Where I would find a Balanced Seat rider coach?

[OldSchool]

I'm curious to know where I would find a balanced seat rider coach? Is there such a designation?

There is no designation for a Balanced Seat instructor. Through years of “innovation and evolution” as the current show seat instructors like to call it, the traditional Balanced Seat has pretty much been gutted of its original substance. Like most things that change over time in small increments, no group or body of riders has “sounded the alarm” and tried to raise the standards back to original Balanced or Military Seat levels. Up until just a few years ago the Pony Club was a haven for the traditional Balanced Seat. But now even Pony Clubs, because of the lack of qualified Balance Seat instructors in the U.S., are hiring typical contemporary show seat riders for their Clubs.

The Balanced Seat is the old Military Seat. In places like Australia, Ireland, Argentina, England and many other countries the traditional Military or Balanced Seat it is still the standard. Granted there have been some changes in these countries as equestrian sport has evolved, but the traditional substance is still there. At places like the RCMP school in Ottawa, the Care Noir at Saumur, British Horse Society, and other traditional schools and associations the Balanced Seat is very much alive and well.

The possibilities for finding a traditional Balanced seat rider/instructor would begin with an older Pony Clubber that earned a substantial rating prior to 1995. Or, there may be some older teachers in your area who learned to ride with a military rider. Instructors from outside North America, were the Americanized horse show craze had little or no impact, are a good bet. And there are some Hunter/Jumper instructors that never fell for the short cuts and “innovations” that began in the 1970s. These instructors still value dressage principles as part of their instruction. They demand that a student develop a solid base and an independent seat. These H/J instructors that value the traditional Balance Seat are a dwindling breed mind you, but they are out there and they do teach the traditional principles. There are “high risk” groups of riders who might be a source of Balanced Seat instruction. For example a very good rider/ polo player or fox hunter would be worth considering because theses sports require and effective seat. However beware, there are some terrible riders in the ranks of polo players and fox hunters. Another, unusual source might be police trained riders. Some of the better mounted police units are very well trained in the Balance Seat. The RCMP for you Canadians would be an excellent possibility.

If you are frustrated in your efforts to locate a Balanced Seat instructor, then I recommend beginning with a dressage instructor. Basic dressage principles will apply to Balanced Seat Riding in any equestrian sport. Lastly, there are Balanced Seat books and tapes.

Our forum instruction survey showed that the majority of riders are taking instruction from a combination of disciplines. That is what the Balanced Seat originally was, a combination of disciplines integrated into a very thoughtful whole and a unique teaching system. Now apparently students want the same thing, but must integrate it themselves and create their own training program. This makes sense. Effective riding is still effective riding and horses are still horses. It is a bit of a shame that the military system has been essentially lost. It would make it easier for today’s serious riders if it were still around.

[OldSchool]

The following is my favorite quote on riding instruction. It is from Vladimir Littauer a Russian Cavalryman who came to the U.S. early in the 20th century, and started a riding school on New York where he taught the “new" Balanced Seat. His books are very important for every Balanced Seat student. This quote is framed and it hangs in my barn.

Patience is tremendously important of the instructor. Cheerfulness is always pleasant, but frequently over-encouragement merely makes pupils lose all sense of what is really good. I believe that sincerity is more productive than flattery. Be prompt in telling a pupil when he did something well, but never hesitate in telling him when it is bad. If one works methodically, avoiding asking more of a pupil than he can do, the word “bad” is rather seldom necessary. It is important for a pupil to learn to discriminate, and it is the teacher’s duty to teach him to do so. I have found out that tactful analytical criticism is resented by only a few. These cannot learn riding.

Many of us love to ride for an audience, and get a great joy out of performing for an admiring pupil. There is no harm in it, but long ago I came to the conclusion that the spirit of, “Look at me, look how wonderful I am,” is not a sound one for the teacher to have. Of course a teacher must mount to demonstrate and, naturally, for a long time his riding is bound to be very superior to his pupil’s. But the time comes for the teacher to say, at least to some of his pupils, “This is how well I can do it, but you are younger and abler than I am, you will do it better in time.” It is a great thing for the teacher to be proud of the riding of his pupils. A good teacher produces occasionally a better rider than he is himself.

Vladimir Littauer
Cavalry Instructor, Russia

[Pally]

We use the more secure three point seat for jumping and riding. The three point has the rider in a balanced seat position through all movements, whether it be jumping or riding on the flat. This is the style used by most european riders participating in eventing and jumping

Our goals are to improve riding skills, develop an understanding of the horse, and to promote the all aspects of the sport.

This is something that was one a farm's website describing their program. I just got Sally Swift's centered riding (wonderful book) and I know she talks about the three-point. Also, the instructor at the school is British and has an eventing background, so this inclines me to think that this might be a place that teaches the balanced seat (or something close to it) Do you think this might be the case?

[OldSchool]

Originally posted by Pally@Mar 27 2006, 03:24 AM

This is something that was one a farm's website describing their program. I just got Sally Swift's centered riding (wonderful book) and I know she talks about the three-point. Also, the instructor at the school is British and has an eventing background, so this inclines me to think that this might be a place that teaches the balanced seat (or something close to it) Do you think this might be the case?

Quoted post

I don’t know. I have found that some people will put anything on their website to generate business. You must question them. Also, I have no idea what people mean anymore when they use terms like half seat, two point, three point, etc. Those terms seem to have many meanings depending on whom you talk to. What I tell people is to ask questions. Look for a chain of instruction. Who taught this instructor? Who taught their instructor? What books do they recommend? (see thread on books and tapes for author names) What you are looking for is a connection back to a military rider or a traditional rider. You are probably not looking for an American show rider/instructor who is a devoted follower of the “George Morris” method. However, if the rider/instructor was on a high level team coached by George Morris this would be fine.

I will say a word about George Morris. He is two people, at least to me. He was a great international competitor, trained by the great Ft. Riley instructor Gordon Wright. He is now the coach of the US jumping team. Someone trained by this George Morris would be an excellent possibility. There is the other George Morris, the one who, in a well meaning way, offered weekend show riders a series of short cuts to help them get jumping sooner. The followers of this teacher took the short cuts and made a rather large and profitable cult out of them, adding increasingly stylized forms and trendy quirks to the already abbreviated seat, resulting in something that is useful only in a very specific setting, weekend horse shows in America (and to a lesser extent in Canada). This is not the Balanced Seat.

You want to look for effectiveness in the instructor’s method, not style, not ribbons, not form. Elements of dressage in the teacher’s methods are a very good sign. Competition in polo, horse trials, eventing, foxhunting and other athletic equestrian sports is a good sign. An obsession with horse shows is usually not good. The Balanced Seat in many ways is how a teacher teaches, as much as what they teach. I worked for two years at a show barn, does that make me a show instructor? No.

This whole process of looking and finding would be a lot easier if there was an association of Balanced Seat riders in North America. Soon I will launch the balancedseat .com and a main purpose of this website will be to see if there is interest in forming such an association. There needs to be a standard. As I have expressed before, in five years the US Equestrian Federation will be setting standards for instructors in all their affiliated disciplines. If there is not a group to advocate for the traditional Balanced Seat, I believe what might result is the contemporary American show seat will be the “English” seat of the USEF standards. Think of what that night eventually bring. Cross-country courses would be redesigned (read: dumbed down) to accommodate that seat. Pony Club would basically be lost for a lack of instructors in the traditional set, and so on.