There’s something mesmerising about watching a truly quiet dressage rider. They seem to float across the arena, giving the illusion of doing almost nothing —yet everything about the horse beneath them whispers harmony and precision. I can’t help but feel both envious and inspired when I watch them, because that’s the kind of rider I aspire to be: effortless, subtle, and in tune.
I catch myself doing too much
In reality, my own riding often feels like the opposite. I catch myself doing too much. Part of that is inexperience—I simply haven’t logged the hours in the saddle that those riders have. But recently I’ve realised something important: what you do off the horse matters just as much as what you do on it. While I work hard on my position during lessons, my ponies aren’t schoolmasters, which means our focus is often on their education rather than mine.
Enter Jen Symms of Pegasus Physio, based at Racewood HQ in Tarporley. Jen specialises in rider biomechanics—using the Racewood riding simulators to assess how you move in the saddle, improve effectiveness, and even support riders recovering from injuries.
A lot to unpick
For the past couple of months, I’ve been visiting Jen every fortnight, and it quickly became clear just how much I had to work on. Like many riders, I’d built up a collection of bad habits over the years—habits that had quietly become second nature. Some stemmed from not being shown the correct way, others from not being corrected at the right time, and plenty from my own lack of understanding. On the surface, I might have looked and felt like I was riding “correctly,” but my body was often working against itself—compensating with the wrong muscles in ways that held me back. There was, quite simply, a lot to unpick.
One thing I’ve discovered about riding is that the more you learn, the more you realise how much you don’t know. Progress can feel paradoxical—as you improve you also think you are getting worse because the bar on the understanding of what good riding is becomes higher and the goal post of what I expect of myself continually shifts
After my first session with Jen, I came away feeling surprised by how much change was required. It felt almost as though I would have to change my riding style completely, and I knew the journey ahead would be a long one. But alongside that daunting realisation came excitement—the sense that I was on the path to becoming the rider I truly want to be, for both Riley and Blackjack.
Small but powerful tweakments
Of course, not everything has required a complete overhaul. Much of the work has been about small but powerful tweakments. For example, something as simple as how my feet sat in the stirrups was holding me back. When Jen adjusted my position, she showed me how that one detail had a knock-on effect on the rest of my body. Suddenly the pieces clicked into place—I’d have those “a-ha” moments followed quickly by, Oh, that’s why I do xyz.
Over the weeks, it’s also become clear that I need to get stronger. Even when I understand what I should be doing, I don’t always have the physical strength to carry it out correctly. I’ll admit, every session ends with me vowing to add strength training into my routine… yet somehow, before I know it, I’m back in the car on the way to Tarporley, feeling a little sheepish that I haven’t done as much as I could.
Every session has been genuinely helpful. I always leave with fresh insights and practical tweaks I’m eager to try out the next time I ride. Jen herself is wonderfully patient, kind, and encouraging—which makes the whole process not just productive, but enjoyable. You can’t help but walk away already looking forward to the next session.