Springall Equestrian Services

📝One of the biggest mistakes riders make is chasing a shoulder-hip-heel line simply because they’ve been told it’s “correct”, without understanding why.

Shoulder-hip alignment can be useful (especially when wearing the clothes to see exactly what is happening in the saddle) . In Position A, it immediately tells us the rider is leaning backwards rather than sitting vertically.

But when you compare Positions B and C, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Both riders appear to have their shoulders over their hips, yet they’ve achieved that position in completely different ways.

The difference is the relationship between the rib cage and pelvis.

In Position B, the pelvis remains in an anterior tilt and the rider has flattened the rib cage to bring the shoulders forward. Their trunk looks vertical, but they are still not balanced.

In Position C, the pelvis is neutral, allowing the rib cage to stack naturally over it. The shoulders sit over the hips because the trunk is organised, not because the chest has been dropped down and forward.

This also affects breathing. In Position C, the diaphragm has room to work and the rib cage can expand naturally. In Position B, flattening the rib cage limits that expansion, making efficient diaphragmatic breathing much more difficult.

And yes, riding is dynamic. That’s exactly why a ready position matters.

Every sport has one. It isn’t the position you stay in; it’s the position that allows you to move and adapt efficiently.

If you can’t organise your pelvis and trunk while the horse is standing still, how are you going to stay balanced once the horse starts moving and you’re absorbing forces and making constant adjustments?

Don’t just ask, “Are the shoulders over the hips?” Ask, “How did they get there?”

If you want to understand the biomechanics behind rider position rather than simply copying a shape, that’s exactly what we cover in the Riding Ready Position Course and in the Rider Physio sessions.

Check this out

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