"Dear Horse & Country, I am writing to ask wether you could answer my question about horse riding. My seat in the saddle is not very good and in sitting trot I bounce around a lot. I really badly want to improve it so I would be most grateful if one of your horse riding experts could give me some tips on how to improve my seat. Thank you very much. Shannon."

H&C blogger and proprietor of Contessa Riding Centre Tina Layton-Elliott BHSI replies: "Shannon, thank you for your question. The 'seat' is comprised of the lower back, abdominals, pelvis, seat bones and the thigh. This means unfortunately that a weakness or stiffness in any of these areas can lead to instability in the seat.

A good instructor should be able to pinpoint one of those areas. The most common is a tightness in the lower back. Also, if a horse isn't working correctly and softly over it's back, it's much more difficult to sit on.

Lunge lessons are usually the way forward as it enables you to concentrate entirely on your position whilst the instructor controls the horse. There are lots of useful exercises that you can do on the lunge to improve your balance, co-ordination and flexibility. You could also try some work without stirrups.

Hope this helps. Tina"