text: Stop Leaning! | Personal Performance Coach for all riders | Cutting Horse Trainer and Educator | Author, Speaker, Clinician
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  Stop Leaning!
  You’ve heard it before. Someone shouts, “Stop leaning!” Immediately it feels like someone put your finger in a light socket. Your eyes bug out and your back goes stiff in an effort to get upright in the saddle! Ugh! That’s not exactly what you wanted instead!
  Without realizing it, it’s so easy to develop the habit of leaning in lots of directions. Maybe you lean and kind of pump your upper body forward to try to get your horse to go (instead of using leg/feet cues only.)
  Maybe you anticipate a cutting or reining turn and you lean into the turn before your horse turns.
  These are just two examples. It’s easy to lean … and it usually reflects some kind of inner excitement of the rider.
  The problem is, it usually becomes a poor riding habit.
  No matter the cause of random upper body motion, the cure is the same. It takes mental focus and slowing down.
  If leaning is a habit you’d like to break, you will need to coach yourself through it repeatedly until you have a new habit that replaces the old one. For example, if you lean forward when it’s time to trot or lope your horse, try this sequence from a walk.
  Look up and focus your eyes on where you want to go.
  Coach yourself to keep your upper body ‘still and quiet’.
  Imagine exhaling all the way through your saddle and into your horse’s rib cage.
  Engage your core by pushing your belt buckle towards your spine.
  Point your hand forward precisely toward where you’re going.
  Engage your legs.
  Repeat the sequence multiple times a day for many days until the new quiet/still upper body feels anchored and centered in the saddle.
  If you are working on replacing sideways leaning in a discipline in which you are moving fast (like cutting,) visualize riding your horse from your core with your eyes focused softly on your target.
  Imagine being at ease and deep in the saddle. Breathe into any stiffness in your body to loosen tension. Ride your horse in your mind in slow motion. Keep your elbows heavy. Watch your target in your mind. Feel the sweet deep anchored sensation in the saddle as you wait on your horse to turn instead of turning your upper body before your horse. Love the sensation of a horse turning you as you sit so quiet and heavy in the saddle. Let your horse do the work of the turn. Your job is to allow him to do his job.
  Work slowly and methodically by breaking things down to see where the leaning begins. Repeat the new behavior until it becomes a new habit. Visualize what you want as often as possible.
  This is the most tried and true method of changing those little things in your riding that make a big difference.
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  Tags: Barbara Schulte, Barbra Schulte, Cutting Horse, Cutting Horse DVD, Cutting Horse Trainer, Horse Trainer, Horse Training, Mental Training, Quarter Horses, Reining Horses Horsemanship, Show Horse, Sports Psychology
  Comments
  2 Comments on Stop Leaning!
  Lloyd Estes on Fri, 20th Jan 2017 5:51 pm
  IMHO, Don’t Lean is a subconscious relative, sensitive people especially. Leaning can be caused by insecurity, insecurity caused by saddle design and/or a slinging horse. Thigh pockets (waist) and rocker are typical issues that create insecurity. Instead of ever using “DON’T LEAN IN”, try “STEP UP AND OUT” or” DROP YOUR HERD SIDE SHOULDER UNTIL FEELING THE HIP BONE HIT LEATHER While Staying Vertical”. It is mathematically, impossible to stay exactly in the middle of the horse. Therefore, one either leans in or out. Stepping out supports planting the horses herd side hind foot for the ” two part turn around” (increasingly competitive requirement) Leaning forward is a matter for discussion. The horse typically “Drags” the rider, opposed to “Carrying” the rider, another saddle design influence. Subject to dragging the rider and saddle design, the Center Of Gravity is moved aft, potentially punishing the loin….KISSING SPINE….Please critique..
  HorseWeb on Wed, 10th Mar 2021 11:36 am
  Thanks for the article! I ride horses without a coach’s help, so I search for various educational articles all the time. I will try to follow your advice next time I have a workout!