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Trouble riding in chair seat

9K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  coffeemama 
#1 ·
No matter what I do, I still end up in a chair seat. I shot video today of me riding and I start out okay but end up with legs right over girth instead of under me. In both close contact and dressage saddle, my knees are bent and feet and legs over girth. I pull them back constantly but they end up back there. I have been struggling with moving feet too much while posting trot and the only way to quiet my legs is to relax them in whatever position they fall which is forward..not jammed forward just forward. What else can I do? Anyone suffered from this and fixed it and if so how?
 
#2 ·
Try the exercises in this video:

Is this your saddle or the riding school's saddle? If it's yours, it may not fit you and you can do something about it.

Some saddles seat riders in an un-natural position so they fight to keep their legs or upper bodies in the right place or they sit too far forward on their pubic bone, etc.

When you take your feet out of the stirrups (hopefully someone is holding your horse for you) and pull your knees up to meet at the pommel together, sit up really really tall and then drop them down, where do they end up?

Also spending more time in 2-point will help align your legs together, so long as you're using your CORE to balance, and not your hands.
 
#3 ·
Yes it is my own saddle (s). I do alot of 2 point and my legs are fine in two point, canter and sitting trot they are perfect. It's my rising trot where I start out okay but then end up at the girth. I am told my model of saddle (devoucoux biarritz) puts people in a chair seat. So, maybe I created a muscle memory in this saddle that transferred over to my new dressage saddle. It's not the barrel of the horse because
I do this on three or four different horses. So frustrating because when I first started riding I had quieter legs and better positioning and now my trainer is mentioning this problem more and more to me and I try everything but can't seem to fix it.



Try the exercises in this video:

Is this your saddle or the riding school's saddle? If it's yours, it may not fit you and you can do something about it.

Some saddles seat riders in an un-natural position so they fight to keep their legs or upper bodies in the right place or they sit too far forward on their pubic bone, etc.

When you take your feet out of the stirrups (hopefully someone is holding your horse for you) and pull your knees up to meet at the pommel together, sit up really really tall and then drop them down, where do they end up?

Also spending more time in 2-point will help align your legs together, so long as you're using your CORE to balance, and not your hands.[/QUOT
 
#5 ·
The chair seat while posting is often from gripping with the knee. If you stirrups are too long, then you either go "fishing " for them or you basically ignore thenm and post completely off your knee. If you knee is out in front of you, you have to lever yourself up off the pivot point that is out in front of you, and you will struggle to not fall behind the motion of the horse.

Could your saddle be out of balance on the horse's back , in that the pommel is higher than it should be, so you are sitting on a saddle that is too "uphill" in position (puts you in that chair seat, and makes you fall behind the motion)
 
#6 ·
I recommend posting some pictures. Based on the pictures in your barn, I'd say your saddle is too long for you.

The saddle is designed to be ridden with your rump in the lowest part of the seat, and the stirrup leathers hanging straight down. That makes gravity your friend. And from what I can see in your barn, it looks like that puts you in a 'chair seat'.

 
#7 ·
The saddle is designed to be ridden with your rump in the lowest part of the seat, and the stirrup leathers hanging straight down. That makes gravity your friend. And from what I can see in your barn, it looks like that puts you in a 'chair seat'.
From that picture it looks like the saddle isn't level and you can see the stirrup leathers are being pushed forward due to her leg position.....
 
#9 ·
The stirrup leathers look close to vertical to me. In the photo below, whoever is riding does NOT have vertical stirrup leathers:
They are 2 inches too far forward in the picture. That one you just posted is being pulled back.

And I apologize, OP.. did not see that this was for Hunters. But the video should help you out
 
#12 ·
here's a pic of my position in saddle

the saddle sits level but it still puts me in this chair seat. I discovered recently that the biarritz model it made for jumpers not jumping ..apparentley two different things. jumpers need to sit behind the motion on quick horses and this is why my saddle is in chair seat and I should have bought the socoa or other model which is more for hunters. :-(
 

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#14 ·
I wouldn't call it a true chair seat, because it's not so much that your leg is slipping forward but that your seat is slipping back. You're sitting back on the cantle rather than the deepest part of the saddle.

In the last photo posted, it does not look like the saddle is level cantle to pommel, so I would experimenet with closed cell foam seat risers and see if putting a slight lift in the back of the saddle fixes part of the problem.

It also appears as if you ride with a hollow in your lower back, which has the effect of pushing your seatbones out behind you and distorts the hip/heel alignment. Once you get a riser for the back of the saddle and it's easier to stay in the deepest part of the saddle, work on relaxing the small of your back, and keeping your seat bones underneath you while you stretch up tall.
 
#15 ·
I wouldn't call it a true chair seat, because it's not so much that your leg is slipping forward but that your seat is slipping back. You're sitting back on the cantle rather than the deepest part of the saddle.

In the last photo posted, it does not look like the saddle is level cantle to pommel, so I would experimenet with closed cell foam seat risers and see if putting a slight lift in the back of the saddle fixes part of the problem.

It also appears as if you ride with a hollow in your lower back, which has the effect of pushing your seatbones out behind you and distorts the hip/heel alignment. Once you get a riser for the back of the saddle and it's easier to stay in the deepest part of the saddle, work on relaxing the small of your back, and keeping your seat bones underneath you while you stretch up tall.
thank you I will try this. these pics are on my old horse and my new horse it's even more extreme. I called rep to come and do a new fitting.
 
#16 ·
Next time you're in that saddle, (and have it balanced properly) stand straight up in it. Literally straight up. Your crotch will be in front of the pommel. If you can do that without falling back, it's more likely a muscle memory problem than a saddle issue.
 
#18 ·
If you can stay upright, you are balanced correctly in the saddle, it means the saddle basically fits you and your chair seat problem is rider created. If you do fall back on a saddle that is balanced correctly on the horse's back with the stirrups hanging perpendicular to the ground, it is more likely the saddle not fitting/balancing you properly and not rider caused.
 
#19 ·
When you sit from that position try to sit on the pommel as you lower your hips. You won't, but try to. This will put your hips in the deepest part of the seat and you will be over your heels. Your shoulders must remain back and not leaning forward as you lower. Laughing is quite permissible.
 
#20 ·
It turns out it's my saddle. My devoucoux biarritz is made for jumpers, not hunters I found out and it purposely puts you a little behind the motion on purpose. I testrode a cwd and antares and they both put me in perfect position immediately. My legs hung straight down under my boy instead of way out in front of me and I didn't have to use so much movement to post my trot as before when I had to lift and then push forward to post. although I miss the comfort of my new devoucoux which is unparalleled by any other saddle (sorry but I've tried all of the new ones high end and none are as soft and comfortable as devoucoux biarritz) I am happy that it wasn't all me and I had other riders tell me same thing about biarritz. I custom ordered a new saddle that fits my horse and me and can't wait to get it. I am riding in demo until I get it and it's same model and I am already improving in leg position plus have to relearn a new muscle memory position as I find I am automatically OVER posting now and have to take it back a notch and relax. I used to use so much muscle to post and now I use almost none in comparison. Have to re-learn to ride all over again but glad I finally found and fixed the problem.
 
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