Improve Your Riding: If Riding Still Feels Harder Than It Should, Here’s Why
If you’re actively trying to improve your riding, but it still feels harder than it should, you’re not alone — and more importantly, you’re not doing anything wrong.
Many riders reach a point where progress quietly slows down or feels inconsistent. Lessons are still happening. You’re still showing up. You might even be stronger, fitter, or more experienced than you were before. And yet riding feels effortful in a way that’s hard to explain. Not dramatic. Just heavier. Noisier. Less fluid than it used to be.
Some days things feel fine. Other days you feel unbalanced, tense, or strangely disconnected from your body. You understand what your instructor is asking for, but your body doesn’t seem able to maintain it for long. Or you leave the yard physically tired rather than mentally satisfied, even after an otherwise “good” ride.
This is often when self-doubt creeps in. Why does this still feel so hard? Why does my body not do what I know it should? Why does it feel like I’m fighting myself?
The issue here isn’t effort, discipline, or commitment. It’s that improving your riding requires more than riding more or trying harder. It requires understanding what your body has learned to do over time — and why it defaults to those patterns when you ride.
Improve Your Riding by Understanding What Your Body Is Doing
To genuinely improve your riding, you have to move beyond surface-level correction and cues, and start understanding how your body is organising itself in the saddle.
Your body doesn’t arrive on the horse as a blank slate. It brings with it years of experiences — not just from riding, but from life. How you sit at a desk. How you carry stress. How you’ve protected yourself through injury, fatigue, or uncertainty. All of that shapes how your body stabilises, balances, and reacts when you ride.
This is why two riders can be told the same thing in a lesson and have completely different experiences. One can apply it easily. The other understands it but cannot sustain it. That difference isn’t talent or effort — it’s organisation.
When riding feels harder than it should, it’s rarely because you’re incapable. More often, your body is quietly compensating — redistributing effort, tension, or balance to get the job done in the safest way it knows how. Until those compensations are understood, effort alone won’t resolve them.
Improve Your Riding Starts With Recognising Adaptation
Your body is designed to adapt. That’s how it keeps you upright, functioning, and safe.
If you’ve ever protected one side after an injury, braced to feel secure, tightened to stay in control, or collapsed to reduce effort, those responses weren’t mistakes. They were intelligent solutions at the time. Your body found a way to cope with the demands placed on it.
The problem is that the body doesn’t automatically discard those solutions once circumstances change.
Over time, short-term strategies become long-term habits. Habits become default movement patterns. And those patterns show up every time you ride, regardless of what you intend to do.
This is why being told to “relax” or “sit taller” can feel impossible. Your body isn’t ignoring instruction — it’s prioritising what feels familiar and safe. Recognising this removes blame and creates the foundation for real change.
Why Trying Harder Doesn’t Always Improve Your Riding
One of the most frustrating experiences as a rider is doing more and feeling like you’re getting nowhere.
You concentrate harder. You apply more effort. You ride more deliberately. And yet the same issues keep resurfacing. Sometimes they even feel more pronounced the more you try to fix them.
This happens because effort doesn’t override adaptation.
If your body doesn’t have the stability, coordination, or awareness to maintain a position, trying harder simply reinforces compensation. You might hold something briefly, but it will feel forced and unstable. As soon as attention drops, the body reverts to what it knows.
This is why riders often feel they can “find it” for a moment, then lose it again. The issue isn’t understanding or motivation. It’s that the body doesn’t yet have the capacity to support what’s being asked.
Improve Your Riding by Addressing the Root Cause, Not the Symptom
Most riders end up focusing on symptoms.
Uneven reins. Collapsing through one side. Gripping with the legs. Losing balance in transitions.
But symptoms are signals. They’re the result of something else happening underneath.
When you chase symptoms, progress stays temporary. You fix one thing, another pops up. You feel like you’re constantly managing issues rather than moving forward.
Symptom
⬇️
Pattern
⬇️
Root Cause
When you address the root cause — how your body is organising itself and why — change becomes more stable. Positions feel easier to maintain. Balance becomes less effortful. Riding starts to feel quieter again.
How to Improve Your Riding Without Forcing Change
Lasting improvement doesn’t come from forcing your body into a shape it can’t maintain.
It comes from a clear order: awareness first, support second, strength built on top.
When awareness comes first, you begin to notice patterns without judging them. When the body feels supported, it’s willing to change. Strength layered on top of that support actually transfers into the saddle, rather than being overridden by old habits.
Riders often describe this as riding feeling lighter. Not because they’re doing less, but because their body isn’t fighting itself anymore.
Improve Your Riding Starts With Understanding
If riding still feels harder than it should, it doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means your body has adapted — and now needs a different kind of input.
Understanding removes blame. It replaces frustration with clarity. And it creates a path forward that doesn’t rely on pushing, forcing, or starting over.
You don’t improve your riding by fighting your body. You improve your riding by understanding it — and working with it.
If this resonates with you, the next step isn’t more effort — it’s insight.
I’ve created a free insight called “How I Assess Rider Movement — and What It Shows Me.” It walks you through the key movements I use to assess a rider off the horse, and explains what those patterns reveal about how your body is organising itself in the saddle.
To receive it, sign up to the RiderCise newsletter using the box below, and I’ll send it directly to your inbox.
If you’re already on my mailing list and would like it resent, email me at *protected email* and I’ll make sure you have it.
I have been an endurance rider for many years, competing up to FEI 2* and currently managing a team of three exceptional purebred Arabs, all at different stages of their career.
However, by the end of 2020, I had reached a breaking point. My self-belief had disappeared, and I had lost the joy of the sport. To make matters worse, I woke up in an ambulance after a particularly bad fall, suffering a severe loss of nerve.
I decided everything needed a reset—after all, “Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
Why I Chose RiderCise for a Bespoke Program
A friend recommended RiderCise, and I started working with Clare in March 2021. I can truly say it has changed my life.
From the very first conversation, Clare took the time to understand my situation, discuss my goals, and explain how investing in my fitness and well-being could help me achieve them. Like many riders, I had spent time and money on my horses while neglecting my own physical development. At first, I didn’t realize how much this was holding me back. However, I now fully understand that if I don’t take care of myself, I risk becoming a burden to my horses.
As a Fitness Professional, Soft Tissue Therapist, skilled rider, and horse manager, Clare provided a comprehensive approach that made training more effective, enjoyable, and sustainable.
My Experience with the Bespoke Fitness Program
To help me develop a more independent seat, Clare designed a customized program to improve my proprioception and strength. Through this, I discovered and activated muscles I had only heard of but never felt before! The changes gave me security in the saddle and a huge boost in confidence.
As a result, I’m now taking on new challenges with all three horses—tasks that, a year ago, felt completely out of reach.
One of my horses has a tendency for sudden spooks. Previously, this would have thrown me off balance, but my automatic response now is a calm, “Thank you, Clare,” as I stay securely in the saddle.
“Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Get What You’ve Always Gotten.”
We progressed toward specific endurance competitions, with tailored training for each ride’s terrain and distance challenges. After every competition, we analyzed my performance, identified areas for improvement, and Clare incorporated them into the next program.
In addition to physical training, she also helped me manage nutrition challenges. I struggled to eat once adrenaline kicked in—a major issue in endurance sports. However, I now have a practical solution that works.
Because of RiderCise, I’ve felt strong throughout my competitions, and I know this has benefited my horses as well.
Most importantly, my recovery time has dramatically improved. After 40km rides, I barely feel like I’ve been on a horse, and even after longer endurance rides, I typically need just a day to feel fully recovered.
A Bespoke Program Key Benefits I Noticed:
✅ Improved Strength: Targeted workouts enhanced core and leg strength, leading to better stability in the saddle.
✅ Enhanced Balance: Balance-focused exercises helped me maintain correct posture, even on long-distance rides.
✅ Increased Confidence: As my fitness improved, so did my self-assurance, positively impacting my riding.
Since I enjoyed the workouts so much, Clare and I decided to shift focus during the winter break. Instead of endurance-specific training, I explored strength training with weights—something I had always wanted to try but found intimidating.
I’ve long known that weight training becomes more important as we age. However, the heavier the weights, the more daunting it seemed. Thankfully, Clare taught me the correct techniques, which allowed me to build confidence and challenge myself safely.
Next winter, I’ll definitely be back to it!
Final Thoughts on Working Directly with Clare on a Bespoke Program
Over the last 15 months, Clare has guided me through a progressive training program designed to develop strength and endurance carefully and effectively.
She has ensured that I first master technique, never feel overwhelmed, but always stay challenged enough to stay motivated.
Through regular check-ins, I have been able to refine my form, maximize results, and adapt training to evolving goals, horses, and competitions.
Clare has been there every step of the way—sharing her expertise, acting as a mentor, encouraging me, and holding me accountable (and hardly ever laughing at my laughing!).
And the best part? I’ve been able to do all of this from home.
Today, I am truly back in love with endurance riding and excitedly making future plans. RiderCise has played a huge role in this transformation.
A heartfelt thank you, Clare, for all your support so far—and long may it continue!
I am well and truly back in love with my sport and am thoroughly enjoying making plans for the future. Ridercise has played a HUGE part in this journey. A heartfelt thank you Clare for all your help so far – and long may it continue!
Sally Farrall (Sirius OS, Bashar Ibn Orion and Emeera Bint Orion)
Bespoke Program Coaching
Learn more about working directly with me on a Bespoke Program
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Designed to give you clear direction of where to start, when to move forwards and how to maintain your rider fitness.
Rider Fitness Workout Visual Overview
Having a visual overview of your Rider Fitness Journey helps you to map out in your mind, where you currently are and where you want to be. Broken into 3 Phases, it gives you a clear path of which Rider Fitness Workouts you should be starting with and how to progress forwards.
Postural Workouts
These workouts have been added to ensure that you are building upon a strong base. Like training a horse. If you are trying to build upon a weak base it will only lead to more problems in the future.
The Foundation Program is fantastic for re-setting your body awareness and control but over the years I have found that riders need more help to build that strong base.
Life stresses and the way we move and function can often compromise our static posture. When our static posture is altered it inhibits the ability of the core to function optimally.
We all have a core that functions as we use it to sit, stand, move and ride. But if it is not able to function correctly it means the body needs to rely more on certain muscles or use muscles not designed for that job, which leads to aches and pain, and a lack of ability to control our movement.
The Core consists of around 34+ muscles that need to work together in order for your Core to function optimally. Our static posture can cause short, tight, weak and/or lengthened muscles which inhibit those muscles to work together.
When you are struggling to use your core to move and ride, it isn’t because you don’t have strength in the Psoas or Transverse or whatever the latest ‘Buzz’ word is. Because no muscle works alone. You cannot improve function in one muscle without altering the function in another.
The Riders Core – Postural Imbalance
To help subscribers understand more about the Core and how their posture may be holding them back, there is an educational video which explains all you need to know!
The Postural Workouts
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Sign Up To On Demand
You can access ALL of the RiderCise Rider Fitness Workouts for just 35p per day!
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝! Do you feel that you seem to have the worst luck? Perhaps you should give up owning/riding because really, what’s the point? Your horse(s) always seem to be lame or just not right?Why is it always your horse(s)…?...
RiderCise has launched Rider Fitness Workouts On Demand to help riders across the world improve their riding. Rider Fitness On Demand is a revolutionary new video subscription platform. Workouts can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. You you can...
Clare Gangadeen is the founder of horse rider fitness business RiderCise®. In this blog, she takes us all the way back to 2012 when a nasty fall changed her life forever.
I have loved horses and riding since I was a little girl, so it was a dream come true when I finally bought the horse of my dreams in 2012. Annick is a beautiful Friesian mare with huge expressive paces and the most incredible nature. I was so excited about our future partnership. As a fit and experienced rider, I didn’t foresee what was going to happen next.
A scary fall that lead to some reflection…
Annick became scared of a flapping label on a back protector I was trying. I had left the label on to return it, should the protector catch on the cantle of my saddle. Being only a green 5-year-old, she took off around the school with such power and speed. I lost my balance due to her sheer power, scaring her even more and causing her to go faster. My saddle slipped which caused her to start bucking, and I hit the ground with enormous force. As she travelled past me, she kicked me with her hind on the peak of my hat. She only missed my face by centimetres.
Winded from the impact of hitting the floor, I got to my hands and knees and tried to breathe. I looked at Annick who was standing by the gate looking back at me which fear, concern and confusion.
Annick wasn’t at fault, I knew that I was responsible for not being in better control of my body. Had I been better balanced and stable, I could have reacted better to her spooking at the label. That means I wouldn’t have contributed to her fear, which provoked her more.
As a fitness specialist, I’ve spent years working on myself to ensure I was strong, lean and had an aesthetic look to my body. However, I wasn’t conditioning myself with riding in mind. I wasn’t holding up to my side of the partnership.
The fall not only shattered my confidence but lead me to question my abilities as a rider. I clearly was not as rider fit as I thought I was.
Could being ‘rider fit’ have helped?
The muscles we use for riding are different from those used in other popular fitness activities and sports. Of course. It’s far better to be a rider who goes for the occasional jog or spin class than do nothing at all. But being rider fit requires strength, balance and mobility to independently move your body in the way the riding requires. No single form of exercise offers that.
Riding, at any level and in any discipline is demanding. It requires the individual to be sensitive, yet reactive to an independent dynamic animal. No other sport requires that. When we ride we need to be in control of our bodies. To communicate effectively yet gently. To react to response, immediately. And to act as a partner, not a hindrance.
Not only does rider fitness improve your riding ability and performance. It also helps protect the rider against the severity of injuries that can occur, if the horse suddenly spooks, stops, spins or bolts!
“I know that the one thing my unfocused training had provided was. It prepared my muscles, ligaments and joints to deal with external stress. Other than suffering concussion for 10+days I didn’t have any sprains, bruising or bone breaks.“
A rare combination of riding and fitness expertise
As a personal trainer and soft tissue therapist with over 15 years of experience in the fitness industry. It was only natural that my thoughts turned to rider fitness. I know the benefits of being fit. But I also know first-hand the difference of being ‘Rider Fit’.
I founded RiderCise®to help riders become the rider they want to be. Like I wanted to be that moment I saw Annick staring back at me from the gate. I’ve tapped into everything I know from my background in the fitness industry with expertise from my riding journey. And that of the coaches and instructors I’ve worked with and learned from.
“I truly believe that you need the rare combination of true fitness expertise and an understanding of the role of the rider to create targeted rider fitness workouts. And that’s where I come in!“
How RiderCise has Changed My Life
I am not an elite rider. I am not a professional rider. But I do consider myself to be on a journey to becoming the rider I want to be. Through rider fitness, I have learned to control my body to allow me to feel. I feel when my horse needs more or less from me. I know when I need to allow them to find their way. And when I need to guide them. I am able to ride independently with softness and balance. So that they may find theirs.
This is not something that has happened overnight but something I have worked on every since founding RiderCise. By working the muscles that I use in the saddle, on the ground. I have developed the strength I need to control my body. The awareness of how I am riding to correct myself. I have become a better rider.
I have developed rider skills. Skills that I want to pass on to every rider, across the world. No matter where you are on your journey. You can improve with the RiderCise workouts.
Rider Fitness Workouts – On Demand
Every Rider Fitness Workout I design has the objective of helping a rider improve their riding. For them and their horses to be able to enjoy riding with ease. Reduce riding aches and pains. And boost performance.
As a rider and owner I know how much time horses take up. But I also know how important rider fitness is, to all riders. Horse owners are some of the busiest people around. They’re often juggling jobs, families and an all-consuming passion with the occasional snippet of downtime! I get that.
RiderCise On Demand allows riders to follow along with me. In the comfort of their home. On any device with an internet connection. Anywhere in the world. This makes rider fitness truly accessible for everyone.
My aim is for riders to take as good care of themselves as they do their horse. RiderCise® changed my life forever. Will you rise to the challenge and allow RiderCise® to change your life?
I would love to hear your views so do not hesitate to contact us. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest. And don’t forget to content follow our Social profiles on Facebook, and Instagram.
Do you feel that you seem to have the worst luck? Perhaps you should give up owning/riding because really, what’s the point? Your horse(s) always seem to be lame or just not right?
Why is it always your horse(s)…? It’s NOT!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
I don’t know why we keep these challenges to ourselves, perhaps we feel ashamed or embarrassed. Worried that people will judge us and/or think we have caused it.
I’m not sure of the reasons and I guess they are personal to each individual. But having a horse who is constantly sound or correct is NOT normal.
At the end of the day, they are living beings! Like us, they have good and bad days. Sometimes they work a little harder than usual. had a ‘heavy’ night in the field with their mates, slipped, bucked too high, slept funny, or trod on something! Living life will cause mishaps for horses and humans and these things WILL happen.
My experience with Rana
Let me share with you where I currently am with Rana. With Annick (my Queen), I’ll tell you about another time. Yes, I have two horses that aren’t quite right! Rana has slipping stifles and has had this since a baby. They have never locked but she needs to be in work to maintain the strength of the muscles and tendons throughout her body. Especially the stifles. I am meticulous about making her work correctly through her body.
As much as she is annoying to ride (yes, she pushes my buttons and we clash but I still love her!) I do what I need to do because it is my job to look after her, to keep her healthy. She has the best of everything. Like the rest of them and I work my arse off to enable them to whatever they need. Whenever they need but, Rana has not been right for about 1.5 years now.
To a huge majority of professionals, she is sound, fine, has no issues but perhaps a little stiff but I KNOW she is not right. I FEEL IT! But what do you do when the professionals think she’s ‘fine’? You follow your instincts and get another opinion and another and another…. I led myself to believe that it was the stifles so continued to work with her whilst I still searched for a professional that saw what I felt. Rana went to Nantwich Equine Vets on Monday 19th April to have a Lameness Assessment with Campbell Thompson.
On the assessment Campbell noted:
lame 1-2/10 on RF in a straight line and positive to flexion on this RF but also mildly positive on RH. On the firm circle, she was 1/10 LF to left, and 1-2/10 RF on Soft she was 1/10 RF to left and 2/10 RF to right. As right fore lameness was more significant this meant it was a nerve blocked first. Low palmar digital nerve block improved lameness by approximately 60% and abaxial sesamoid level block further improved lameness. However, this did not completely abolish RF lameness but did appear to increase left fore lameness.LF lameness was abolished by palmer digital nerve block. Foot radiographs were taken which showed no significant abnormalities but questionable navicular changes.
This pattern of lameness is very common and generally, associated with a combination of the navicular bone, ligament, and ddf tendon pathologies. An MRI would be required to identify the exact pathology in this case. Found her to have toe-in conformation especially of LF and asymmetrical feet with RF smaller and more upright. You can see from the X-ray of the RF, the slightly distorted line of the navicular bone but otherwise, no significant signs indicating why. With an MRI costing in the region of £1300 and she is not insured I asked Campbell to treat and he medicated both Left and Right Fore navicular bursae with steroid and high molecular weight Hyaluronate and we would assess in 3 weeks.
I was given instructions of her aftercare…
Told to put shoes on the front to offer support and try to correct the asymmetry in the right fore. It was slight, very slight. Not something I’d not noticed but the more we talked the more I started to blame myself. I took Rana’s hind shoes of a fair few years ago and about 1.5years ago, maybe slightly longer I took the fronts off too. Transitioning her to barefoot thinking that it was better for her, turns out I could have caused this There is no way to know but I feel it is down to me. She is a heavy front-loading Friesian who will avoid sitting and using her hind as much as possible with the stifle issues will force her more onto the fore. She needed shoes and support and I took them away from her.
Not all horses can and/or should be barefoot
I know that and yet I still don’t know why I did it. I guess because I THOUGHT it was the right thing for her. Anyway, it is what it is and I am a little (A LOT!) poorer (well Adam is!) and I followed Campbell’s instructions. Took her back on Wednesday 19th May (4 weeks as I was away for a week). I rode her in the school the Friday before, as she had only be hacked as she was more sound on hard ground in the assessment. She didn’t feel perfect in the school but I’d say 85% better if not a little more. Especially as she warmed up more and got in the zone!
Campbell assessed Rana and was honestly extremely happy with how well she had responded to the treatment and said that it was as good as it was going to get! So to crack on with the work and drop her weight (little porker has put on 20kg! in 4 weeks) and as soon as I feel her drop off to come back and re-assess and treat.
So yesterday was a good day! Not so good for Rana as I haven’t shown her her work diary yet!! Lol… The point I am trying to make is YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH A HORSE THAT ISN’T RIGHT! It happens to more people than you realise and even after assessment and treatment and making a huge improvement she will never be 100%. Never.
Now, let’s talk about Annick
As I mentioned above Annick is also not right. Now it’s because she’s not strong enough. It’s just taken nearly a year to get her to where she is now. When you own a horse, the reality that they will always be sound or that there will never be an issue is small. So so small! As mentioned, they are living beings and I have lost count of the times I have woken with a stiff neck of not able to bear weight on one foot for no known reason. So, if you are currently dealing with an issue with your horse, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We all go through it, some more than others, some for longer than others, and if you haven’t yet then you will!
There is no shame and no need to be embarrassed. You would never do anything to intentionally harm or cause your horse issues and they don’t intentionally seek to injure themselves they are just busy living life. If you have possibly caused an issue, like me, then hold your hand up! Accept it, learn from it and move forwards, and don’t hide the burden of having a horse that isn’t right because that will eat you up inside! And find a team that listens to you, because no one knows your horse as you do! And what you have to contribute matters! It has taken me nearly two years and now I feel I have the right team of professionals to turn to when I need them.
Somewhere, someone like you, like me needs to hear that they have the same issues. They need to feel they are not the only ones in the world right now to give them the strength to move forwards… You are not alone! I am right here with you walking the same pathway right now!
RiderCise® – ‘Making Rider Fitness Easy’
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