Book one and four elaborate on where to sit and bending
Do You Sit to the Inside or Outside of Your Horse?
In response to numerous requests, I am going to break from my series on canter work to answer the question: Do you sit to the inside or the outside of your horse? (Just for clarification: the inside of your horse is always determined by the bend.)
Using your inside leg as a pole for your horse to bend around is promoted by USDF. It has been written about by numerous equestrians referring to the subject of bend. In order for the inside leg to create a pole for your horse to bend around you must be sitting to the inside of your horse. If you are sitting to the outside of the saddle it is not possible for you to have a pole (leg) available for your horse to bend around. In fact you will have trouble with your horse falling to the inside and falling out of balance. When you are sitting to the outside of your horse your aids will constantly push him toward the inside shoulder. When you sit to the inside of your horse you will push him off the inside shoulder. With proper use of the outside rein you maintain the position of the outside shoulder and can, in turn, control the amount of bend you have. If you never achieve the proper balance by lifting the horse off of the inside shoulder, he will never have a clear idea of how to use his shoulders.
Have you ever had trouble keeping your horse on the rail? Have you ever had trouble maintaining the bend in lateral movements? Does your horse feel like he’s always wandering side-to-side? Do you feel yourself pulling him one way and then the other just to achieve the basic movements in dressage? Most likely you could fix all of these problems simply by sitting to the inside of your horse.
