Finding Your Inner Thigh Feel: An Exercise to Refine Your Leg Aids
- Loz
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Riders often struggle with learning feel when riding! It is an interesting and light bulb moment if you pursue this approach (this is all part of my equine awareness training methodologies). Read on as I think I can help you get that inkling of unlocking finding/teaching the right feel!
Developing an independent seat and subtle, effective leg aids starts with understanding what feel actually means in your own body. Many riders are told to “wrap the leg on,” “guard with the outside leg,” or “add more inside leg,” but without a reference point, these instructions can feel vague or confusing.
How much is enough? How much is too much? How do we get the balance and application right for maximising our horse's functional movements?
This simple off‑horse exercise helps you establish physical benchmarks for how much engagement you truly need from your inner thigh. It links directly to the 7‑point seat and will make your leg aids clearer, softer, and more consistent—both to you and your horse.
All you need is:
A ball roughly the size of a volleyball (slightly deflated is best)
A stable chair without wheels
A mirror (helpful but optional)
Less than 10 minutes of your time!
Mobile phone (or recording device) to record so you can reflect on what your body is doing
Here's a video demonstration to help guide you in this adventure:
📹 Basics of Feel Exercise
Why This Exercise Matters
Your horse feels far more than many riders realise. Even without consciously adding a leg cue, your thighs and seat are always communicating pressure, stability, and intention.
This exercise helps you:
Understand the difference between gripping and feeling
Develop a consistent baseline (your “5-10% feel”)
Apply aids with clarity instead of over‑cues
Improve the subtlety and independence of each leg
Let’s break it down.
The Exercise: Calibrating Your Inner Thigh Feel
1. Start in Your Neutral Seat
Sit on your chair with:
Feet aligned under you
Knees hip‑width apart
Spine tall, shoulders relaxed
Check your spine is stacked (this is shown in the video)
Do you arch your back to stick you bum out?
Do you curve your back to tuck your bum under and round your back?
.... Interesting start!
Now, place the ball between your knees.
2. Test 1: 100% Squeeze
Squeeze the ball as hard as you can (100% effort).
This is your “maximum engagement.”
This level represents what a full, gripping, 100% leg aid might feel like—far more than you’d ever want to use during normal riding!
Notice:
Which muscles turn on?
Do you hunch over (as if you were hunkering down to put your entire body into the squeeze)?
Do your glutes brace (like mine in the video)?
Does your pelvis tip?
What happens in your breath or shoulders?
Memorise this feeling—it’s your upper limit. And definitely not something the horse should ever be exposed to!
3. Test 2: 50% Squeeze
Release the ball (but don't let it drop), then squeeze again—this time at 50% effort.
You should feel:
The ball is secure
Your legs are engaged
But your body is not bracing as much
Minimal firing of some one or two muscles here and there
This is already much closer to a functional riding aid.
Memorise this feeling.
4. Test 3: Half of Your 50%
Now, squeeze at 50% of your 50%—approximately 25% effort.
Again, notice:
What switches on
What stays relaxed
How stable you feel
Repeat this reduction process gradually, each time squeezing less intensely, until the ball eventually slips or drops. This helps you discover the lowest possible engagement at which your thighs still have contact and tone. Boom! Mic-drop!
What This Means for Riding
The sweet spot for everyday riding is your 5-10% feel. This is the amount of inner thigh tone needed for your leg to “wrap” the saddle or horse softly without gripping, bracing, or collapsing.
Important to note, I have not mentioned the lower leg at all for this when riding. This is pulling your biomechanics to a level where you feel and move with the horse's ribcage, minimising the need for lower leg cues and noise.
Your 5-10% Feel Should Be On All the Time
Not gripping. Not pushing. Just gently "there" like you are holding a precious baby bird. Just present and supportive—your entry level version of the “suctioning cue” we’ve spoken about previously. People who ride with the thighs/legs off will have inconsistent seat contact (much like inconsistent rein contact, creating white noise for the horse). Some rider's may hear the phrase "you're riding with your legs off". Something to consider. We don't want our legs flopping around off the horse's ribcage. But gently "there" all the time (not intermittent like windscreen wipers on our car's windshield).
How This Relates to Leg Aids
🟦 Guarding Leg Cue
(For example: “outside leg is on” or “slightly guarding”)→ Around 10–15% feel
The other leg remains at its baseline 5-10%.
An example for using this would be making a circle, where the outside inner thigh activates to guard the outside ribcage of the horse and provide a guard wall/rail to softly say "don't go here". (There are other human biomechanics in play to make a good circle, but this is a simple start to visualise.)
🟪 Active Leg Cue (e.g. shoulder‑in)
Outside thigh → ~20%
Inside thigh → 5–10%
By playing with these percentages in your chair exercise, you will see how the ball shifts, rolls, or stabilises as each leg changes its level of engagement. This mimics how your horse feels the shifts in your thigh pressure and adjusts their ribcage accordingly.
The goal: Teach the horse to respond to the lowest percentage you can use—your softest aid.
For aspiration: When your horse is well trained with this approach, you will find you will only need to use your lower leg very minimally (for upward gait changes)! How cool is that?!
Now Take It to the Saddle
Once you’ve calibrated your feel off the horse, apply the same awareness under saddle (Remembering: INNER THIGHS ONLY):
Can you hold your 5-10% feel without gripping?
Can you move your 5-10% with the horse's ribcage in walk? (Deeper question for you: which side does your horse's ribcage bulge out on more—left or right?)
Can your horse feel the difference between 5-10% and 15%?
What happens when you adjust one leg more than the other?
Does your horse respond to your subtlety?
This is where understanding becomes riding technique—and where your independent seat starts to truly develop.
Independent Seat Cues, Broken Down and Achievable
This simple, grounded exercise gives you the clarity you need to apply your leg aids intentionally and independently. No guesswork. No over‑cueing. Just precision, softness, and understanding.
I am hoping this has created some "ah-ha" or "lightbulb" moments for you in regard to how much is too much or how little is not enough in your seat and feel of riding. I'd be keen to hear how this exercise helped you. Please comment below!
Want to learn more? Book in with a lesson!
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