I was tagged in a video on social media recently where someone asked a really good question: "Why do we ride on the correct diagonal in rising trot?" One explanation you'll often see in magazines, coaching manuals and online articles is this: "The correct diagonal in rising trot refers to rising when the outside foreleg and inside hind leg move forwards and sitting when they move back. This timing allows the horse's inside hind leg, which generates most of the propulsion arou

I'm always amazed how quickly people blame the saddle or the horse whenever I post videos showing rider asymmetries on the mechanical horse. One of the comments that comes up time and time again is that "saddle slip is caused by hindlimb lameness, not rider imbalance" or simply that "horses are asymmetrical". Another is that a rider becomes asymmetrical becuase of their horses asymmetry (if a horse is that asymmetrical then is it actually lame?!). But what does the research a