Two seats

As I ride Champagne in my two saddles, I find I need two types of sitting postures.

My dressage saddle calls for quite an upright posture, and I am still learning the fine points. I understand the concept of being able to draw a straight line from ankle through hips through ear, but that’s harder to achieve that it would seem. For one thing, I continually have to remind myself to “open my hip angle” which appears to mean move my thighs back more, to hug the saddle with my thighs kind of rolled in, keeping my feet back behind the girth, and remembering to tilt my pelvis just slightly forward, while reaching up with the top of my head and bringing my shoulder blades back, all while staying “loose” (not rigid). Erm herm. However, when I do it right, my seat really does feel deeper, my seat and legs are pretty motionless on Champagne unless I am using an aid, and in general I feel really rooted to his back and not likely to come off.

But it is very pleasant to ride the trails in my new saddle. For some reason I feel higher up in it, and it certainly does not give me the feeling of being connected to Champagne that the dressage saddle does, but it is very comfy. I have the stirrups long, although I did lose them once or twice on the weekend, but the cantle is high and really helpful. While on the trail, Champagne startled forward a few steps because some mountain bikers were coming up behind us unexpectedly. I’m not saying I would have come off in the other saddle, but it was very comforting to have that nice high nubuck cantle help me dart forward with my horse. Trails are for going a long way and enjoying the ride with my boy; rings and arenas are for working on impulsion, forwardness, and responsiveness on his part and on perfecting my seat on may part.

It feels good to have a trade-off.