VIDEO QR CODE PLACEHOLDER
Scan for the full exercise and video.
Exercise Page
Cycling Exercise
Nicky Caden Rider Exercise Library | Empowering Riders Through Technology
Video
Exercise Overview
Category
Hip, Leg and Stirrup Function
Where Used
Simulator and suitable quiet horse. Begin at halt or walk. Progress through trot, canter and transitions where appropriate.
Equipment
Correctly adjusted stirrups. On the horse, a safe environment and neck strap where appropriate.
Useful For
- Difficulty allowing both legs to hang from the hips
- Restricted movement through one or both hip joints
- One leg moving or absorbing the movement differently from the other
- Gripping through the thighs, knees or lower legs
- Pelvic movement becoming restricted or driven
- Knees or ankles becoming fixed as the gait or demand increases
- Relying excessively on the stirrups for stability
- Legs appearing disconnected from the pelvis and trunk
- Difficulty remaining balanced without the stirrups
- Upper and lower body failing to work independently
- Bracing before upward or downward transitions
- Difficulty following the canter without gripping or driving
- Lower leg tension affecting the clarity of the aids
Purpose
The Cycling Exercise helps the rider explore movement through the hip, knee and ankle joints without using the pelvis or upper body to manufacture the action. With both feet out of the stirrups, the rider makes a small alternating pedalling movement while remaining organised through the seat, ribcage and trunk.
The exercise can make the seat bones easier to identify because each hip and leg moves in turn. It can also reveal whether one side is more mobile, more coordinated or better able to absorb movement than the other. One leg may move smoothly while the other becomes rigid, lifts, rotates, swings or causes the pelvis and upper body to compensate.
After the rider has experienced the movement without the stirrups, the same pathway can be imagined with both feet supported. This invisible cycling thought helps keep the joints available without creating a visible pedalling action. It can be particularly useful in trot, canter and immediately before transitions, when riders often brace in anticipation of the change.
The movement should remain small. The horse or simulator creates the main movement. The rider allows that movement to travel through the joints rather than pumping the legs or driving the pelvis.
Key Coaching Principle
Let the horse move you. Allow movement to pass through the hip, knee and ankle joints while the ribcage remains organised above the pelvis. The cycle is small and responsive. It should not become a large pedalling action, a rocking pelvis or an upper body movement.
What the Exercise Can Encourage
Hip, knee and ankle joint availability in all gaits
Seat bone awareness through alternating leg movement
Upper and lower body independence
What This May Change
The exercise reveals asymmetry between the two sides and helps the rider release unnecessary tension through the hips, knees and ankles. With the invisible cycling thought, joints remain available through transitions and more demanding work.
What the Rider May Feel
Each hip and knee moving forwards and returning in turn; the seat bones becoming clearer as each leg moves; the legs hanging more softly when the feet return to the stirrups; and reduced gripping through the thighs and knees.
Choosing the Equipment
Simulator (stationary or moving)
Suitable quiet horse in a safe environment
Optional
neck strap, lead rein or handler on the real horse
Optional
small hand-held weight or soft weighted ball for the advanced weight-progression stage
Equipment Choice
Begin on a stationary simulator or at halt on a quiet horse. Progress to walk, trot and canter only when the rider maintains balance, breathes normally and keeps the movement small.
Set Up
- Begin with both feet in the stirrups. Observe the rider's normal position as a baseline.
- Ask whether both legs feel the same - does one hip feel tighter, one foot carry more weight?
- Where simulator feedback is available, record a simple before-exercise baseline.
- Remove both feet only when the rider is balanced and secure. Use short repetitions.
- Do not allow loose stirrups to swing excessively or disturb the horse.
- Stop or reduce the exercise if the rider experiences pain, numbness, loss of balance or anxiety.
Transfer Safety
On a real horse, use a safe environment and an appropriate horse. A coach, handler, lead rein or neck strap may be used where suitable. Do not progress to trot or canter until the rider is secure and the movement stays small and controlled.
Method
Key Movement Principle
The horse or simulator creates the main movement. The rider allows that movement to travel through the hip, knee and ankle joints rather than manufacturing it. The cycle is small, alternating and responsive - not a large pedalling action, a rocking pelvis or an upper-body movement.
Stage 1-2: Establish Baseline and Remove Both Feet
Begin with both feet in the stirrups at halt or quiet walk. Note the rider's position, seat bone clarity and movement through each hip. Ask the rider to then remove both feet and allow the legs to hang from the hips without forcing them down or gripping.
- Check both seat bones remain available and the thighs are not gripping
- Allow the rider time to notice the difference before adding movement
Stage 3-4: Introduce the Small Pedalling Movement and Compare Sides
Ask the rider to make a very small alternating cycling movement - one hip and knee move gently forwards while the other side returns, continuing through the knee and ankle. Ask the rider to compare the two legs.
- Coaching cue: Make the cycle smaller than you think. Let one hip and knee move forwards as the other returns.
- A larger cycle is not automatically better - assess whether the movement is isolated and controlled
- One side may appear more mobile because the pelvis rotates or the rider leans
Stage 5-8: Hands in Hip Folds, Pause, Return Feet, Invisible Cycling
The rider may place hands lightly in the hip folds to increase awareness. After two or three small cycles, ask the rider to stop and let the legs hang. Return both feet slowly - do not immediately reposition. Then introduce invisible cycling with the feet supported.
- Coaching cue: Keep the feet supported and imagine a small cycle within the joints. Allow the movement rather than performing it.
- The thought helps the rider release unnecessary tension while keeping the joints available
- Use whenever the rider begins to grip, fix the knees or press into the stirrups
Stage 9-13: Walk, Trot, Canter and Transitions
Progress through walk with feet out, walk with invisible cycling, trot and canter. Use invisible cycling before upward and downward transitions to prevent bracing. The rider organises the ribcage over the pelvis and allows the new movement to travel through the joints.
- Upward transition: think of the invisible cycling movement - check no hip, knee or ankle is fixed - apply both legs clearly and soften
- Downward transition: breathe out, organise the ribcage, allow the pelvis to become quieter without fixing it
- Feet-out trot and canter are simulator progressions for secure riders and should not be used automatically
Stage 14 and Weight Progression: Rein and Aid Independence, Small Weight
Introduce the reins once the rider can stay organised through coach-controlled transitions. Then progress to both legs and one leg at a time. As an advanced progression, introduce a small hand-held weight to increase organisational demand without making the cycling movement bigger.
- Coaching cue: The weight changes the demand, not the size of the movement.
- Hold the weight centrally with both hands close to the body; keep the cycling movement small
- Check the rider is still breathing and the shoulders are not rising
Coaching Cues
- Make the cycle smaller than you think.
- Let one hip and knee move forwards as the other returns.
- Keep both seat bones available.
- Let the movement pass through the joints.
- Keep the ribcage organised over the pelvis.
- Let the legs move without the upper body joining in.
- Soften the knees and ankles.
- Do not push or drive the pelvis.
- Let the horse move you.
- Keep the feet supported and imagine the cycle within the joints.
- Do not brace for the transition.
- Let the new gait move through you.
- Breathe out and allow the movement to become smaller.
- Apply the leg clearly, then soften.
What the Coach Should Observe
Pelvis and Seat
- Whether both seat bones remain available
- Whether one seat bone lifts or becomes less clear as the leg moves forwards
- Whether the pelvis rocks or rotates to create the cycle
- Whether the pelvis follows the gait or begins to drive
- Whether movement through the pelvis becomes freer after the exercise
Hips, Knees, Ankles and Lower Legs
- Whether each hip opens and closes independently
- Whether one leg makes a smoother or more controlled cycle
- Whether one knee moves outwards or lifts
- Whether one ankle remains fixed
- Whether either leg becomes rigid, swings or loses control
- Whether the lower legs are more stable when the feet return to the stirrups
Ribcage, Upper Body and Transitions
- Whether the ribcage remains organised above the pelvis
- Whether the rider leans or rotates to move the legs
- Whether the upper body remains stable without becoming rigid
- Whether the rider braces before the transition
- Whether the hips, knees or ankles become fixed before the gait change
- Whether the contact remains elastic after the gait changes
Questions for the Rider
- Do both legs feel the same, or does one hip feel tighter or less able to move?
- Can you feel both seat bones while the legs are moving?
- Is the movement staying small, or is the pelvis joining in?
- Does anything change when you think of the cycle without actually pedalling?
- Can you apply the transition aid without bracing first?
Before and After Reassessment
The important question is not whether the cycling movement produced perfect numbers. Ask whether the rider moves more freely, remains better organised and absorbs the horse or simulator movement more effectively afterwards. Where simulator feedback is available, compare seat bone clarity, left-right balance, leg pressure and front-back balance before and after.
Success Markers
- The rider can maintain upper body stability while the legs move.
- Both seat bones remain available throughout the exercise.
- The cycling movement stays small and controlled.
- Movement passes through the hips, knees and ankles.
- The rider can identify differences between the two legs.
- Gripping through the thighs and knees reduces.
- The legs hang more softly when the feet return to the stirrups.
- The rider can use the invisible cycling thought without visible pedalling.
- The rider follows walk, trot and canter without driving the pelvis.
- The joints remain available before and through transitions.
- The rider remains independent of the reins.
- Leg aids become clearer and are followed by release.
Important Coaching Considerations
- The exercise is an awareness and mobility exercise, not a test of how large a cycle the rider can make.
- The horse or simulator creates the main movement. The rider allows and absorbs rather than pumps or drives.
- Use short periods and match the demand to the rider's balance, confidence and physical ability.
- Feet-out trot and canter are simulator progressions for secure riders and should not be used automatically.
- On the real horse, the invisible cycling thought is usually more appropriate in trot, canter and transitions.
- The screen supports the before-and-after assessment rather than becoming the rider's target during the exercise.
- A freer-looking leg is useful only if it remains controlled and connected to the rider's organisation.
- Stop if pain, numbness, significant loss of balance, anxiety or uncontrolled stirrup movement occurs.
Related Find Your Problem Pathways
- Restricted pelvic movement and adaptation
- Unable to adapt evenly to the horse's movement
- Difficulty allowing movement through the body
- Relies on gripping for stability
- Unable to maintain leg stability without the stirrups
- Leg appears disconnected from the rider's body
- Lower leg lacks stability
- Weight distribution differs between left and right feet
- Consistently loads one side
- Upper and lower body fail to work independently
- Organisation deteriorates during transitions
- Timing of the aids lacks consistency