# Do You Remember? Posting Trot



## RadHenry09 (Mar 22, 2009)

Well, my 10 yr old daughter is going through this. She knows how to post, and knows/understands diagonals. She doesnt always pick up the correct one and her instructor tells her simply "change your diagonal" so she sits 2 beats and picks it up again. It seems to me the more she thinks about it the more she misses it...lol 

Her instructor put her on the lunge line several times and would say 1,2,1,2 or up/down

Also: double posting seems to have helped her with the up/down movement and using the right muscle memory.

We also watched a video on youtube about diagnols for her to see the difference and I also video taped her trotting so she could see herself as she rode.

She gets it about 90 percent of the time now, she is still working on perfecting it. She used to ride in a western saddle ,now she says it is hard for her to sit the trot after learning to post.


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## BarrelracingArabian (Mar 31, 2010)

i taught myself how to post because we didnt have money for lessons and i just rode for fun so i taught myself on my mustang gelding that my aunt gave me for my 7th birthday...it just kinda came natural sicne it was more comfortable then bouncing xD... but i had my trainers help for diagnols.


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## Erin_And_Jasper (Jul 5, 2008)

i didnt learn my diagonals till i was 12. i took "lessons" for like 2 years. the taught me up down up down then push you hips forward when the outside leg goes forward. so it was down, up and push hips forward, down, up and push hips forward


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## ThatNinjaHorse (Jul 26, 2009)

Yeah i dont really remember either, i didnt have lessons much so i think i just figured it out by myself. I think my mum taught me diagonals in one of the few lessons i had (she used to teach occasionally (VERY occasionally lol) at a local riding school, and would take me along for the lesson) other than that she left me to my own devices when it came to riding.


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## roro (Aug 14, 2009)

This is what I remember:

UP! DOWN! UP! THE OTHER UP! DOWN! UP! DOWN! WRONG! UP! and so forth.


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## RadHenry09 (Mar 22, 2009)

^ I am sure that is what my daughter is hearing too. lol : )


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## FoxyRoxy1507 (Jul 15, 2008)

i remember the up down up down thing till i got with a real good trainer and had to relearn its forward and back not up and down! lol thrust those hips forward


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

"Rise and fall with the leg on the wall."


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

roro said:


> This is what I remember:
> 
> UP! DOWN! UP! THE OTHER UP! DOWN! UP! DOWN! WRONG! UP! and so forth.


Same here! :lol:

I was taking Western lessons then... was quite odd to learn in a Western saddle!

I still struggle with diagonals and hear "sit for two and switch, you're on the wrong diagonal" a lot.


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## devildogtigress (May 17, 2010)

I was told to sit a trot for a few laps around the ring, and watch the shoulder. The shoulder should move forward when you rise, and move backwards when you sit. Once I was told this, it changed everything. :_)


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## horsequeen373 (Oct 4, 2009)

My instructor has her beginners practice posting at the walk then when they trot she runs beside them and tells them up down up down until they get the hang of it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

I first "learned" how to "ride" on my uncle's horse, and he did the generic, "up, down, up, down..." thing but I could NOT for the life of me do it. At all. Then one day, I got on this laid-back, quiet QH mare and BAM, I could post. Once I could post, I was taught to "rise and fall with the leg on the wall." And that was it. They would bark at me I was on the wrong diagonal and I would switch. I always had to look.

Then I had a marvelous instructor [at least in this situation] who had me post on the wrong diagonal for a million laps with lots of circles. Something ridiculous like that. Then she had me sit the trot, close my eyes, and rise when it FELT right. Bingo. Then we did a lot of trot transitions, and she told me to start rising when it felt right, not just because my horse started trotting. Pretty soon, it was pretty easy to just start posting on the right diagonal.

I think the only reason my instructor had me do this was because she was so tired of me always watching my horse's neck. I didn't need a REASON to look down, lol.


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## firegurl979 (Oct 1, 2008)

"rise and fall with the leg on the wall" and "hips to hands."


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## BaliDoll (Sep 21, 2009)

I learned it in a western saddle, because I had always shown/ridden western, but my trainer was smart enough to know it would come in handy after a while. And it did when I started playing around on my own riding english. Joby, my trainer who taught me to post, was such a cowboy and had been riding all his life... he always told me I would *feel* it when it was right, but I just now within this past year of posting have begun to understand what he meant.

I remember I'd always look down and see if I was on the right diagonal, or look down in general in a lesson, and he'd yell "I'M GONNA PUT YOU ON A BULL CAUSE YOUR RIDING WITH YOUR CHIN TUCKED LIKE A BULL RIDER!" hahaha


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## Cheezeit32 (Jun 25, 2010)

I learned how to pick up the correct diagonal by feeling the movement of the horses shoulders. You can feel the rise and fall of the horses shoulders at the trot and once you feel the rhythm, pick up the correct one. This, however, took me a few months to learn to feel for it without looking.


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

I was 12 when I started taking lessons, so I might have been able to comprehend what my instructor was explaining better than a younger kid.

I was on a lunge line, and went through the same "Up, down, up, down, 1, 2, 1, 2". Then she made me count myself. I had the up/down rhythm figured out the second lesson I posted in.

As far as the diagonal, she basically explained that I should be rising when the front leg closest to the wall was stepping forward. She had me stare down at the shoulders and told me when to rise and sit until I could tell which leg I was rising with. After that, she would just remind me to "check my diagonal". Sometimes it was wrong, sometimes it wasn't. It was a good way to drill it into my head!


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## Regan7312 (Jul 5, 2010)

i dislike double posting lol...errrr :?


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## flamingauburnmustang (Dec 25, 2008)

When I first started riding I didn't have the privilege of a riding instructer. So at the outride centre, everytime we trotted, I would look how the other semi-experienced riders would post and I would try and imitate them. After lots of bouncing, I eventually could rise with the horse. 

I only learnt about the correct diagonals when I moved to a riding school. :mrgreen:


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I just learned to stay in the rythym. It was completely self taught for me....But then again, I learned posting trot in a western saddle so when I started showing english classes it was the same but without a horn.


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## ryssa1229 (Jul 9, 2010)

My trainer put me on a lounge line and taught me what posting was before going over diagnols. She had me stand up in my stirrups and gently sit at the walk and helped me keep time by saying "1,2,1,2" so I would learn how to keep the beat.Then she explained how when the horse's leg next to the fence was back,I should be sitting and up in the saddle when that leg took a step forward.

Then we moved on to me keeping time on my own and she told me how to sit for two beats so I was doing it correctly.It was a little hard at first,learning to be on the right diagnol,but after some practice I had it down pat. =]


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## ErikaLynn (Aug 3, 2010)

I remember being on a lunge line for a while...I dont really remember how I started posting, but I can still clearly hear my trainers voice in my head say..."up down, up, down" But I could never get my diagonals, my mom would cough at the shows when I was on the wrong diagonal, then it finally clicked. To this day I'll look down at my diagonal if my moms coughs


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## flamingauburnmustang (Dec 25, 2008)

^^ LOL...that's pretty cool. :lol:


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## Arksly (Mar 13, 2010)

I learned to post my first "lesson" which was really just a day camp where we learned to take care of horses and riding was just icing on the cake. First we started with walking (on the lunge line and holding onto the pommel) and I was told to rise every time the outside shoulder moved foreward and also to say "up, down, up, down." then we moved to the trot and luckily I picked it up quite quickly.


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## Brithorse1996 (May 25, 2010)

I have never been put on a lunge line when I was learning any riding.

But god do I remember up, down, up, down.
I was told to push my hips forward and go up and down but I learnt it really quickly. This is my 4th year of riding english and I've only just been taught diagonals after being through 5 different riding schools.

Good times


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## flamingauburnmustang (Dec 25, 2008)

It's actually strange, our instructor still says to us "up, down, up, down" when we are having an intense flatwork session...an insult actually....LOL. :lol:


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

I recall having to do a demo posting trot when an instructor was teaching a girl with autism how to post. But she picked it up really quickly after seeing it.
I remember having to post to the walk when learning diagonals. That's all I remember.


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## Supermane (Sep 23, 2007)

I remember, "UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN" 
and then, "UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN" 
and eventually, "close your eyes; which diagonal are you on?" 
"I don't know..."
"change it"
"now which one are you one are you on?"
"The wrong one?"
"yep, now change it back"


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## dedebird (May 21, 2010)

errr i always thought my trainer was saying up down up down for her own good xD i never listened to it i just remember rise and fall with the leg on the wall and to stand up and sit down lol simple to me posting is eaaaasy


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## cjockey (Aug 12, 2010)

Cheezeit32 said:


> I learned how to pick up the correct diagonal by feeling the movement of the horses shoulders. You can feel the rise and fall of the horses shoulders at the trot and once you feel the rhythm, pick up the correct one. This, however, took me a few months to learn to feel for it without looking.


Same here. I wasn't allowed to look down; it was all about FEEL. There were a couple exercises that helped tho.


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## Mickey4793 (Sep 24, 2009)

Oh gosh, were those the times.

I was 9 years old and my mom FINALLY let me take lessons. It was my first riding lesson on a beautiful appaloosa POA pony, an old one at that. I was on a lead line and the trainer would jog along side at the trot, and I didn't know how to post yet but she exampled the concept to me, had me practice at the walk, and attempt at the trot. I could not do it.

Now at my barn it's VERY favorable to take group lessons, as private lessons are VERY expensive. But they have a rule for beginners- You can't join a group lesson till you learn to post the trot. Well, 6 or 7 private lessons in and I still couldn't get it. My mom said to me at that point, that if I couldn't get it by the next lesson I couldn't take lessons anymore because the private lessons were so expensive. I got it quickly after she told me that, THANK GOD!


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## phoenix (Jun 7, 2010)

Rising trot came naturally to me, in my first lesson it felt right so that's what i did.

learning which diagonal didn't happen for a few years; i got with a trainer who had me on the lunge line and told me to watch the shoulders. outside leg forward, up. then she would have me yell out now, now, now, now... with the outside shoulder. then she made me post with my eyes closed to get the feel for it. i still sometimes have to look to make sure it's right.

learning to sit at the trot was an entirely different matter, so hard. it took me years and the use of the 'unisit' system (which is actually just a torture device for idiots like me who can't sit the trot)


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## ImpressiveLady (Aug 22, 2010)

I also remember 'rise and fall with the leg on the wall'. What I remember the most though is my instructor asking me if I was on the right diagonal, I'd stare down and take a random guess.

I also remember looking down and saying 'up' every time the horse's leg would rise. Around and around saying 'Upp uppp uppp uppp uppp.'


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## BarrelRacer86 (Jul 6, 2010)

All I remember is being about 6 or 7 on my pony one day and my mom telling me to rise up when the inside leg came back. She didn't explain it in the easiest terms to understand.That being said I was very confused and just didn't post, I was riding western anyway. But when I was 11 I wanted to learn english so taught myself how to post (still in a western saddle), but whenever I rode english for the first time I could do a posting trot.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_Oh my gosh...thats so long ago! I honestly don't remember learning how to post. I rode for several years before lessons. Gonna say I most likely got the rising and sitting part naturally, then just needed refinement once lessons did come along._


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

Supermane said:


> I remember, "UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN"
> and then, "UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN"
> and eventually, "close your eyes; which diagonal are you on?"
> "I don't know..."
> ...


Love this!

I remember learning to rise to the trot on a trail ride with my best mate when we were about 6 or 7 years old. She picked up posting before me - NOT HAPPY. So I started faking a rising trot, all out of rhythym and sync with the horse but I was sure as hell going to rise to that trot no matter what!! Eventually through all that awkward rising, I just fell into beat with the horse, much more comfortable after that.

As for diaganols, I didn't even know about them until I started showing when I was about 14 having never had lessons. I placed third in a class and the judge made a passing comment about how I was on the wrong diagonol. My response was something like.... diagonol wha...? Stayed back after the class and had it explained to me, good as gold after that!


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