No matter what your style or riding is, having a good, balanced position is important.

In the basic seat position, you sit erect, deep in the Saddle with your body balanced and relaxed. Sit tall in the saddle, do not slouch. You should be able to draw a line from the point of your Shoulder to your Heel and from the point of your Knee to your toe. Your leg should maintain a frictional grip, maintaining light contact with the horse's body through your indide thigh and upper half of your calf. Your foot should be turned out slightly in a natural position with any weight on the ball of your foot. Your heel should be lower than your tow to allow more flexibility in your ankle. Your Hand and arms should be relaxed and supple with your elbows in close to your body. You should hold the Reins just above and in from of the saddle horn or pommel.

Most positional problems have their beginnings with bad habits. Develop the following good habits and you will ride ina desireable position.

Head
You should be looking up and watching where you are going. The weight of your head is noticable to your horse and they will usually go in the direction you are looking. For example, you can ride in a circle with minimal leg or rein pressure simply by looking into the center of the circle.

Often a ride will look down when they are riding to check diagonals and leads. This can make it harder for the horse to work because it puts extra weight on the front quarters, making it harder for the horse to stride forward. The extra weight can also make it harder for a unbalanced horse to travel. It is important that you hold your head up to help yu feel your horse and develop your seat.

Shoulders
As you sit in the saddle your shoulders should be level. Shoulders that are not level is a sign you may have your weight shifted to the lower side. This makes the horse lean in the same direction. Loping / Cantering in small circles will cause you to want to drop your inside shoulder, so pay careful attention to keeping them even.

Back
Your back should be erect, but not locked and rigid.

Arms
The Forearm(s) of your rein hand should come straight forward with the hand held vertically just above or on either side of the horn / pommel. The hand should follow the natural movement of the horse's head. When riding one handed, the lower arm should be held at a 90 degree angle in front of the waist. The fingers of the hand holding the reins should be curled around the reins with the thumb held down firmly over the index finger and reins.

Your forearm and reins from the horses mouth up to your Elbow should form a straight line. This straight line includes your wrists which should not be bent. Your elbows should remain in close to your sides and slightly in front of your body.

Hands
When riding with two hands the rider's hands should be placed 4-5 inches apart with the thumbs facing upwards and the fingernails of each hand facing each other. The hands should be held slightly in front of the Withers. The hands shold remain closed with the fingers tight on the reins without being rigid.

Seat
The inside of the thighs should remain in contact with the saddle without gripping. Your seat bones should be in contact with the saddle so that your body sits at a 90 degree angle to the saddle. Be careful that you do not sit back on yur buttocks and back of your thighs. Sit up, take your feet out of the stirrups and twist your legs until the insides of your thighs are in contact with the saddle.

Legs
The legs are used to balance the upper body in the saddle and cue the horse.

A western rider uses a longer leg position then an English Hunt Seat or Saddle Seat rider, but a similar length to a Dressage rider. The differences in riding style are caused by the shape of the saddle and the foreward movement of the horse. For all saddles, the stirrups need to be short enought that the legs and ankles can act as shock absorbers.

For western riders, the stirrups should hang so that the bottom of the stirrup touches your ankles. If you are involved in cattle or gymkhaha events you may want the stirrups slightly shorter. The lower leg is important for leg aids. It may be used to squeeze, kick or bump the sid eof the horse. The lower leg needs to be kept still when you ride, or your leg aids will not be as effective. This is because the horse has been getting signals all the time and does not know which ones to obey. The distance between your lower leg and the side of the horse will depend on the length of your legs and where they fit against the body of the horse.

Foot
Foot position affects how you can use your legs. The ball of the foot should be resting on the stirrup with your weight carried down through your heel so that your heel is lower then your toes. If you place your weight on your toe, it will point down and it is possible that you foot will slip through the stirrup. Putting your foot too far into the stirrup makes it hard to flex your ankle.

The feet of the rider should be nearly parallel to the side of the horse. Toes pointing outward can cause problems, especially if wearing spurs. You can accidently jab the horse because of an incorrect foor position. The direction of the foot will turn the whole leg. This make sit hard to get the inside of your calf, knee and thigh against the saddle. Because your legs grip the saddle by friction you will not have as firm a grip if your legs and feet are turned outward. Gripping the saddle too hard with your legs will push you up and out of the saddle, making it hard to sit the gaits.