Top Tip on Riding Piaffe with Carl Hester

“When you piaffe, you should be sitting over your knee, not sitting on your backside.”

“I was told by ‘Rocky’* when you go forward you bring your body forward and when you want to come back, you bring your body back. And it is amazing how most of us do the opposite to that. He always said to me, when you piaffe, you should be sitting over your knee, not sitting on your backside. Charlotte (Dujardin) does that naturally, I have to remind myself to do it because I want to be too strong, but that is a really interesting little tip he gave me because piaffe, you get the feeling that you are driving, but in fact you should be sitting over your knee to let the horse use its back.”

*Franz ‘Rocky’ Rochowansky, Chief Rider at the Spanish Riding School.

For more from Carl:

Carl Hester talks about his horses, his training and more…