Activate Your Seat

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Activate Your Seat Activate Your Seat is a physiotherapy designed and led online exercise programme for horse riders.
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⁣🌟 Client Focus Friday 🌟 ⁣⁣“I highly recommend the Activate Your Seat programme.⁣⁣I have been doing the exercises for ov...
09/10/2026

⁣🌟 Client Focus Friday 🌟 ⁣
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“I highly recommend the Activate Your Seat programme.⁣
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I have been doing the exercises for over six months now allowing for improvement in my riding, but also in my back pain, leaving me feeling so much stronger and fitter.⁣
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It’s worth the hard work!!”⁣
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Louise Robertson, UK⁣
Facebook review ⁣
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Thank you Louise for this lovely review!⁣
I am so delighted to hear you are feeling such a difference with the programme both in and out of the saddle 🤩⁣
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There are now over 250 five star reviews on my page. As a very small business, your reviews, shares, comments and recommendations really do mean the world to me so thank you so much 🥰⁣
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Happy Friday!!⁣
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💙 Breathe better, move better, ride better⁣
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Maeve ⁣
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09/10/2026

Tips to help with back pain in the saddle⁣
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First off, back pain is complex and multifactorial, and there is usually not one singular cause. If you have ongoing or worsening back pain, I would advise you to see your GP or physiotherapist for a full assessment and individualised treatment plan.⁣
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However, as a Chartered Physiotherapist assessing and treating riders for over 25 years, I have seen a lot of riders with back pain when they are in the saddle.⁣
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So here are three of my top tips to check:⁣
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1️⃣ Check your saddle - make sure it fits you and your horse. If your saddle tips you forwards or backwards you won’t be able to move your pelvis with your horse. That makes it much harder for you to dissipate the forces your horse produces and can lead to jarring and pain.⁣
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2️⃣ Don’t brace through your core! No matter what instagram tells you! When you brace or tense constantly through your abdomen, you block your pelvis from moving and therefore you can’t move with your horse and dissipate the forces he produces. Instead work on breathing using your diaphragm. Think of breathing in a 360 degree manner so you breathe into the front, sides and back of your ribcage as you inhale. This allows your diaphragm, deep abdominal muscles and pelvic floor to work subconsciously in a coordinated manner to control intra abdominal pressure and allow you to better absorb the movement of your horse rather than bouncing and jarring yourself.⁣
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3️⃣ Check your pelvis position and make sure you have full movement and full control of that movement. Work on eccentric muscle control of your hips, pelvis and trunk (muscles actively contracting into a lengthened position) to allow you to absorb the movement of the horse and dissipate the forces he produces. Train for this off the horse. ⁣
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The Activate Your Seat exercises in the bungi are all designed to help with this - you can purchase your bungi and access to the online exercise video from my website www.activateyourseat.com (link in my bio). ⁣
I post the bungis worldwide 🌎 ⁣
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Which one will you check first?⁣
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Maeve ⁣
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I assess and treat a lot of riders who experience back pain when riding.⁣⁣Probably the most common back pain issue I ass...
08/10/2026

I assess and treat a lot of riders who experience back pain when riding.⁣
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Probably the most common back pain issue I assess in riders is pain in the sacroiliac joint area.⁣
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➡️ Movement at the sacroiliac joint is minimal and it cannot move “out of place”. It’s main role is to transfer load and force from the legs to the spine and vice versa.⁣
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➡️ The sacroiliac joint is well muscled and has strong ligaments on the back side of it but less so at the front.⁣
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➡️ Since muscles work in groups, the back must work harder if the front is under performing.⁣
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➡️ The main muscle acting on the front side is the psoas muscle. If this is underperforming, issues can occur including over compression at the posterior aspect of the sacroiliac joint.⁣
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➡️ Many riders will point specifically to this area when describing their pain, sometimes on one side but often both sides. In all these riders the psoas (main hip flexor) muscle is WEAK.⁣
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➡️ Riders often report feeling tight in their hip flexors but when specifically tested they aren’t shortened, they are just weak. We can stretch the psoas until the cows come home but it rarely makes a difference. We need to strengthen it!!⁣
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Psoas flexes the hip when we are standing and walking. When the femur is fixed, like when we are sitting on a horse, psoas works to stabilise the front of our lumbar spine and helps control our lumbar and pelvis movement as the horse moves. ⁣
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Often riders with a weak psoas will find it more difficult to control their spinal and pelvis movement, and will tip their pelvis forward and restrict their pelvic and lumbar movement, and this can aggravate their sacroiliac and low back area. ⁣
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✅ The Activate Your Seat exercise programme done against the resistance of the bungi specifically targets psoas and the other main muscles of the seat, improving strength, suppleness, and endurance in these muscles. ⁣
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⁣To find out more info, or to purchase your bungi and access to the online exercise videos, head to www.activateyourseat.com (link in my bio)⁣
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Did any of this sound familiar⁣?⁣
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Maeve⁣
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Still making mistakes…⁣Still learning from them…⁣Still showing up…⁣⁣What are you going to start? ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣
07/10/2026

Still making mistakes…⁣
Still learning from them…⁣
Still showing up…⁣
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What are you going to start? ⁣
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Imaging (such as scans and X-rays) shows your current anatomy, not your pain.⁣⁣A lot of people with back pain are keen t...
06/10/2026

Imaging (such as scans and X-rays) shows your current anatomy, not your pain.⁣
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A lot of people with back pain are keen to get an x-ray or MRI scan as they feel this will show them what the problem is.⁣
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But there is a large and growing body of research which shows that not only do the results of scans correlate poorly with symptoms in people with back pain, but also that people without any back pain have changes on scans and x-rays. It has been shown that using scans can cause false alarms, and make people fearful of moving. This fear of movement can actually make the symptoms worse.⁣
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A large scale study in 2015 looked at the results of scans in over 3000 asymptomatic people (people with no back pain). They showed that the prevalence of disc degeneration increased from 37% of 20 year olds up to 96% of 80 year olds. The prevalence of disc bulges increased from 30% of 20 year olds up to 84% of 80 year olds. And the prevalence of disc protrusions increased from 29% of 20 year olds up to 43% of 80 year olds.⁣
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Their conclusions were that many imaging findings are likely to be a normal part of the aging process. Think of it like wrinkles on the inside.⁣
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➡️ This is not to say that MRI scans or x-rays should not be used for back pain. In the presence of serious or sinister signs and symptoms, MRI and other investigative radiology are essential to make a quick and accurate diagnosis and fast intervention.⁣
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➡️ Scans are there to exclude the worst of the worst pathologies, but when it comes to everything else they cannot, and do not, tell us where the pain is coming from.⁣
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➡️ If you have severe, unremitting back pain with referred symptoms then it is definitely good to see your GP or a Chartered Physiotherapist for an assessment.⁣
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➡️ If you have had a scan and are worried about the findings, remember that people with no pain also have disc bulges, wear and tear, disc degeneration, etc on scans and that these findings might not necessarily correlate with your pain.⁣
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Don’t fear the language and don’t fear movement - movement is your friend 🤸‍♀️⁣
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💙 Breathe better, move better, ride better⁣
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Maeve⁣
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💥 Thinking of pain as protection rather than damage can help how our brain perceives pain…⁣⁣This isn’t to say the pain i...
05/10/2026

💥 Thinking of pain as protection rather than damage can help how our brain perceives pain…⁣
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This isn’t to say the pain is made up, it’s not. ⁣
Pain is always real. ⁣
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✅ Back pain is common and normal:⁣
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80% of people will experience an episode of back pain at some stage in their lives. Back pain is like the common cold, it’s not great when it happens but it does happen to almost everyone. ⁣
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✅ Most episodes of back pain improve quickly:⁣
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That’s the good news. Most episodes of back pain are as a result of simple sprains and strains and the prognosis is excellent. Most people will make a full recovery within a few weeks and almost 85% of people will be fully recovered within three months. Only a small percentage go on to have long term, disabling conditions. ⁣
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✅ Pain does NOT reflect tissue damage:⁣
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All the recent research evidence shows us that pain does not reflect tissue damage but is a complex and highly sophisticated protective mechanism. Pain is actually an output of our brain. Our bodies contain specialised nerves which detect changes in temperature, chemical balance or pressure. These danger detectors send alerts to the brain but they cannot send pain signals, only the brain can do that. ⁣
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✅ Pain is all about protection:⁣
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Pain is as a result of our brains evaluating information, including the danger data from this specialised detection system, our expectations, previous pain exposure, our beliefs, etc. Our brains correlate all this information and come up with a “best guess” scenario based on this info. So pain depends on how much danger your brain THINKS you are in, not how much danger you are actually in. ⁣
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✅ Remember the pain felt is always real and can cause great suffering and loss of function. Sometimes reframing how we think of pain helps explain persistent pain and can help our function.⁣
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⁣This week is Backcare Awareness Week in the UK - you can find out more information and helpful tips at www.backcare.org.uk⁣
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💙 Breathe better, move better⁣, ride better⁣
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Maeve⁣
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04/10/2026

A little reintroduction:
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I’m Maeve, 48 year old horse and rider physiotherapist, mum of two boys, and amateur eventer. I am originally from Ireland but now live in Edinburgh, Scotland.⁣
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I came to Scotland in 1996 to study human physiotherapy and qualified in 2000. I spent 9 years working in the NHS whilst simultaneously working privately in sports injury clinics. I did a Masters course in Veterinary Physiotherapy part time over two years at the Royal Veterinary College in London and finished in 2006. Since then I set up Animal Physio Plus and work exclusively with horses and riders.⁣
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Having assessed and treated riders for over 25 years, I have noticed patterns in positional faults in all my riders. I can relate almost every positional fault I assess back to one of three main issues with the rider’s seat.⁣
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I set up an online rider exercise programme called Activate Your Seat done against the strong and targeted resistance of the bungi to help these issues. It is designed to be effective, time efficient, and targeted to improve rider comfort and performance in the saddle. It can be done at home, at the yard, in the horse box… I use it myself three days a week and it has made a massive difference to my symmetry and balance in the saddle.⁣
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I rode a lot as a child but didn’t get my own horse until my 30s and didn’t really start competing until my 40s. Since then I’ve become obsessed with eventing and this year managed to qualify and complete the BE90 Badminton Grassroots Championships. Now we have moved up to BE100 and have qualified to go back to Badminton in 2027!⁣
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I absolutely know the benefits rider fitness brings to the saddle, especially in my 40s. But I am also a busy working mum to two growing boys, two crazy spaniels, and Pronto is on DIY livery. I do not have time or capacity in my life for a gym membership. So I need exercise tailored to me and to help me in the saddle - which is exactly why I follow my own programme and use the bungi for 20 minutes 3 days a week.⁣
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So welcome! Let me know where you’re from in the comments ⬇️

03/10/2026

They’ll always be watching, but until they’re paying the bills you may as well just enjoy the ride…⁣
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Words inspired by the original from .herrington and Dolly

⁣🌟 Client Focus Friday 🌟 ⁣⁣⁣“I first stumbled across Activate Your Seat on Facebook and something resonated with me. I d...
02/10/2026

⁣🌟 Client Focus Friday 🌟 ⁣
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“I first stumbled across Activate Your Seat on Facebook and something resonated with me. I do other exercise programmes, but was still struggling with a proper rising trot and keeping my hands from bouncing.⁣
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My trainer would frequently say to me “post through your elbows” and I had no idea how to execute that. I wasn’t hinging my hips back and forth, or whatever it takes to to not post up and down off the stirrups. I think seeing Maeve’s very first exercise in the level 1 video made me think this would help. ⁣
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Well, not only has it helped my posting and unsteady hands, but just about everything else about my riding is better!! ⁣
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I’m onto the level 2 exercises now and, whilst they’re challenging, I think I find them more enjoyable than level 1! Maeve is so helpful at responding to messages and posting additional content. I look forward to the day when there is a level 3 and beyond!!”⁣
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Carol Mervis, USA⁣
Facebook Review ⁣
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⁣Aww, thank you Carol for this fantastic review! I am delighted you are feeling such a big difference from the programme and you are enjoying it so much. ⁣
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🤩 There are now over 200 five star reviews on my page, thank you!!⁣
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As a very small business, your reviews, shares, comments and recommendations really do mean the world to me so thank you so much 🥰⁣
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⁣🤩 To purchase your bungi and access to the online exercise video head to my website www.activateyourseat.com, link in my bio⁣
⁣I post worldwide 🌎 ⁣
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Happy Friday!!⁣
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💙 Breathe better, move better, ride better⁣
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Maeve ⁣
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