{"piano":{"sandbox":"false","aid":"u28R38WdMo","rid":"R7EKS5F","offerId":"OF3HQTHR122A","offerTemplateId":"OTQ347EHGCHM"}}

Charlie Hutton’s 3 simple no-stirrups exercises for building balance in the saddle

Working without stirrups is rarely the favourite part of a rider’s training, but it has immediate benefits in improving your seat – and fitness. Here, we look at three no-stirrup exercises that work on the rider’s balance, in this second part of a series on rider technique exclusively for H&H subscribers

  • If you’re a rider on a schedule who wants an easy way to test and improve your riding independence, no stirrup exercises for balance are an ideal place to start.

    “As a rider, balance isn’t about grip or having a stirrup on the ball of your foot,” says Charlie Hutton, international grand prix dressage rider, British Equestrian Podium Potential Pathway and UKCC Level 3 coach.

    “A balanced rider should feel like they are absorbing the horse’s movement. The moment you start to grip, it creates tension. That tension results in compensation elsewhere in the body in a bid to keep you secure.

    “In the short term, this might be effective. Long term, you could develop body pain or one-sidedness.”

    Riding exercises with no stirrups

    A rider in good balance, trotting without stirrups. Credit: Emma Herrod Photography

    Why no-stirrup exercises?

    Charlie says riding without stirrups is a two-fold mission. The first is fact-finding.

    “Just how secure do you feel? Can you do it without your inner thighs immediately tiring?” he asks. “In this way, it’s a suppleness test as well as an assessment of your balance in the saddle.”

    Secondly, it gives you a truer feeling of what you should be aiming for – provided you can relax. “It gives you a stronger idea of how following the horse’s movement should feel, and is something you can try to mimic when you take your stirrups back.”

    Charlie recommends the following three exercises for improving your balance in the saddle.

    You may also be interested in…

    Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2025 with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

    You may like...