# Mastering the trot..tips would be great!



## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

Hello-

Most of you know that I am a beginner to riding horses and owning my very own horse. Anyways, I moved my horse to the fairgrounds in hope that she would listen to me and not do her own thing and completely ignoring me. I had complete SUCCESS! Today she did everything with a few things here and there but she took the bit,she let me saddle her and tighten the cinch,she walked when I told her,trot when I told her,and loped. She would do her turns and stops on a dime. It was nice seeing the change. I believe she doesn't hate me anymore,hahaa :lol:

Now my question is how do you master a sit down trot? I was bouncing all over the place but I could lope with no problem. It was a perfectly smooth ride. When she would go a faster trot that is when I was going all over the place even if I sunk down in my seat and put my weight into the stirrups. I could not stay in. I even tried balancing myself with my core muscles. How do I stay on without bouncing...I look very silly I am sure. Any tips are greatly appreciated. 

Does anyone else have a horse that has a bouncy trot? My mom even had trouble staying on my horse. Her horse has a smooth trot.


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## justsambam08 (Sep 26, 2009)

Some horses trots are really just meant to be posted to. I have a TB, and he's off the track, so his balance is less than ideal. I post the trot because its comfortable for me, but previously I rode a TWH who had a much nicer trot...I rode a Paso Fino who had a trot somewhere in between, lol.


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

alright,thanks.

And when you post you go with the beat of the horse but when you do post do you lift up with your knees?


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## justsambam08 (Sep 26, 2009)

No, thats a great way to get sore joints, lol....Ideally, you lift with the tops of your thighs/butt muscles, and your abs provide support for your back to keep you balanced....like lifting yourself up from a crouch (you feel it in your thighs). Your lower legs are there as a source of stability, but your calves should remain motionless, really.


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

When you rise, the action is more of a pevlic tilt than literally lifting yourself out of the saddle. That is a very common mistake that beginners will make, thinking that you have to go up and down by pushing yourself out of the saddle.
It really doesn't need to be that hard  Don't grip your knee as it will make your lower leg swing back, instead hold with your calf muscles. Eventually when you develop an independant seat, you will have no gripping/tightness in your joints when rising. 
Think of rising as though you are pushing your pelvis towards your hands. You only want to come out of the saddle slightly, so there is just a little bit of under under your seat. Let your horse 'bump' you out of the saddle just enough to push your pelvis towards your hands, don't force the issue, you will see what I mean when you ride  Also when you sit, THAT is when you want to put your leg on, as that is when the inside hind leg is leaving the ground and thus the time in which you have the most influence over it. 

For sit trot, there are lots of good posts on this forum about how to sit trot. Under horse riding, english riding and dressage.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Agreed, some horses have a trot that is just not comfortable or practical to sit. Contrary to popular belief, it is not blasphemy to post in a western saddle. I often do when I am in a long trot or I will stay in a semi-standing position (I would guess similar to an english 2 point). The only horse I have ever ridden that I just cannot sit his trot no matter what I do is John. He is so big and so animated that it is like riding a steam engine over speed bumps at high speed. With him, I have no choice but to either post or stand because I cannot sit. He literally throws me out of the saddle.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I agree with you all. I had a 17hh arab mare (I know, shocking) and when I rode her trot I would be thrown right out of the saddle. It wasn't that it was bumpy it was just that she really lifted into her trot and it was like floating and then _bam_ when her stride ended. Ugh, it was terrible. I had to post because I couldn't stay on otherwise. Eventually I quit trotting and just walked and loped. Then we sold her as a halter horse, which was her calling. 

Sometimes you just have to post. Its incredibly hard to sit a lot of trots.


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

Holy cow! That's a big arab...it wasn't purebred was it?


I really apperciate all your posts.

I will try posting or sitting because otherwise I am going all of the place and I bet it looks really silly and all I can say is "Gidgit that hurts!" lol...I can defiently feel my muscles in my back today because I was practicing so much on trying to stay in my saddle!


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

You're lucky if you don't want to do dressage... it means you can get away with not sitting 

I'm stuck having to sit anything that is thrown at me!! Doesn't matter how big and bouncy the trot is, I've got to sit it. I rode my coach's 17hh FEI hannoverian from time to time, and my god, that horse catapaults you out of the saddle, it took me weeks to master sit trot on him... at working trot, I then had to learn to collect him, not an easy feat when colelction comes from the hold in your seat, and when you are focussing everything on keeping in the saddle, life is difficult! 

Just keep practicing, in time the sit trot will come. I wouldn't really suggest going with no stirrups for long periods of time as people tend to suggest, as this can make you grip with your upper leg and thus tip you forward,m your legs swing back and you are in no position to influence the horses movement.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I went to a clinic where the guy taught everyone how to sit the trot. We all looked like a bunch of idiots, but it went a long way toward helping me feel the true motion of the trot. First he had us all walk slow and then with a bigger stride like we were hand walking our horses to show us that, even though horses walk faster and with a bigger stride, our bodies can emulate that movement because we have the appropriate range of motion. 

Then he showed us having his horse trot with him "trotting" next to him. It became quickly obvious that with forward motion alone, a human simply cannot duplicate a horse's trot motion. However, when he added in sideways movement by swinging his hips (almost like he was using a hula hoop) he looked a lot like a trotting horse. He then had us sit in our seats and trot with our hips by dropping one trip and then the other in rapid sequence. It was killer on our stomach muscles, but when I finally got home and duplicated it on my bouncy TB, it was very effective.


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## Marielw (Jan 31, 2010)

Gidget: I am still new at riding ... but a lifetime ago, when I was 18, I took lessons English style. My teacher had us sit trot (?) FOR DAYS AND DAYS until we 'got' it. She told us how long we would be sore was completely up to us. For me personally, it was ALL in the thighs. We had dropped our stirrups (on purpose) and the more you held on with your thighs (and the stronger your thighs got) the easier and more natural it was to post without stirrups. 

I have NO IDEA if this is what you are asking or speaking of, but it is one lesson that I just repeated this past summer (I am now in my 40s) on a friend's horse that I ride. GREAT thigh exercises! : ? ) And this horse, Gina, has a VERY bumpy trot. BUT a great, smooth canter.


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