Ride with Inner Support: How to Activate Your Core Without Stiffness

A soft, embodied seat begins before the first step

What Most Riders Get Wrong About Core Activation

Over the past two posts, we’ve been building something powerful —

a deeper understanding of your core that’s based on awareness, not effort.

You’ve connected with the transverse abdominis, your deep stabilizing muscle.

You’ve explored how it works in harmony with your breath to support your spine, pelvis, and seat.

And now, it’s time to bring that awareness into the saddle — with softness, not stiffness.

A lot of riders try to be “strong” in the saddle by:

• Gripping their thighs

• Tensing their belly

• Holding their breath

• Locking their seat in place

They mean well. They want to be correct, centered, balanced.

But all of these are compensations, not strength.

True engagement isn’t loud or forceful.

It’s subtle. Quiet. Cooperative.

It lets your pelvis breathe with your horse’s back, not fight against it.

What Real Core Engagement Feels Like

When your transverse abdominis, breath, and pelvic awareness are working together, you’ll feel:

• A quiet centeredness through your whole seat

• A natural following of your horse’s movement

• An ability to move without bouncing or bracing

• A sense of support without locking

Your core doesn’t hold you still. It helps you move well.

Try This in the Saddle: The Seat Bone Awareness Ride

You’ll need:

• A mini Franklin ball (or mini roller), a small sponge, or a folded towel

• A safe horse and a calm walk

How to do it:

1. Place the mini roller or sponge under your seat bones while sitting in the saddle.

2. Begin to walk your horse slowly, allowing your body to relax.

3. Simply notice:

   
   

   • How the pressure shifts beneath you

   • Whether one side feels different than the other

   • If your breath or balance begins to adjust

   
   

4. Ride for 2–3 minutes, then remove the prop and continue walking. Notice what’s changed.

This practice gives your nervous system more information.

It reawakens your proprioception — your body’s ability to feel itself in space.

As awareness grows, your movement becomes more balanced, fluid, and in harmony with your horse.

Every moment of softness in your seat is a gift to your horse’s back. And true strength doesn’t feel like holding. It feels like harmony.

If you’d like to go deeper into this kind of work, I teach it in my biomechanics coaching sessions and clinics — step by step, with support, softness, and joy.

You don’t have to guess how it should feel.

I’ll help you discover it in your own body.

With love and awareness,

Ale