I wish someone had taught me this earlier. Like, 10 years earlier. It's so simple that it makes you wonder why nobody else teaches this - simple, but not easy, but I believe that with a lot of determination and self-discipline, I can make this automatic in the future.
I had a lesson on Sam with Christan today, and lately I've been riding without stirrups to deepen my seat and try and keep my lower leg a bit more stable, especially in the canter and when jumping. I warmed up without my stirrups, and Sam seems to actually like it better when I sit the trot without stirrups, as he seems to get freer in the back. Christan really emphasized opening up my thigh and keeping my lower leg closed around Sam, as she said that when she rode him for the video, he (at first) wanted to scoot ahead when she put her leg on, and that Oliver was doing much of the same thing. C stressed that it shoudn't require a lot of tension or work, just concentration - I had to keep a hollow in my lower back, thinking about keeping my pelvis pressed forward and down into the pommel of the saddle. It helped to think about having a suction cup there and keeping that suction cup pressed down and forward, keeping my thigh back in the saddle. If I allowed my pelvis to tilt backwards and tuck my bum under me, my thighs automatically tightened and I would start to pinch with my knee, and in turn Sam would get bouncier. It was interesting how everything fell into place once I concentrated on keeping my seat where it should be - C pointed out how my hands stopped burying themselves down and were carrying themselves where they should be, and how Sam softened his back and became extremely light and uphill, and his trot and canter very soft and light and "up" and most of all, easy to sit. If I tightened with my thigh, immediately his trot became more jarring and I would lean backwards, tucking my seat underneath me. Christan also said that sitting this way made me look longer and leaner, as it lengthened my leg and stretching up created the visual impression that my tummy was flatter. Talk about incentive to ride that way!
The most revolutionary idea in all of this was when we transferred it over to two point. C had me thinking about sliding my seat down and back, thinking about it sliding along the saddle, and really keeping my thighs open and my lower leg closed. I had been standing out of the saddle too far for two point, and grabbing with my knee, which caused several things to happen - when I sat down in the saddle before a jump, the horse would hollow out from underneath me. Riding two point the way C showed me, there was very, very little movement adjusting from two point to a full seat to rebalance before the jump, and as a result, there was no disruptance in the horse when we approached the jump. Over the jump, I had to think about sliding my seat down and back and really arching my lower back so that I didn't make a move with my upper body. That was much harder to do, but then I need to practice galloping around in the new two point, switching between the two seats, before I can get used to closing my hip angle the way it should close over a fence.
i'm frustrated, due to having practiced the wrong way for so long - various teachers have told me to steady my lower leg (Holly) to keeping it underneath me (David O'Brien), but nobody addressed the root of the problem, which was my pelvic triangle and seat. I'm elated, because just changing the way I sit on my pelvis made such a HUGE difference in the way Sam went. I'm anxious to try it on Oliver.
Oh, and the most interesting thing of all - I sat in Christan's Prestige 2000D dressage saddle. She talked me into it, since I didn't want to as it was a 16" seat and I thought for sure I would overlap the seat, but amazingly enough - when I dropped my leg and sat the correct way, it actually wasn't too small at all! I had plenty of room in front and behind me. Weird. So, C and I both think that my saddles are too big for me, which causes me to tuck my butt underneath me as the balance point is too far back and I'm unconsciously trying to find it with my pelvic triangle. I guess i need to be looking for a 17"-17.5" seat, instead of the 18" which I always have thought were the right size for me. I feel skinnier already! :)
