Better Rider Project

12/04/2026

Had a great day at Dewhurst Equestrian Club yesterday, teaching alongside Marcel Loeb Equestrian.

We built the session around the theme of finding balance and straightness in the saddle.

🧐"Straight" isn't a fixed position where you stay still, it's an adaptive baseline for using both sides of your body to influence both sides of your horse. Easier said than done, when human "factory settings" are biased for one side.

❗️The thing most riders probably don't think about is that your nervous system is wired for efficiency. It runs mostly on complex predictions, and rarely on real-time awareness. On a moving horse, that's useful, but it also means you can be crooked, braced, or uneven and genuinely not know it, because your brain is confidently filling in the gaps.

🛠️That's where the tools come in. I stayed warm inside helping riders on the simulator, while Marcel braved the elements outside, in mounted sessions using Franklin balls.

🧠Simulator sensor feedback gives you cognitive knowledge. Talking to the "smart" part of your brain it interrupts the predictions and shows you what's actually happening, and what you can pay attention to in the saddle.

🏀Franklin balls placed in different places on the body give you different feels and reference points for pressure and movement, waking up body awareness that you might not have been feeling.

➡️ If you don't get information, nothing can change. That's not a mindset problem, or any kind of personal failing (we riders always want to do better). Lack of "feel" and body awareness is just how the nervous system works, especially when you're in the complex task of riding a horse, unless you really train it!

🧡Like us to come to your riding club too? Get in touch!

09/04/2026

Hitting the road: We're heading to Tasmania in May 8-11th, working alongside EA L2 dressage and jumping coach Merindah Thompson ⬇️

We co-hosting a full day workshop to get riders out of their comfort zones (fun!) but that's already SOLD OUT. There's still a couple of spots available for the Rider Reveal sessions on the simulator where I'll help you discover what your body is really telling your horse (and a step-by-step plan to improve, no matter what level you're riding at). BONUS access to the "Riders Inside Out" webinar.

If you're in Tasmania (Deloraine and surrounds) or you've got friends who are, check out the link in the post below.

If your riding feels blocked, your body doesn’t feel quite right in the saddle, or the same corrections keep coming up without really sticking, Lissanthea’s 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹 sessions are designed to find what lessons often can’t see. These 90-minute sessions include SeatIQ simulator testing and clinical movement analysis to help you understand what your body is saying to your horse - and how to make that conversation clearer. Deloraine, 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟭𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘆.

Our full-day 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 workshop may be fully booked… but there is still an opportunity to work 𝟭:𝟭 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗿 while she’s here. To learn more or book your session, click the link below 👇

02/04/2026

Hip vs Pelvis in the saddle💥When you know your anatomy, you unlock a better understanding of how you and the horse work together. Biomechanics are collaborative between horse and rider.

24/03/2026

If you don’t keep a record of your lessons, how do you know what you need to practice to get better?

Bonus benefits: Writing and reflecting on experiences are important ways we create memories and also question our first assumptions. Maybe after writing it down, you might find that “bad” lesson was not so bad!

23/03/2026

Riders: meet your pelvis 👋
Knowing your anatomy helps you develop accurate feel and trust what you’re feeling from your horse.

If you know you’re straight off the horse because you’ve checked with your physio, but you’re wonky in photos, it might not be your fault alone.

Too often riders blame themselves for what they see in photos but one of the unique aspects of our sport is that our “ideal biomechanics” depends upon the movements of another being, and that other being has their own set of challenges staying balanced on 4 legs🐴

12/03/2026

I always feel incredibly grateful to be welcomed into the beautiful worlds people create through their work and passion. Thank you for having Sven and I in the studio this morning Jess From Performance Pilates — it was such a joy to see your riders explore their movement with Sven's springs and sensor feedback system.

What I love most about these sessions is how quickly riders realise things about their body that are almost impossible to feel when they’re on a moving horse.

It was also wonderful to see just how clearly your pilates work translated straight into the saddle for everyone. Dedicated practices creates skill!

Judging by the smiles (and the comments!), I think Sven may need to plan another visit soon…

11/03/2026

If you’re riding while thinking about your to-do list… your horse is basically having a conversation with someone who’s scrolling their phone. Awkward.

Riding is communication through the body.
And it only works when you’re fully here — breathing, feeling the rhythm, noticing every stride.

A quiet breath in.
A long breath out.
Suddenly you’re back in the present moment where your horse already lives.

The best thing about horses?
They drag us back into the present whether we like it or not.

So when you get in the saddle… leave the chaos at the mounting block.

Breathe.
Be here.
Ride every stride.

10/03/2026

There’s usually an anatomical reason for riding traditions like bridging the reins.

It’s not just something riders do because they were told to, it helps connect the hands to the upper back muscles between the shoulder blades, giving the arms a stable base.

When the back does the stabilising, the hands can stay soft and quiet.

In this exercise I use a mini band around the hands to help riders feel that connection: strength through the back, softness through the reins.

When you understand the human body, what we do in the saddle makes sense!

10/03/2026

⬆️ Here’s proof that good photographers are basically magicians.

Huge thanks to for snapping some professional photos of me.

Mark normally photographs horses and riders flying over jumps or galloping across paddock, not people like me who’ve just climbed out of the saddle, roughly brushed their hair, and are waiting to be told how to sit.

I mostly just followed instructions:
“Stand there.”
“Turn slightly.”
“Don’t look so worried”

Somehow Mark turned that into photos that actually look professional.

He insists portrait photography is outside his comfort zone, but I think we can all agree he’s hiding his talents.

So grateful for Mark’s help to build the Better Rider Project, and look good doing it! 🙌

23/01/2026

That’s horses.

They don’t care about your plans, your schedule, or the perfect weather for a great lesson this morning.

Instead, they teach you something most sports never will: patience, perspective, and the ability to redirect effort without resentment.

Billy didn’t need a better rider today — he needed care, time, and some clever duct-tape handicrafts. So that’s what our day became.

The lesson wasn’t lost. It was just different to what I expected, but flexibility and perspective is the key when things don't turn out the way you planed!

06/12/2025

Riding isn’t just staying in the saddle — it’s thinking with your body on a moving animal.

And that’s a really complex skill to learn.

We’re asking the nervous system to coordinate fine-motor movement and timing in body parts that don’t move that way in everyday life… while balancing on half a tonne of horse with its own ideas.

So yes—of course riders feel stuck.

And then we get the learning loop of doom:

➡ riders try harder
➡ coaches repeat cues
➡ everyone gets frustrated

Eventually people start believing:
“I just can’t do this.”
Or worse… “I must not be trying hard enough.”

Here’s the truth 👇
Most riders don’t lack discipline or effort—they’re missing sensory information.

Once riders actually feel what their seatbones are doing, where to pay attention, and get a safe, slow, repeatable experience on a simulator… the body suddenly understands what the brain has been trying to figure out for years.

And then all at once:

✨ the movement makes sense
✨ the pelvis, spine + hips coordinate
✨ riding feels balanced and effective

Not because you magically improved—
but because your brain finally got the data it needed.

That’s what simulator training does:
It turns theory into sensation.
Cues into embodied skill.
“Try harder” into “Oh—THAT feeling!”

If you’ve been stuck, it’s not you.
You just haven’t felt it yet.

https://www.betterriderproject.com/horse-simulator

01/12/2025

What standards of fitness do you hold yourself to?

I posted about rider fitness yesterday, and of course, I had to prove to myself that I was hitting the milestones that I set for myself (phew, I did!)

I like to use the 12-minute distance test which roughly calculates VO2Max when you measure the distance you run or walk in 12 minutes.

I can do 2kms in 12 minutes - on this test, that's slightly above average for my age group.

Here's the twist - I can do this at a relatively low level of exertion. I am not puffing, I could mostly have a conversation and I can still think while I do it.

If I was really pushing it, I suspect I'd be pretty good for my age, but I am most interested in keeping that cognitive and sensory capacity by not being puffed out. I'm saving that for my horse!

Testing yourself is not shame-inducing or judgement-forming, it's just the way we see and track progress, so you're always getting better for the good of your horse.

Try it yourself

The Cooper test, a 12-minute run test, is used by coaches, trainers, and athletes to assess their current fitness and monitor their training progress.