The no.1 thing I wish every rider knew about improving their seat.

Most riders who come to me wanting to improve their seat are already trying. They are listening to their trainer, they are trying to apply the corrections, they are thinking about their seat every time they ride and they have been doing all of this, consistently, for months or sometimes even years.

And yet the same problem keeps coming back.

This is not a riding problem. It is a body problem. And that distinction changes everything because it means that no amount of trying harder in the saddle is going to permanently fix what the body has not yet been prepared to do.

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What a good seat actually is

Before we talk about why your seat isn't improving, it helps to be clear about what we are actually trying to build.

A good seat is all about alignment. I like to look at it as three buckets being aligned and centred: your hips, your ribcage, your head. When we have these three buckets aligned, it’s easy for your body to work in harmony with your horse.

Your body's one job is to keep you balanced and centred in the saddle. So, the moment something is misaligned, it finds a workaround, a compensation for it to again ‘help you feel you’re in the middle and balanced, and these compensations happen quickly and often without your awareness.

So, what your trainer sees is the result of that compensation. The shoulders that are too far in front, the hip that collapses to one side, the leg that swings.. and they often try to help you correct what they can see.

“Pull your shoulders back.”

But the thing is: there’s always a reason why your shoulders are forward and it’s not the lack of pulling them back.

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What the body actually needs

Here is where a lot of riders get stuck a second time.

They understand that the problem is in their body, not just what they do in the saddle. So they start going to the gym, doing yoga or pilates and strengthening their core. And they still don't see the change they were hoping for in the saddle.

This is because the exercises they are doing are not connected to what their riding actually needs.

General fitness makes you generally fitter. But what changes things for your riding is when the workout is built around a clear understanding of what you specifically as a rider need in the saddle. Because when the movement selection and the way I coach you through your workouts directly addresses the pattern showing up in riding, your body and mind start to connect the two. And that connection is when things change fast in your riding.

"General fitness makes you generally fitter. But what changes things for your riding is when the workout is built around a clear understanding of what you specifically as a rider need in the saddle."

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Why it changes faster than you think

This is the part that surprises riders most.

What riding actually requires is not large amounts of muscle mass. It requires awareness, mobility, and the right connections between the brain and the body. And the nervous system adapts fast. A targeted workout today can create a noticeable difference in the saddle tomorrow, not because the rider suddenly became stronger, but because the body finally received the right input and the rider understood what is the reason for what they are feeling in the saddle.

I have seen riders feel a big change in days (you know the kind that makes them smile very widely). Not weeks. Days.

The difference between a rider who has been working on their seat for three years with limited results and one who changes it quickly is not just putting in more effort. It is understanding why it is happening and then addressing the cause instead of the compensation.

This is why we built Equestrain App

If you have been trying to fix your seat for a long time and nothing has permanently changed, I want you to know something. You are not the problem. The missing piece is not more effort. It is having a plan that is actually built around what your riding needs.

That is exactly why Equestrain App exists.

When you download the app, the first thing we do is ask you about your riding. What you feel in the saddle, what your trainer keeps telling you, what you see when you watch your own videos. And from those answers, we build you a workout plan where every single movement is chosen because of what it does for your specific position in the saddle. Not a generic one-size-fits-all rider workout program but a personalized plan that speaks the language your riding needs.

This is how riders who have been struggling with the same seat problem for years start feeling a difference within days. Not because they suddenly worked harder but because for the first time, the work they were putting in was actually connected to the riding they wanted to improve.

"The difference between a rider who has been working on their seat for three years with limited results and one who changes it quickly is not just putting in more effort. It is understanding why it is happening and then addressing the cause instead of the compensation."

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