Build trust
Improve balance
Achieve harmony
Riding
From struggle under saddle to riding in harmony with your horse
When riding doesn't feel the way it should
Many problems under saddle are not riding problems.
They don't start in the saddle.
They come from:
- lack of symmetry
- lack of balance
- lack of understanding
- lack of preparation
If your horse is not prepared, riding becomes difficult.
Without a solid foundation from the ground, riding often becomes a heavy, unclear or a struggle.
With the right preparation in groundwork, riding becomes light, balanced, and harmonious.
What is riding in Straightness Training?
Riding is where all previous work on the ground comes together.
Balance, suppleness, and strength, now expressed with the rider on top.
Riding means guiding your horse with:
- seat
- legs
- reins
- energy
In Straightness Training, riding is not about obedience or performance.
It is about helping your horse move in balance and carry you with ease.
Your horse learns, now also with the rider on top, to:
- carry more weight on the hind legs
- stay light in the front
- move with balance, suppleness, rhythm and impulsion.
This makes riding feel easier for both you and your horse.
Why preparation makes riding possible
Without a solid foundation, riding often becomes a struggle.
That's because every horse is naturally asymmetrical, which means:
- one side is more supple
- one front leg carries more
- one hind leg pushes more
If we don’t address this, the horse can develop stiffness, and resistance under saddle or develop kissing spines or navicular disease.
That is why riding without any prepation doesn't work.
With the right preparation, riding becomes light, balanced, and harmonious.
When you prepare your horse through:
your horse learns to carry more weight behind.
Now riding becomes possible and your horse can carry you in a healthy and balanced way.
What you develop in riding
- Balance under saddle
- Self-carriage
- Lightness in the contact
- Clear communication
- Confidence in both horse and rider
- Harmony
- Straightness
This is where riding starts to feel easy instead of hard.
How riding fits into Straightness Training
Riding is one of the five training pillars of Straightness Training. Together, the pillars create a logical system that develops your horse step by step.
Groundwork
Longeing
Work in Hand
Riding
Liberty
Each pillar builds on the previous one. Riding is where all previous work comes together.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
What changes when you do Straightness Training
See the transformation in my horse Maestro, the horse who STarted it all:
Before
Before
- Riding feels like a struggle
- Turning on a circle is difficult
- Your horse takes the bit on one side
- You feel stuck and confused
After
- Riding feels balanced and in harmony
- Turning is easy
- Your horse feels soft and supple
- You feel confident and enjoy riding
Basic riding exercises
Your horse already learned the exercises from the ground.
Now you bring them into riding:
- Circle → for balance and bending
- Shoulder-in → to improve flexibility and strength in the inside hind leg
- Haunches-in → to develop mobility in the outside hind leg
Advanced riding
Once the basics are established, riding evolves into gymnastic exercises such as:
- Renvers → to improve communication
- Half pass → to improve coordination
- Pirouette → to develop collection
- Piaffe → to build strength and carrying power
- Levade → to test balance and strength
These exercises improve strength, coordination, and collection, and prepare your horse for light, balanced riding.
How to start
Your horse already learned the exercises from the ground.
Now you bring it into riding.
First, your horse understands the exercises.
Then, your horse learns to do them with a rider.
At the beginning, this is often done with help from the ground.
The horse already knows the “old” aids from longeing.
The rider introduces the “new” aids.
Step by step, your horse connects both, until your horse responds directly to the rider.
- riding on the circle
- making the circle bigger
- making the circle smaller
- transitions between gaits
- changing direction
- riding through the arena
Your horse learns to understand:
- inside rein and inside leg
- outside rein and outside leg
- seat, legs, and reins together
Step by step, everything becomes more clear.
See riding in balance in action
What is your riding goal? Do you want to have a balanced horse so you can hack out? Or would you like to jump? Do you want to do competition? Or do you want to master classical equitation?
Whatever you do, you need a balanced horse. Straightness Training will help you achieve that.
FAQ about riding
1. What makes riding different in Straightness Training?
Riding is not about forcing the horse into a frame. It’s about developing balance, suppleness and shape by stretching and strengthening the muscless step by step.
2. Why does riding sometimes feel difficult?
Often because the foundation is not fully developed and the horse's natural asymmetry is not addressed. Imbalance and stiffness will then show up more clearly under saddle.
3. How can I improve my horse’s balance under saddle?
By developing your horse step by step, starting with groundwork. From the ground, it's easier to stretch short muscles, strengthen long muscles, and build balance and coordination.
4. Do I need to stop riding when I start doing Straightness Training?
It depends. If your horse is very stiff, has developed an underneck, or has a tight back, it can be helpful to focus on groundwork for a few weeks to allow the muscles to relax and stretch.
5.When will riding start to feel easier?
As your horse becomes more supple, relaxed, balanced and responsive, riding naturally becomes lighter and more harmonious.
Finally understand why your horse struggles
What most riders completely miss, and how it's affecting your horse.
In this free guide, you’ll discover:
- The strategies that never work - yet riders keep trying them.
- Three things you can start doing right away to turn things around.
- Why making your horse "listen" isn't working, and what to do instead.
- How to end your struggle and make it possible with your horse