20/01/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GRZXzL4gf/
This is why we need to look after our bodies for our HORSES Sake.
Did you know? This posture is usually built off the horse. Riding just exposes it.
The image on the left is not a “riding fault”.
In most cases, it develops long before someone ever sits in a saddle.
This pattern forms through everyday life.
Long hours sitting.
Screens and driving.
Forward-focused work.
Chronic low-level stress.
Strength training that prioritises bracing over movement.
Breathing patterns that favour holding and tension.
Over time, the body adapts in a very predictable way.
The ribcage drops.
The thoracic spine stiffens.
The pelvis loses independent control.
Tone increases to create stability.
From a biotensegrity perspective, this is a system that has shifted toward compression and tension dominance, with reduced elastic force distribution. It is not broken. It is adapting successfully to modern demands.
It just happens to be a terrible strategy to sit on a horse with.
How common is this? Very.
Research on the general population consistently shows:
• reduced thoracic mobility in most adults
• altered lumbopelvic rhythm in seated workers
• widespread breathing pattern dysfunction linked to stress
Among riders specifically, biomechanical studies repeatedly find:
• asymmetry is normal, not rare
• inconsistent pelvic control even in experienced riders
• compensatory trunk strategies under load
If you ride, the odds are high that you bring some version of this pattern with you.
Not because you’re bad. Because you’re human in a modern world.
What happens when this body sits on a horse
The moment you sit down, your body becomes a boundary condition the horse must work within.
Biomechanically, this posture creates:
• increased vertical stiffness through the saddle
• reduced shock absorption from the rider
• asymmetrical force transmission if collapse or rotation is present
• noisy, inconsistent loading stride to stride
The horse responds by reorganising its own tensegrity:
• increased thoracolumbar stiffness
• altered spinal motion
• compensatory limb loading
• higher muscular co-contraction to stabilise the system
This is not resistance.
It is not behavioural.
It is physics.
The horse is stabilising against a rider who cannot distribute force efficiently.
Over time, that adaptation shows up as:
• one-sidedness
• loss of swing
• difficulty lifting the back
• uneven loading
• so-called “mystery” soundness issues
Adaptation is not the same as health.
The uncomfortable truth
There is no neutral seat.
There is no “I’m not doing anything”.
Your posture, tone, breathing, and movement quality are inputs.
Your horse organises around them every single stride.
Riding doesn’t usually cause this pattern.
Riding reveals it.
This is exactly what we break down in our upcoming webinar:
• how these postures develop off the horse
• how they alter force transmission on the horse
• what riders actually need to restore (and what they don’t)
Because loving your horse also means being honest about your own body.
Join myself and Gus from The Rider Movement the other guy in the pic 😉😂
https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/riderbiomechanics
