in the saddle
Synonym of in control
No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle. Winston Churchill
I'll never stop working. I want to die in the saddle. A day is wasted for me if I haven't done something even mildly creative. Bob Monkhouse
Selective ignorance, a cornerstone of child rearing. You don't put kids under surveillance: it might frighten you. Parents should sit tall in the saddle and look upon their troops with a noble and benevolent and extremely nearsighted gaze. Garrison Keillor
It was the first time that I had ever been in a town where the working class was in the saddle ... There was much in it that I did not understand, in some ways I did not even like it, but I recognized it immediately as a state of affairs worth fighting for. George Orwell
Sitting securely in the saddle. Dutch Proverb
Wedlock rides in the saddle and repentance on the crupper. French Proverb