How to Improve Your Sitting Trot: Finding Softness, Balance and Feel

Refining Your Feel

The sitting trot is one of those movements that looks effortless from the ground… and feels like a small earthquake in the saddle when you’re learning it. Many riders tense up, grip, hold their breath or bounce harder the more they try to “sit still.”

But the secret to a good sitting trot isn’t to hold or grip anything still. It’s to soften, organise and allow.

Here’s how I break it down for myself — using simple words and physical cues that help me check in with where my body is, without overthinking or bracing.

You can do this with or without stirrups, or in a bareback pad. I prefer no stirrups or bareback pad as this encourages you to really feel you and the horse. Please have safety in mind when you try this out. If needed, hook a monkey strap (aka Jesus strap) to your saddle D-rings and hold on with your outside hand.

✨ Start Slow: Set Yourself Up for Success

Before you even think about “sitting better,” start with a slow, steady trot tempo. A rushed trot makes it impossible to feel what your body is doing, and you’ll just end up bouncing more.

Then ask yourself:

• Am I breathing?

• Am I soft?

• Can I feel the rhythm, or am I bracing against it?

• Can I feel which way my horse's rib cage is swinging (left and right)?

If you’re already gripping or holding tension in walk, it’ll show up tenfold in trot — so take your time here.

✨ Words I Use to Guide My Body

I love using simple phrases or “anchors” to remind my body what to do. Here are the ones that help me the most:

1. “Inner thigh only — about a fist width.”

Rather than clamping your whole leg, focus the contact to just the top inner thigh, roughly the size of a fist on each side (where your thigh meets your private bits). This gives a gentle, massaging-type stability without gripping or closing your pelvis.

2. “Legs hang straight down.”

Let your legs drape like wet towels. No turning out, no pinching, no holding. Let them hang! We are not trying to keep/hold our legs in the position as if we were in stirrups!

3. “Soft toes.”

This one is huge. Imagine your toes melting instead of pressing into stirrups. Soft toes = soft ankles = soft hips = soft seat. Or even better, take your stirrups away when you are practicing this!

4. “Melty bum.”

The opposite of clenching. A melty bum follows the movement; a clenched one fights it. Can you melt your butt cheeks deep down into the horse's back?

5. “Zip up.”

Focus on the up‑up of the trot by lightly engaging your lower abdominals. Think of doing up a zipper from your pubic bone to your belly button. This gives you core stability without using your glutes (more on that below). With each motion of the horse's trot stride, the zip-up happens, giving you the sensation of carrying yourself on the horse's back.

Remember the horse's ribcage swings left and right in the trot too, so a more advanced feel could be up-left and up-right in time with the horse's movement. (You can feel this more at a walk if you want to dive deep into this level of feel.)

These cues help your body coordinate with the trot instead of resisting it.

✨ What Not to Do in Sitting Trot or Common Mistakes

❌ Don’t engage your glutes

As soon as you squeeze your bum, your pelvis locks and you start bouncing.

❌ Don’t grip with your knees

If you grip on with your knees your bracing almost your entire leg and this will travel up to the saddle. You can test this in the sit trot, by briefly taking both legs away and off the horse and reset back on. If you unbalance, then this is an indicator you are gripping to stay on. If you continue gripping with the knees you may even get friction/rubbing marks on your leg! This is very ouchie!

❌ Don’t focus on the down-down movement

A lot of people focus on down-down. I feel this creates more tension and heaviness. We are aiming for light, self-carriage in our own bodies.

❌ Don’t worry about what your horse looks like

This moment is about you. Your horse can move freely while you focus on feel, softness and balance.

❌ Don’t rush

Going faster doesn’t make sitting easier — it makes it harder. Slow the trot so you can actually absorb the movement.

❌ Don’t hold your breath

Sing or hum out loud to keep your breath flowing. It is amazing how much tension and bounce happens just from holding your breath alone! See your fav song like no-one is listening!

✨ The Reset Method: Fix the Bounce Before It Builds

If you feel yourself bouncing or losing your rhythm, don’t force your way through it.

Instead:

1. Come back to walk

2. Breathe out and soften everything

3. Reset your cues — soft toes, melty bum, legs draped down

   1. Big reset here is take your thigh off and away from the saddle for 2 seconds and gently place them back on.

4. Try again for half a circle

5. Walk again before you lose the softness

As your body learns the feel, you’ll slowly increase how long you can sit without losing balance. The progress is gradual but incredibly rewarding.

✨ Why This Method Works

Improving your sitting trot isn’t about strength — it’s about allowing motion, not resisting it.

Using imagery like “melty bum,” “soft toes,” and “zip up” helps switch your brain from bracing mode to feeling mode. Your horse feels the difference immediately.

Over time, as your body learns how to follow the rhythm, you'll sit quieter, move softer, and stay connected without gripping — and your horse will mirror that softness right back to you.