Zen and the Horse

Riding the Horse.
Not Moving.
Not Standing Still.

Ride from the inside out.
With breath, posture, and awareness; not force.
Not pushing. Not holding back.
Just presence.
Just balance.
Just riding.

Ride and live with clarity and confidence; avoid the exhausting cycle of overthinking and self-doubt that keeps you stuck.

Ride with Balance. Live with Awareness.

Riding isn’t just about technique; it’s about how you live in your body and meet the world.
Through simple, powerful adjustments in posture, breath, and awareness, you can ride with greater balance, move with real confidence, and live with deeper connection.
The saddle becomes your training ground. The horse becomes your mirror.
Refine yourself, not by force, but by conscious presence and discover a new way of being that goes beyond riding into every part of your life.

Ride stronger. Breathe deeper. Live freer.

Rider’s Seat Clinic

For Rider’s Seat Clinic information contact: tnagel@zenandthehorse.com

Video from Netherlands clinic.

What riders and teachers are saying.

“What you are teaching is the key to that dream place we all aspire to achieve with our horses.”  Karen Irland   Centered Riding® Clinician, Author of Along the Way: My Journey with Horses

“Happy horses, happy riders and lots of new insights and awareness! Ylvie Fros – Netherlands clinic organizer Author of Harmony, Lightness and Horses”

“What Tom can do is show riders how to use their bodies in a natural, effective way that allows them to ‘get out of the way’ of their horse. The results are startling. Without a doubt, Tom’s teachings had the most profound and striking changes to both horses and riders of any clinics we have ever organized. ” Lisa Pritchard – UK Rider’s Seat Clinic organizer

“If you get the chance to go on one of Tom’s courses… do it! 
I guarantee you won’t regret it.”
Samantha Bolam – Flow Horsemanship – UK

“Thank you for a wonderful experience and a new awareness to my life.  Not only has it changed my riding, it has changed my life on a daily basis. The simple step of shifting my psoas has such a profound effect on my whole well-being. I am a different person.” P. Peterson – Michigan, USA

“What struck me was how easy it was to find that ever-elusive seat I had been searching for all these years. It is so simple, yet so profound.”  Suzan Seelye, DVM – USA

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Books:

Zen & Horseback Riding

Zen & Horseback Riding is about more than improving your seat — it’s about transforming how you move, breathe, and live.

Tom Nagel shows how real stability begins with the deep psoas muscles, the true core that links the upper and lower body.

Through posture, breath, and awareness, you’ll learn to ride with balance, feel your horse’s movement more clearly, and experience riding as a path of self-development.

Simple, direct, and immediately usable, this book invites you to refine both your riding and your life — one breath, one step at a time.

“I liked this book so well after being given a copy that I couldn’t wait to purchase six more copies for my friends.” ­ Sally Swift, Author of Centered Riding

From Amazon reviews:

Thankfully, I came across this gem of a book and it has truly changed my riding experience. 

I wish I had read it long before I did. This should be required reading for anyone who is going to take horseback riding lessons and wants to really learn how to ride, regardless of discipline.

I now feel very safe and comfortable in the saddle with my horse and any other horse I ride. The book is very easy to read and follow.

I can sit the trot now, but more than that, I’ve been introduced to mindfulness and the breath during riding.

The proper use of the psoas muscles is what’s missing in Centered Riding.® In this book, there are informative and useful diagrams as well as exercises for locating and strengthening the psoas muscles. I highly recommend this book for beginners, more advanced riders, and especially riding instructors.

I learned a lot from this little book. I’ve been working years on my posture, and the information about the psoas really helped me get a solid position on the horse. The breath and awareness information were icing on the cake. This is one book that I’ll be reading again and again.

Just what I needed to help me find my seat. Great exercises that are simple and remarkable. A very worthwhile read.

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Simple Pushes

Creating Balance in an Unbalanced World

Expanded 2025 version.
Do you push or pull on the steering wheel when you drive?
That tiny habit points to something deeper – how you move through life. Pushers act fast, often without pausing. Pullers wait, often too long. Both habits can lead to stress, getting stuck and imbalance.
Simple Pushes offers a gentle, practical way to restore balance—through small, intentional actions that shift lifelong patterns. Whether you’re navigating relationships, work, or just getting through the day, this book helps you respond instead of react.
Short, clear, and quietly powerful, Simple Pushes is a guide to real change, one small push at a time.

From Amazon reviews:

Simple Pushes is a very easy read and provides life-changing tips. The concepts in this book have helped me become more efficient and balanced. As I begin to get bogged down in a problem I use simple pushes and move forward. 

My wife and I use the lessons in Tom’s book on a regular basis and now we can easily help each other with a simple push by saying, “…you’re pulling…” to get them back into balance.

Tom shows how pushing and pulling relates to all areas of life, and SO much makes sense now.

This little book is simple yet spot on. I laughed out loud when I read the statement that pullers have a lot of self help books. Guilty!

Quick read with easy to understand information. Tom’s explanation of the push/pull concept will make a difference in your life and in your relationships. For me the concept was an “aha” moment.

I really enjoyed this little book. It is one that I will keep handy and re-read (a simple push) in my effort to keep my life in a good balance.

Simple Pushes is a quick read, but one that I will be telling all of my friends, family, clients, and students to purchase!

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Meet Tom

Tom Nagel has spent a lifetime exploring how balance, breath, and awareness shape the way we move — and the way we live. His work is grounded in the basic biomechanics of the human body, offering simple, practical ways to find steadiness from within.

Tom practiced Aikido for seventeen years, earning a 3rd degree black belt, and has been immersed in Zen training since 1977. In 1986, he became a certified Zen teacher. He also brings the skill of Zen Bodytherapy®, a deep alignment and bodywork practice, into everything he teaches.

Since 2000, Tom has shared these principles with horseback riders across the country, helping them feel more secure, centered, and connected in the saddle. His approach is simple but powerful: posture, breath, and awareness as the foundation for real, lasting change — both with horses and in everyday life.

Tom’s gift is making profound ideas accessible. His clinics, courses, and writings invite people to notice small shifts that create big transformations, one simple push at a time.

The Psoas Muscles

Why the Psoas Matter for Riders

  • Unbalanced riders often unknowingly engage surface muscles (like abs or glutes) in a way that makes them stiff or uncentered.
  • But riding from the inside out, by using the psoas, allows fluid, stable, and natural movement—like a tree swaying from its rooted trunk rather than stiff branches.
  • Horses feel this difference. When your psoas are balanced, your horse can relax and move freely with you.

Location and Function of the Psoas Muscles

The psoas muscles are deep core muscles. They’re:

  • The only muscles that link your lumbar spine (lower back) directly to your legs.
  • Positioned behind your abdominal organs, right in front of your spine.
  • Part of a muscle pair called the iliopsoas, which includes the iliacus muscle. Together, they flex the hip joint and help stabilize your spine.
  • The psoas muscles flex by connecting and coordinating your spine and legs—essential for both riding and everyday posture. Here’s how they work, explained in a simple, grounded way:

How They Flex: Two Main Ways

1. Unbalanced Flexion

  • Happens when your pelvis tilts forward and your lower back arches.
  • The psoas shorten and bulge forward.
  • This creates tension and makes both rider and horse feel unstable or stiff.

2. Balanced Flexion (This is the goal!)

  • The pelvis is level, and the lower back flattens.
  • The psoas lengthen and fall back into a supportive role.
  • This:
    • Tones the inner thighs naturally.
    • Stabilizes the spine.
    • Integrates upper and lower body.
    • Deepens breath and improves movement harmony.

“The psoas muscles, when used correctly, become a lower back stabilizer, supporting you from within.”

Centered Riding® and the Psoas article