critique my riding!

I know these aren't great pictures, but I want some critique on them both. The western one is kind of hard, but I really want critique on the English one. I want critique on my seat, hands, and posture. They are the only pics I have as of right now!


this is me riding a Paint mare, Barbie. Please no mean comments on her!


This is me riding an Arabian mare, Fancy. No mean comments on her either.

Thank you for responding!

they both look mad, lol or is that just me?

i don't really ride english, so i couldn't say. you seem a little hunched over though. your shoulders seem too forward.

In the first picture, you need to actually take hold of your reins and not have your hands resting on your horse. Sit up straight, not hunched over in the shoulders. You look like you're just up there taking it easy like you're on a follow-the-leader trail ride. The second one, I can't tell from the picture angle.

thank you!

the paint is probably mad, she had just bucked me off! i think the arabian's forlock is just blowing so you can't see her ears. we were also going pretty fast!

i know i need to work on my hands. i think i was shortening my reins, but i need to get them into fists better. thanks for the critique!

Hey there, they are both beautiful horses :) The only critique i can leave is that ur upper frame is caving in. This means your shoulder, elbows and hands... Otherwise you look like a beautiful young rider... keep up the great work!! :P

You want to keep you shoulders, hips and ankles in a straight vertical line, so work on keeping your legs bent more so your ankle sits underneath your hip.
I'd just like to comment on the hunched shoulders: to fix this, imagine you have a star on your chest, stretching from shoulder to shoulder and to the end of the sternum (chest bone). You want to show this star off, so keep your chin up and shoulders rolled back.
Another thing that I would like to suggest is that you imagine a string going from the top of your head to the ceiling, pulling you upwards. Sit up tall and straight, and, again, shoulders rolled back.
I always found that the star trick worked for me - my trainer would shout "Show off your star!!" whenever I got the slightest bit hunched.
Hope this helps

Thanks, JustDressageIt! I'll defiantly try that! These pictures were taken a while back so I've probably gotten better after having being told I need to sit straighter so many times! Thank you for the compliments, Delregans Way, I'll be sure to tell the owners that people like their horses!

Best of luck ApacheGirl5!! We all have to start somewhere!! You're looking great, so I can just imagine when you get things sorted out :)

Your shoulders are too slumped over, and your horse's head set needs their nose tucked in just a little. In the second picture judging a riders equitation is a little harder because the horse is running and you just go with them, because trust me, barrel racers all ride funny, I am one so I have a right to say it, and we all just find a way to move with our horse at fast speeds.

No worries