Place your bones carefully

In conjunction with a lecture on seat and saddle, I had the opportunity to make an interesting experiment - I put a skeleton in the saddle.

When I work with riders on the wooden horse, I usually talk about the desirable directions that should be in the rider's legs. The thigh should have a slightly inward rotation and rest on the saddle so that the inside of the thighs and knees rests on the saddle flap. Just above the knee the thighbone connects to the saddle flap and it means that the movement of the horse's chest directly affects the bone and thus the hip joint.

The lower leg, on the other hand, will have a slight outward rotation. That brings the calf muscle to drop in towards the horse's belly and the knee have a direction out over the big toe.



There are drawings of skeletons in the saddle, but it adds to the experience to see how well the pelvis connects to the shape of the saddle. As you can see the hip joint and the upper part of the thigh bone is free from any contact with the saddle.



There are of course individual variations in the shape of the pelvis and that is why it is important to try different saddle brands and models. This skeleton had a shape that fitted well in a Top Reiter saddle.

A saddle seat that follows the shape of the pelvis gives the muscle suit that keeps the skeleton upright a possibility to become a body with a relaxed balance, allowing for a smooth riding with precision in the giving of aids.

"Dear riders - don't just look - please observe! C. Harris