If you’ve ever been told to “sit deeper” and found yourself trying to somehow push your seat down into the saddle, you’ll know how frustrating this can feel.
Because often the harder you try to sit deeper, the less soft everything becomes.
The thighs grip.
The lower back tightens.
The breath gets held.
The pelvis gets a bit stuck.
And instead of feeling like you are moving with your horse, it can feel like you are trying to hold yourself in place and hoping it looks better from the outside.
But a deeper seat isn’t really something we can force.
Not in a useful way anyway.
Because your seat is not just your seat.
It is your hips, pelvis, spine, core, breath, balance, nervous system, and the way all of those things are working together while the horse is moving underneath you.
So when your seat feels blocked, it doesn’t always mean you need to try harder.
Sometimes it means your body needs more options.
Why “sit deeper” can be hard to do
“Sit deeper” sounds simple.
But what does the body actually do with that instruction?
Some riders tuck their pelvis.
Some push down into the saddle.
Some try to relax so much they lose support.
Some clamp with the thighs without realising.
Some hold through the lower back.
Some try to sit still by stopping movement everywhere.
And none of this is because they are doing something wrong. It is usually the body trying to work out how to follow an instruction it doesn’t quite have the freedom or support for yet.
That’s the piece I think matters.
If your hips don’t have enough suppleness, your pelvis won’t have as many options.
If your core isn’t supporting you well, your legs might grip to help you feel more secure.
If your spine feels stiff, your lower back might take over.
If your body doesn’t feel balanced, it will find balance somewhere — often through the reins, thighs, shoulders, or tension.
So the blocked seat is not always the problem.
It is often the thing showing you where the body needs a little more help.
Your seat needs both freedom and support
I think sometimes riders can get caught between two ideas.
On one hand, we know we need to relax. We need to soften. We need to allow the movement.
But on the other hand, if we just become floppy, unsupported, or passive, that doesn’t help either.
A good seat needs both.
It needs enough freedom through the hips and pelvis to follow the horse, and enough strength through the centre of the body to stay organised while that movement is happening.
That is why I always come back to this:
Suppleness opens the door. Strength helps you live there.
Because if your body is too tight, it can’t follow easily.
But if your body has freedom without support, it often doesn’t trust that freedom and will tighten again.
This is why stretching alone doesn’t always solve the problem.
And it is also why just getting stronger doesn’t always solve it either.
Riders need the two to work together.
More room in the body.
More support underneath that room.
More ability to soften without collapsing.
More ability to stay organised without becoming stiff.
That is where the seat starts to feel different.
Forcing usually creates the opposite feeling
When a rider tries to force a deeper seat, the body often becomes more guarded.
It makes sense.
If the body doesn’t feel safe or supported in that position, it isn’t going to magically soften just because we ask it to.
It will protect.
It will brace.
It will grip.
It will do what it knows.
And this is why I don’t love the idea of riders trying to push themselves deeper into the saddle.
I would much rather ask:
What would help the seat become more available?
Do the hips need more space?
Does the pelvis need more awareness?
Does the core need more support?
Does the rider need to breathe?
Does the body need more time to trust the movement?
Those are much more useful questions than “why can’t I just sit deeper?”
Because they take us out of frustration and into curiosity.
And curiosity is such a better place to train from.
Small changes matter
A blocked seat doesn’t always change in one big dramatic moment.
Sometimes it starts with something very small.
You notice one hip doesn’t feel as guarded.
You can breathe a little more easily in sitting trot.
Your lower back doesn’t jump in quite as quickly.
Your leg hangs for a few strides before it grips.
You feel both seat bones more evenly.
You catch the tension earlier than you normally would.
Those little moments matter.
They are not nothing.
They are signs that your body is starting to find another option.
And this is why the work off the horse is so valuable.
Because away from the saddle, you can give your body clearer signals without the extra challenge of managing the horse underneath you at the same time.
You can work on hip suppleness.
You can build core support.
You can practise pelvic awareness.
You can help the body feel what it is like to move without gripping.
Then when you get back in the saddle, the body has something new to draw from.
Not perfectly.
Not instantly.
But gradually.
Layer by layer.
What I would do instead
If your seat feels blocked, I wouldn’t start by trying to force it deeper.
I would start by helping the body feel safer and more available.
Gentle hip work is often a really good place to begin, especially for riders who feel tight, uneven, or like they can’t quite go with the horse’s movement.
Not aggressive stretching.
Not pushing into big ranges.
Just consistent work that helps the hips, pelvis, and lower back start to have a better conversation.
Then I would layer in strength.
Especially through the core and hips, because the body needs support if it is going to trust more freedom.
And most importantly, I would keep bringing it back to the feeling in the saddle.
Does your seat feel a little more settled?
Can your hips follow a little more easily?
Does your leg grip a little less quickly?
Can you breathe sooner?
Does your body feel like it has more choices?
That is the work.
Not forcing a shape.
Not trying to make your body obey.
But giving it the signals and support it needs so a deeper seat becomes more available.
If your hips are the place where you feel this most — tight, blocked, uneven, or like your seat can’t quite follow your horse — this is exactly why I created the Hip Suppleness program.
It’s not about forcing your body open.
It’s about giving your body small, clear, consistent signals so more freedom can become available.
Because when your hips and pelvis have more options, your seat has more options too.