What if Your Breath Could Instantly Make Your Seat softer, Your Back Freer, Your Horse Happier?

- by Dave Thind - Seat Education with the Dave Thind Method

In just 8 minutes, this simple chair exercise can help you discover a hidden “micro-pivot” in your spine that allows you to absorb movement with ease — the same quality that makes sitting trot feel effortless. No anatomical knowledge needed, just a willingness to try this Awareness Though Movement Lesson and see for yourself. “When breath is free, posture becomes effortless, movement flows, and your horse feels the difference instantly.”

Why Breath Matters for Riders

In riding, we talk about seat, legs, weight and hands aids, yet breath quietly influences all aids as well as muscle tone, balance, rhythm, and even your horse’s relaxation. A restricted breathing pattern often shows up in posture: sitting heavier on one side, pulling up through the other, compressing the hip or lower back. Over time, this leads to issues like uneven contact, tension, and discomfort.

When breath is free, seat bones ground evenly, the spine lengthens naturally, and the body finds support from underneath. The result? A seat that is stable yet soft, balanced yet alive.

Did You Know?

Your diaphragm moves down on inhale like a plunger. Imagine it spreading like a pancake. If one quadrant is restricted causing seat faults, back tension, and changes in your horse’s movement. And yes, the very thing we are talking about ( your T12/L1 pivot) will also be compromised.

Try This: Breathing Through Your Mid-Back, Find Your Micro-Pivot

Whether you ride at a high level or enjoy quiet hacks, one thing is universal: the way you breathe changes how your body moves with your horse.

This short, seated exercise will help you find a softer, more responsive seat and a freer mid-back — the kind of effortless movement that transforms sitting trot.

Setup

• Sit on a firm, flat chair; feet flat, hip-width apart.
• Sit toward the front so your thighs are free.
• Rest your hands loosely on your thighs.
• Close your eyes if you like.

Step 1: Arriving and Noticing

• Feel your sitting bones — is one heavier than the other?
• Notice your natural breathing rhythm.
• Where do you feel the breath — belly, ribs, chest, or back?

Step 2: Exploring the Micro-Pivot

• Imagine your pelvis as a small bowl.
• Tip it forward a few millimeters (very little!), return to neutral, then tip back.
• Notice where your lower ribs meet your waist — your mid-back (T12/L1). Let that area yield when you tip your bowl.

Step 3: Adding Breath

• Rock pelvis forward with a natural inhale.
• Rock back with a soft exhale.

Step 4: Differentiating Ribs and Pelvis

• Keep your pelvis still.
• Nod your breastbone forward/back from your mid-back. (like someone is looking way up and then down, but focus on the sternum and ribs.
• Notice the difference from moving the pelvis.

Step 5: Combining Pelvis, Ribs, and Breath

• Tip pelvis forward with inhale, back with exhale, a domino effect in the spine, breastbone slightly lagging — your “micro-pivot.”
• Keep shoulders soft, neck easy.
• In riding, we don’t want a lot of movement in the bid or upper back, hence the micro-pivot.
• A variation can be to raise both arms while doing the exploration, keeping the rib cage open, pliable yet presented forward.
  An important variation: Exhale on the “up” phase, inhale on the “down” phase.

Step 6 : Relating It to Riding

• Imagine sitting the trot: pelvis absorbs motion, mid-back yields, breath flows naturally.
  TIP: Try on a ball for additional awareness.
  IMPORTANT! Exhale on the “up” phase, inhale on the “down” phase.

Step 7: Rest and Notice

• Sit quietly, notice your breathing.
• Stand and walk — feel lighter, freer, more connected through your mid-back.
  This whole process takes less than 10 minutes — try it before your next ride and feel the difference immediately.

Why This Works:

1. Exhaling on the “up” prevents bracing in chest/shoulders.
2. Micro-pivot absorbs impact in stages: hips → lumbar → T12/L1 → ribs/shoulders.
3. Inhaling on “down” keeps the body elastic for the next stride.

Take the Next Step

If one free lesson can soften your seat and free your mid-back, the full 7-lesson program could take your riding even further. ~ 45 minutes per session, complete in one go or in shorter segments. Lifetime access allows repeated practice and ongoing discoveries.

Dave’s calm, precise guidance unlocks a new level of feel, softness, and connection with your horse. “I’ve incorporated the exercises to help patients manage panic attacks and insomnia. Not only has my horse benefitted — but my patients as well.” — Dr. Debbie Sacks, psychologist & FEI AA rider

Limited Late Summer Offer

Now through September 21 — secure lifetime access and all seven lessons for $249. Your breath is the bridge. Let’s cross it — for your riding, your well-being, and your horse.

www.davethindmethod.com/breathe