To help you understand what the horse feels when you sit crookedly in the saddle… 

Load a wheelbarrow heavily to one side as in the center illustration. Now push the wheelbarrow, and feel how it pulls to the weighted side and how you are forced to lean in that direction to compensate. That’s how your horse feels when you sit unevenly in the saddle, as shown in the left image. When you sit evenly, the horse will be centered and balanced as shown in the illustration on the right. —Sharon Sweet

Sharon Sweet is a retired elementary school teacher who believes in lifelong learning. She recently moved to Vermont, where she enjoys the beautiful countryside and trains with USDF bronze and silver medalist Katherine Bruce at Kaleidoscope Farm.