How to stop bouncing when you ride
Today I am going to answer the question, 'how do you stop bouncing when you ride?'
Take your stirrups away. Why would you do that when you want to stop bouncing? Because sometimes, the only way to cure something is to delve really deep into it. Now a really cool exercise is sitting trot with no stirrups, because it forces you to use the right muscles. All the top riders in the world still ride with no stirrups because it's really, really good for us to keep making sure that we are turning on the right muscles. You can transition into the canter and repeat the exercise in that gait as well.
And then, you just need to do the hours.
Watch when you go across the diagonal as you might fall off the side - but this is how you build the muscle awareness. That's how you learn to move your hips and your seat with the horse. You're so used to relying on your stirrups for balance when steering across a diagonal that you begin to fall to the side and then you over-compensate by coming over the other way, and then you find your middle. Eventually you will begin to grip with the right muscles and no longer fall over either side. Those are the muscles that always need to be on - they are the muscles that keep you in the saddle.
Squeeze with your inner thigh muscle... We are talking about the upper groin muscles (see diagram below). These are the muscles that suck you in and keep you in the saddle.
...And balance yourself. Do not pinch with your knees. Your knees should be loose. Do not grip or you will bounce much higher. To really stop bouncing in the saddle, you should not be gripping with your legs - they should be loose and they should move. They have to move because the horse's trot is a movement, and so the horse is in motion. The ankles become your shock absorbers so that your seat can stay in with the saddle - and to stay in the saddle you are using your upper groin, but your legs are loose. You should not have tight thighs.
So give that a go - work on what you should tense and what you should let go of. Sitting upright and not bouncing in the saddle is a lot more to do with what you need to relax, than what you need to grip with. This is where most riders get unstuck - instead, you should let everything go.
Imagine that you need to 'plug' your seat bones into the horse's back. Think of literally plugging them in. Imagine that your seat has two holes and that you literally just plugged them in. Then you would be connected - you wouldn't bounce, you wouldn't fall off, you wouldn't do anything, because your seat bones would be connected to the saddle, and then the saddle is connected to the horse's back. With your 'plugged in' seat bones, you then need to move with the horse, and you can also influence the horse with your seat bones.
So plug and connect in, grip with your upper groin muscles, and let everything else go. Plus there is a bit of core and a bit of stomach, which you will figure out when coming across the diagonal.
If you can do the no stirrup exercise, then start doing serpentines - steer left, steer right, trot in smaller circles. Then you will perfect the art of keeping your seat, and will no longer bounce in the saddle.
Take your stirrups away. Why would you do that when you want to stop bouncing? Because sometimes, the only way to cure something is to delve really deep into it. Now a really cool exercise is sitting trot with no stirrups, because it forces you to use the right muscles. All the top riders in the world still ride with no stirrups because it's really, really good for us to keep making sure that we are turning on the right muscles. You can transition into the canter and repeat the exercise in that gait as well.
And then, you just need to do the hours.
Watch when you go across the diagonal as you might fall off the side - but this is how you build the muscle awareness. That's how you learn to move your hips and your seat with the horse. You're so used to relying on your stirrups for balance when steering across a diagonal that you begin to fall to the side and then you over-compensate by coming over the other way, and then you find your middle. Eventually you will begin to grip with the right muscles and no longer fall over either side. Those are the muscles that always need to be on - they are the muscles that keep you in the saddle.
Squeeze with your inner thigh muscle... We are talking about the upper groin muscles (see diagram below). These are the muscles that suck you in and keep you in the saddle.
 |
| The upper groin muscles |
So give that a go - work on what you should tense and what you should let go of. Sitting upright and not bouncing in the saddle is a lot more to do with what you need to relax, than what you need to grip with. This is where most riders get unstuck - instead, you should let everything go.
Imagine that you need to 'plug' your seat bones into the horse's back. Think of literally plugging them in. Imagine that your seat has two holes and that you literally just plugged them in. Then you would be connected - you wouldn't bounce, you wouldn't fall off, you wouldn't do anything, because your seat bones would be connected to the saddle, and then the saddle is connected to the horse's back. With your 'plugged in' seat bones, you then need to move with the horse, and you can also influence the horse with your seat bones.
So plug and connect in, grip with your upper groin muscles, and let everything else go. Plus there is a bit of core and a bit of stomach, which you will figure out when coming across the diagonal.
If you can do the no stirrup exercise, then start doing serpentines - steer left, steer right, trot in smaller circles. Then you will perfect the art of keeping your seat, and will no longer bounce in the saddle.
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