ANSWER:
You have to look at this issue from a practical point of view. You need to be in a position where your lumbar back can swing forward as well as backward. If you are too hollow backed, you can only swing backward, but not forward, which makes you stiff, unable to follow the motion of the horse's back sufficiently, and it can hurt your back. If your back is too straight, it can only swing forward, not backward, which makes you stiff, too, and it can make you sit too heavily on the horse's back, which in turn leads to a dropping and bracing of the horse's back. Riders who are naturally hollow backed have to think of trying to round their lower back, whereas riders who tend to be too straight in their lower back, have to think of hollowing their back a little. Women tend to be a little swaybacked, men tend to be a little more straight.
The horse has his own preference as well. Some horses like a slight (emphasis on slight) hollowing of the back, which reduces the pressure of the seatbones, while some horses do better with a straighter back and more downward pressure of the seatbones. This can and will change for the same horse from time to time. Nothing is ever set in stone.
The best thing to do is to explore the entire range from too hollow to too straight and let the horse tell you where he is most comfortable. Wherever that is along the spectrum, that's where you have to stay - until the horse changes and has different needs. As the rider is learning about the influence of the seat on the horse, you have to experiment with the entire range of motion, while keeping track of the horse's responses to the changes in your seat. Every horse will tell you exactly how you need to sit at any given moment. All you have to do is pay attention to the horse's reactions and modify your seat until you get the response you would like to obtain. This goes for the forward/backward rotation of the pelvis as well as for the left/right rotation and for the raising or lowering of each seat bone.
- Thomas Ritter
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Last Update: February 24, 2007