The dressage rider in a jump seat

There is a posture that appears more and more often in dressage arenas.

The rider sits as if preparing to jump.

The stirrups are pushed forward.

The pelvis tilts backward.

The legs drift away from the horse’s sides.

From the outside it may look secure.

But biomechanically, it creates a serious problem.

When the pelvis tilts backward, it can no longer follow the oscillation of the horse’s back.

Instead of absorbing movement, the rider begins to block it.

The weight no longer falls vertically through the seat.

It pushes backward into the horse’s lumbar area.

To stabilise themselves in this position, many riders push down through the stirrups and separate their legs from the horse.

This may stabilise the rider.

But it destabilises the horse.

The back loses freedom.

The movement becomes shorter.

The rhythm often becomes quicker and more tense.

Dressage was never meant to be ridden from a defensive or jumping position.

Because in dressage the rider’s pelvis must follow the movement of the horse’s back.

Only then can the horse truly lift its topline.

Only then can the movement flow through the body.

Dressage begins when the rider’s pelvis can follow the horse’s back.

Many of these problems appear simply because nobody ever explained how the rider’s seat truly works.

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