Welcome to Stay in the Saddle!
Hello to all first-time visitors and to those of you who are returning. For those who are contemplating a purchase of the BASIC WESTERN Horsemanship and Riding Lessons instructional DVD and/or Manual, or thinking of starting riding lessons, here’s what a few people have said about the Stay in the Saddle method:
I think this may be the first learning video where you actually learn something. The lessons were excellently done, and all the points were understandable. You did a wonderful job!!! J.R. New York
I wish I had this DVD and book a few years ago as they are just both great tools for riding properly!!!!! . . . . I have been putting all of your instructions into practice starting from just leading the horses on the ground to get them used to the different commands and then in no time we are working as a better team. It makes riding much more enjoyable for me and I am sure for them as well. B.O. New Zealand
They are very well done in every respect – from the production, to the content, to the packaging (and I like the T-shirt color/design too). E.P. Connecticut
I’ve had some time now to read the notebook and view the CD’s. I do say, nice job! As I now have the challenge of putting all that stuff into practice I’m really seeing how helpful it is. The posture pointers really help. At the trot sometimes I feel like I’m getting off balance but when I remember the posture instruction everything smooths out. I think our horse, Cookie, likes this new riding style too . . . Thanks to your instruction I can see we’re getting along better and better. W.W. Arkansas
I feel it is worth every penny . . . Thanks so much for your help with everything. I have learned so much. C.O. Oklahoma
We were very impressed with your video and have gained lots of ideas. T.R. The United Kingdom
I thought I could ride, but when I started working with Janel she taught me the difference between sitting on a horse and riding a horse. Now, I can ride a horse. Now, I can stay in the saddle. M.K. Oklahoma
If you have specific questions or want to know if the instruction would be right for you - please do not hesitate to contact Janel at stayinthesaddle@sbcglobal.net . And now, on with learning!
Insecure Riding
I talk a lot about posture. And you’ll hear my students talk about posture as well. This is because once you know what the correct posture is, you’ll wonder how you ever were able to ride without knowing it. The two primary reasons that people ride with poor posture are
1) Lack of knowledge – a person just simply does not know how they should sit, and
2) Insecurity – a person who is lacking security will assume a passive posture.
The first is the reason why I do what I do. I teach people to ride with good posture, to alleviate that lack of knowledge. What I am going to spend time talking about today is the second reason because even though people learn to ride or can ride already – insecurity can be a major influence on why people do not ride well or do not enjoy their time in the saddle. When a person is insecure in the saddle, it translates to their seat and onto the horse. Horses are not comfortable in uncomfortable situations. They want to know what to expect and they want to trust their rider/handler. An insecure person is hard to trust, especially for a prey animal like a horse.
Allow me to give you a few examples. The first, if you will, imagine a rider with high hands. Like I’ve wrote about before, an insecure rider will resort somewhat to the fetal position: toes down, heels up, knees pulled up, hunched forward at the shoulder, hands pulled up and inward to the chest/chin. Even a person that rides decent but lacks confidence will sometimes have the “high hands” going on. In this position, a rider will most always be applying pressure to the horse’s mouth, thus making the horse do things that are unwanted: tossing his head, steering poorly (because he is constantly being told to do something inadvertently), developing a hard mouth so he won’t listen to rein cues at all, or just plain making him very angry and confused (and possibly dangerous).
Another example is in the seat. Insecure riders will do one of two things – they’ll either ride lurched forward with heels back, or slumped down with their hips very flat in the saddle. When leaning forward in the saddle, it sets a person up for all sorts of hazards. Even when the horse is doing everything right, the person will not be riding down on the horse, but perched above the horse and not moving with the horse. If the horse were to do anything unexpected, like stumble – the rider would not be very likely to stay in the saddle. If the horse went to buck, which most always begins with the hindquarters coming up first, the rider could not remain in the saddle but would be tossed onto the horse’s neck or on the ground. Conversely, riding flat in the saddle, or sitting with a C-spine, inhibits a horse’s natural athleticism and takes away a person’s ability to move with the horse. The person will be more of a dead-weight on the horse’s back than a “rider”.
Similar to riding with high hands is the rider who rides with their legs clutched about the horse’s body. The horse does not know what to think of the constant pressure and will therefore speed up or act up, and then upon constant correction by the rider the horse will grow to be “dead-sided” or not responding to leg cues at all.
So, these are just a few examples of insecure riding that are pretty common. The solution, you ask? Learn to ride with good posture and with confidence. My lessons and the BASIC WESTERN Horsemanship and Riding Lessons material is geared for that very purpose, to teach people the proper seat on a horse so that both horse and rider can enjoy time riding and there is less of a fight in the saddle. The horse’s performance will improve because the rider’s performance has improved. As the leader, you have to take the responsibility to improve and then the horse most always will follow suit.
Working to improve posture, like everything else, takes time, but I am sure that as soon as you start practicing it you will see immediate results in both you and your horse. The one comment I get from almost every student is when the horse stumbles or jumps – they say that they don’t ever feel like they become unseated or unbalanced. That is really the true test . . . when things happen unexpectedly. You then know what you are doing is working. Mentally and physically, you will begin working together as a better team and that is what horsemanship is all about.
I hope the weather in your neck of the woods is allowing you more and more riding time, as that is what we are looking forward to here in Oklahoma. More time in the saddle = happier me. J
STAY IN THE SADDLE!
Janel
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