorption through the spine that allows you to stay in balance with the movement.

To get yourself started and learn how you can improve your seat and riding position, download our free guide here.

 

 

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