You can ride by accident, or by intent. You can get by with riding by accident. But in order to ride BETTER, you must ride with intent.
SEAT
To ride with intent, I want my seat to be following the horse and relaxed. I keep my weight evenly distributed on my feet by standing in the stirrups while still sitting in the saddle. This ensures that I stay with my horse anywhere he goes.
FEET & LEGS
Many people ride with a stirrup that allows their legs to hang long. I prefer my stirrups to be short enough that I can bend my knees and keep weight in my feet. I like to keep my legs directly underneath me so that I am balanced and square, neither in front of the movement, nor behind.
SHOULDERS
I make a conscious effort to keep my inside shoulder up so that I stay out of my horse's way and he can more easily move with balance.
HANDS
When I'm riding, I often pretend that my hands are handcuffed together at the saddle horn. Most people will benefit from using their hands less and their legs more.
EYES
It's critical to always look where you want to go. When I want to make a smaller circle at a lope, I will use my eyes to draw the circle in and make it smaller. Using your eyes to look where you want to go will make subtle shifts in your body that in turn communicate to your horse.
Initiative
"Initiative" is the decision we make to do more. It is the decision to do whatever it takes to reach a goal or to make a difference. To become better riders, we must have a measure of initiative in order to make the changes necessary to grow.