Thighs on or thighs off?

Are you a Thighs on or thighs off rider?

Back in the 80’s when I first learned to ride, I was always taught to ride with my thigh and knee firmly on the saddle. I was told this would give me a secure lower leg. Then in the late 90’s I was a working pupil at a big B.H.S. centre in the UK where I trained for the BHSAI qualification. Here I was taught that the thigh and knee should be away from the saddle. I was told that gripping with knee actually caused the rider to lose their balance. Should the horse suddenly stop, the knee becomes a pivot point and the rider tips over the horses head.

Now I believe that there has to be a happy medium. I try and help riders bring their hips, knees and toes to as close to 12 o’clock as possible, in a neutral position. This isn’t always possible, it depends on a person’s natural conformation and previous injuries too. 12 o’clock is the optimum. From here the leg wants to lie gently against the horses side, all the way down from the upper thigh to the calf. It shouldn’t be tight or gripping, it should just be hung, like a wet rag.

How much we then apply our thigh, really depends on the horse but also how much natural tone we have and where our legs naturally hang. Some ladies have less natural tone, along with naturally externally rotated hips and a wide pelvis. This person may need to think about riding with their thighs on slightly more. This will help balance and straighten the horse and quieten their leg. Where as a rider who has the propensity to be stiff in their hips, is naturally strong in their inner thigh, more muscular or has a very narrow pelvis, may have to think about riding with the thighs off a little more.

The other thing to consider is, the more we ride with the thigh on, the more we are blocking the horses forwards movement. So with a horse who is particularly behind the leg and needs to learn to be reactive to the leg, I might choose to ride with a looser thigh and knee. I would want to make it very clear to the horse that when my thigh is on he can stop, when it’s off he should go.

A horse who is particulary forwards, I would be riding with my thigh on a bit more to give the horse, clear slow down aids.

I would also use individual thighs to help straighten the horse and during lateral work.

So there are lots of things to consider and one person might need to think ride with the thigh on a bit more but another might need to think rider with it off a bit more!