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  • Gaited Articles
    • What is a Gaited Horse?
    • ​Mistakes With Gaited Horses
    • ​Naturally Gaited - What Does This Really Mean?
    • Breeds of Trotting Horses That Can Gait
    • The Gaits - Description and How To Ride It
    • The Flat Walk
    • How To Help Your Horse Gait
    • Stifle Issues with the Gaited Horse
    • Stifle Rehab
    • Western Riders and Gaited Horses Don't Always Go Well
    • 5 Rookie Mistakes With Gaited Horses
    • What is Gaited Horsemanship?
    • ​3 Basic Riding Positions To Help Your Gaited Horse Gait
    • How To Use Your Seat
    • What Does Feel Mean In The Gaited Horse
    • ​What Does Timing Mean in a Gaited Horse?
    • ​Teach Your Gaited Horse To Give To The Bit and Be Soft
    • Teach Your Gaited Horse to Be Supple
    • Did You Know You Need To Condition Your Horse to Gait?
    • ​Work Up The Trippy Gaited Horse
    • Don't Sacrifice Gait for Speed
    • Bits
    • Two Hands or One
    • Half Halt Helps You Gait
    • Rein Contact with The Gaited Horse
    • Do You Know How To Use Your Reins
    • What Frame for What Gait?
    • Why I Teach My Gaited Horses The One Rein Stop
    • Arena Routine
    • Maneuvers To Help You on the Trail
    • Lateral Movements Part 1
    • Lateral Movements Part 2
    • Parking Out
    • Multiple Riders and Gaited Horses
    • The Most Misunderstood Horse - The Tennessee Walking Horse
    • Different Types Of Tennessee Walking Horses - Heritage vs WGC
    • ​Is My Tennessee Walker Sleep Walking?
    • ​My Tennessee Walker Slides On Trail
    • Why Your Vet and Friends, Think Your Tennessee Walking Horse is Neurologic
    • Why I Use a Dressage Whip
    • How To Use Spurs
    • Anxious Gaited Horse
    • Do You and Your Gaited Horse Need a Trainer?
    • ​Which Gait Is Your Horse Doing?
    • ​What Does A Camel Walk Mean In The Gaited Horse?
    • What Breed is My Favorite Gaited Breed?
    • ​Can Gaited Horses Buck and Rear?
    • The Good and Bad about Gaited Horses
    • How to Gait
    • ​How Hills Affect Your Gaited Horse
    • ​Different Terrains Can Affect How Your Horse Gaits
    • ​Does Your Horse Gait Better On Trail vs The Arena?
    • ​10 Ways to Fix The Trotty Gaited Horse
    • Why I Love The Pace
    • ​Teach Your Pacey Horse To Trot
    • Steps To Fixing Pace Part 1
    • Steps To Fixing Pace Part 2
    • Cure The Pace
    • 8 Ways to Fix the Pacing Horse
    • Step Pace vs Saddle Gait (Slow Rack)
    • Running Walk vs Rack
    • Step Pace vs Fox Trot
    • Cantering
    • Shoeing
    • Traction for Horseshoes
    • Tripping
    • Action Devices
    • Educate Your Veterinarian About Gaited Horses
    • Is Your Horse Gaited or Neurologic?
    • EPM
    • Wobbler Disease
  • Training Articles
    • Build Trust Not Fear
    • ​Why You Should Not Spoil Your Horse
    • Food is Not Love
    • 10 Ways to avoid horse accicents
    • To Desensitize or To Sensitize
    • Instincts
    • Look in the Mirror
    • Pay Attention
    • Success in Riding
    • Trail Riding Stables
    • Tighten your Girth
    • Defensive Riding
    • How to Tell the Age of a Horse
    • How Horses See
    • Blinkers
    • To Lead Or To Follow
    • Horse Behavior
    • Mare Vs. Gelding
    • Adjusting to a New Home
    • Bikes and Horses
    • Good Horse Gone Bad
    • Making a Good Trail Horse
    • How to Improve Your Trail Horse
    • Horse and Cows
    • Riding with Cows and Bulls
    • Gullys
    • Water
    • What to look for when buying trail horse
    • Vet Checks on Older Horses
    • Buying a Horse
  • Kentucky Mountain Horse
  • Missouri Fox Trotter
  • Rocky Mountain Horse
  • Tennessee Walking Horse
  • Standardbreds
  • Location - Gaited Pleasure Horse Ranch - Royal Oaks
  • Contact
  • Testimonials
MAJESTIC RIDER
​Do You Use Your Seat Correctly When Riding?
By Gaye DeRusso
 
When we first start learning to ride, we are taught to use our reins to steer and stop and use our legs to make the horse go. That is where many riders stop learning. But as you advance as a rider, you should in time ride more with your seat, your legs and then your hands are last. 
 
To use your seat effectively with the horse, you must first have good balance in the saddle, that's why they do not teach you this first because it takes a long time to establish good balance.  You should sit evenly on both seat bones, with your seat relaxed and use your balance to stay in the saddle, not grip with your legs to stay in the saddle. 
 
If you want your horse to walk off, or to speed up, you can tilt your pelvis slightly back, tighten your butt cheeks, relax on the reins, and then use your leg if the horse has not walked off. In time he will learn when you tilt your pelvis back and tighten your seat, you want him to move. 
 
As the horse is moving at a walk or a gait, you want to follow the horse's motion. In the flat walk or running walk, this will be a forward to back motion. So, you want to allow your hips to move with the horse. If the horse has too big of a motion or stride, if you follow the horse less, many times they will match your rhythm and shorten their stride. If you tilt more forward into your thigh you will also experience less motion if you horse has a huge overstride. 
 
 If you want to lengthen their stride you can start to push with your seat (drive) by tilting your pelvis back and push back and forth with your seat. Over time your horse will learn this means to take bigger steps and to keep going. 
 
If your horse fox trots, you will get a soft bounce in the saddle. You can follow this motion to help him stay in the fox trot and slightly bounce in the saddle to match his motion. Many times, if they start to lose the gait, they will match your motion and go back to the fox trot. If they start to hard trot, you can tilt your pelvis back and drive with your seat as you slightly lift your reins, and this can put them right back into a fox trot.
 
If your horse does a saddle gait, you may get a wiggle in the saddle, slightly side to side, you can follow this motion with your hips to keep that wiggle to help them stay in gait as you ask for speed. 
 
By following the horses motion you help them know to stay in that gait. The horse naturally wants to follow and sync up with your motion. If you want the horse to slow down, you can slow your motion, relax your seat, or stop the motion to block the horse. They will feel you are no longer in sync and many horses will want to stop. 
 
If you relax your buttocks when your horse is tense, it helps them to understand they shouldn't worry, and they should relax. But if your horse tenses up and you tense up your buttock, they get more tense and upset. That is why anxious or goey horses go better with relaxed riders.
 
If you tense your buttock up when your horse is going too slow and start pushing with the rhythm it can help the horse understand to move more forward. If you relax your seat when they are going too fast the horse in time will understand to slow down. 
 
You can even steer with your seat. Your horse follows your weight to stay balanced so if you want to turn to the right, put more weight into you right buttock and slightly turn your hips to the right and the horse will try to follow your weight. If you want to go to the left, put your weight into your left buttock and turn your hips slightly to the left and the horse will try to follow. If your horse keeps coming off the rail, shift your weight into the buttock and leg toward the rail and turn your hips slightly in that direction. 
 
A horse can feel a lot through your seat, they feel when you are nervous, tense, anxious, scared, relaxed and then they react to it. They feel your weight and try to follow it to stay balanced. They feel your rhythm and try to follow it. They feel your emotions and follow them. 
 
So, if you are having issues with your horse, pay attention to what you are doing with your seat, because you may be giving the horse cues by accident. 
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  • Home
  • Colorado Clinic
  • About Gaye Derusso
  • Donations To Help Support My Sites
  • Deposits for Sale Horses
  • Need Help Selling Your Horse?
  • Mangalarga Marchador For Sale
  • Liability Waiver
  • Ways to Learn With Gaye
  • Prepurchase Evaluations
  • Lessons On Site
  • Online Lessons
  • Lessons at Your Facility
  • Training for Your Horse
  • Consultations
  • Clinics
  • Camp Majestic Rider
  • Free Training
  • Blog
  • Gaited Training Videos for Sale
  • Gaited Horse Questions and Answers
  • Gaited Articles
    • What is a Gaited Horse?
    • ​Mistakes With Gaited Horses
    • ​Naturally Gaited - What Does This Really Mean?
    • Breeds of Trotting Horses That Can Gait
    • The Gaits - Description and How To Ride It
    • The Flat Walk
    • How To Help Your Horse Gait
    • Stifle Issues with the Gaited Horse
    • Stifle Rehab
    • Western Riders and Gaited Horses Don't Always Go Well
    • 5 Rookie Mistakes With Gaited Horses
    • What is Gaited Horsemanship?
    • ​3 Basic Riding Positions To Help Your Gaited Horse Gait
    • How To Use Your Seat
    • What Does Feel Mean In The Gaited Horse
    • ​What Does Timing Mean in a Gaited Horse?
    • ​Teach Your Gaited Horse To Give To The Bit and Be Soft
    • Teach Your Gaited Horse to Be Supple
    • Did You Know You Need To Condition Your Horse to Gait?
    • ​Work Up The Trippy Gaited Horse
    • Don't Sacrifice Gait for Speed
    • Bits
    • Two Hands or One
    • Half Halt Helps You Gait
    • Rein Contact with The Gaited Horse
    • Do You Know How To Use Your Reins
    • What Frame for What Gait?
    • Why I Teach My Gaited Horses The One Rein Stop
    • Arena Routine
    • Maneuvers To Help You on the Trail
    • Lateral Movements Part 1
    • Lateral Movements Part 2
    • Parking Out
    • Multiple Riders and Gaited Horses
    • The Most Misunderstood Horse - The Tennessee Walking Horse
    • Different Types Of Tennessee Walking Horses - Heritage vs WGC
    • ​Is My Tennessee Walker Sleep Walking?
    • ​My Tennessee Walker Slides On Trail
    • Why Your Vet and Friends, Think Your Tennessee Walking Horse is Neurologic
    • Why I Use a Dressage Whip
    • How To Use Spurs
    • Anxious Gaited Horse
    • Do You and Your Gaited Horse Need a Trainer?
    • ​Which Gait Is Your Horse Doing?
    • ​What Does A Camel Walk Mean In The Gaited Horse?
    • What Breed is My Favorite Gaited Breed?
    • ​Can Gaited Horses Buck and Rear?
    • The Good and Bad about Gaited Horses
    • How to Gait
    • ​How Hills Affect Your Gaited Horse
    • ​Different Terrains Can Affect How Your Horse Gaits
    • ​Does Your Horse Gait Better On Trail vs The Arena?
    • ​10 Ways to Fix The Trotty Gaited Horse
    • Why I Love The Pace
    • ​Teach Your Pacey Horse To Trot
    • Steps To Fixing Pace Part 1
    • Steps To Fixing Pace Part 2
    • Cure The Pace
    • 8 Ways to Fix the Pacing Horse
    • Step Pace vs Saddle Gait (Slow Rack)
    • Running Walk vs Rack
    • Step Pace vs Fox Trot
    • Cantering
    • Shoeing
    • Traction for Horseshoes
    • Tripping
    • Action Devices
    • Educate Your Veterinarian About Gaited Horses
    • Is Your Horse Gaited or Neurologic?
    • EPM
    • Wobbler Disease
  • Training Articles
    • Build Trust Not Fear
    • ​Why You Should Not Spoil Your Horse
    • Food is Not Love
    • 10 Ways to avoid horse accicents
    • To Desensitize or To Sensitize
    • Instincts
    • Look in the Mirror
    • Pay Attention
    • Success in Riding
    • Trail Riding Stables
    • Tighten your Girth
    • Defensive Riding
    • How to Tell the Age of a Horse
    • How Horses See
    • Blinkers
    • To Lead Or To Follow
    • Horse Behavior
    • Mare Vs. Gelding
    • Adjusting to a New Home
    • Bikes and Horses
    • Good Horse Gone Bad
    • Making a Good Trail Horse
    • How to Improve Your Trail Horse
    • Horse and Cows
    • Riding with Cows and Bulls
    • Gullys
    • Water
    • What to look for when buying trail horse
    • Vet Checks on Older Horses
    • Buying a Horse
  • Kentucky Mountain Horse
  • Missouri Fox Trotter
  • Rocky Mountain Horse
  • Tennessee Walking Horse
  • Standardbreds
  • Location - Gaited Pleasure Horse Ranch - Royal Oaks
  • Contact
  • Testimonials