Lynne Sprinksly Echols
A late starter and a late bloomer in equitation, Lynne Sprinsky Echols is the unlikely author of “A GOOD SEAT: Three Months at the Reitinstitut von Neindorff,” whose relentless pursuit of the Alpha and Omega of good riding led her, at age 53, to the adventure of a riding lifetime with a Keeper of the Holy Grail of classical dressage in Germany, Egon von Neindorff himself. In conquering her own rogue body parts the old-fashioned way, on the longe, she began learning how to help others conquer their own crookedness, imbalance, limited range of motion, and those pesky airplane-wing toes!
Despite Herr von Neindorff’s parting words to her – “Now, at last, you have a good seat!” – she was convinced there had to be a better, faster way to correct riders’ flawed positions in the saddle (as well as other equitation shortcomings). So Lynne next studied human and equine biomechanics with Dr. Eckart Meyners, whose method for training riders’ brains in order to influence the movement of their bodies is now part of the required curriculum for all professional German riders and trainers, having been proven effective with thousands of riders.
As The Rider’s Seat Doctor, Lynne now specializes in helping riders break their incorrect equitation habits and adopt new, more correct movement patterns in a shorter time span than that required by the classic position correction practice of spending months or years on the longe line. She also helps riders translate their horses’ “body language” into an improved comprehension of their horses’ opinions about their riders’ way of riding. With this new understanding, even riders who aren’t able to take conventional instruction on a regular basis can still make steady progress in the right direction. Their horses become their “four-legged professors,” to quote Herr von Neindorff.
In all her dealings with riders and their horses, Lynne adheres steadfastly to the principles embodied by her teachers (who also include Erik Herbermann, Walter Zettl, and Karl Mikolka), namely that we must remain supremely conscious of the immense honor our horses do us in carrying us on their backs, purely out of their generous nature. Therefore we must never violate that nature with harsh methods, short-cut gimmicks, or sub-standard care. We owe it to them to learn to speak Horse, rather than expecting them to speak Human.
Although Lynne has chosen the discipline of Dressage for herself, she has also spent time in the Hunt Seat and Western Pleasure worlds. No matter the discipline, there is a single basic, balanced seat that can be adapted to any style of riding.
Lynne happily travels the world to teach in a clinic setting. Riders all over the world can avail themselves of her services through video consultations, accessed through her website, www.theridersseatdoctor.com . She also brings her unique perspective to riders on various Facebook groups, where she posts as Lynne Sprinsky Echols and as The Rider’s Seat Doctor – Lynne Sprinsky Echols. Find her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/RiderSeatMD/ .
Lynne Sprinksly Echols
Lynne’s 2023 Presentations
Horse Wise Meets Horse Brain, Human Brain: Part I -
Horse Wise Meets Horse Brain, Human Brain: Part II -
