The “Holding Seat”

There is another riding habit that appears very often.

The rider who is always holding the horse.

The hands become the main tool to control the movement.

From the outside it may look like control.

But biomechanically something important is happening.

When the rider constantly holds with the reins, the horse cannot organise its balance freely.

The neck stiffens.

The back stops oscillating.

And the energy coming from the hindquarters can no longer travel through the body.

Very often the horse reacts in predictable ways:

~The poll tightens.

~The neck shortens.

~The back becomes rigid.

~The hind legs push but cannot truly carry.

The rider then feels the horse getting stronger in the hand…and holds even more.

A cycle begins.

But real dressage has never been about holding the horse together.

It is about developing a body that can carry itself.

The rider’s hands should organize the conversation, not trap the movement.

Because when the horse truly carries itself, something remarkable happens:

The rider no longer needs to hold.

The horse holds its own balance.

Many of these problems appear simply because nobody ever explained how the rider’s seat and hands actually work together.

In my “Manual for the Young Rider” I explain in a simple way how to develop a seat and contact that help the horse instead of blocking it..

Isaac Ares