# Super rough trot..



## paintgirl96 (Oct 6, 2012)

My paint horse stallion has a really, really rough trot. I've been riding horses for about 14 years now, (I'm 18). I've never ridden a horse with this bad of a trot. I seriously can't sit it. I've tried everyday for a week, atleast 4 hours a day. I've slowed his trot & kept his head down, a little better then but still rough. I'm not sure if using a tie down to keep his head a little lower would help or what. He goes from that horrible trot to a nice, nice canter! He's Western, used for roping, reining, herding, barrel racing, western pleasure, trails, mounted shooting, etc. I love him to death but I DESPISE his trot, he makes me feel like a horrible rider. Any help on how to maybe sit it out, or anything, would be appreciated.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I feel your pain. 

My husband had a horse with an awful trot and a not so hot lope, either. The horse came to be named "Bomber" because those two gaits were so rough. His walk was a fantastic, ground covering, swinging stride. Worse, we were on a 30,000 acre grazing association, so days could end up long. 

Anyway, I did take time to work on muscling certain areas of his hind legs. The horse and I did utilize circling and transitions in speed to help him gather himself (show ring collection is not quite desirable in a working ranch setting). And, I worked on my own trunk strength. I also assessed him for alignment, which was fine. Even some neuro soft signs, which were also fine.

A lot of his way of going was due to his conformation. Slightly butt-high. Thick legs, and his pastern/shoulder angles were a bit straight, but not crippling. Large shoulders. Prominent withers.

Still, Bomber was my go to horse when I thought we might have to doctor large stock. That horse was a great partner. I wonder what he would have said about my riding? Probably critique my conformation! lol


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## paintgirl96 (Oct 6, 2012)

boots said:


> I feel your pain.
> 
> My husband had a horse with an awful trot and a not so hot lope, either. The horse came to be named "Bomber" because those two gaits were so rough. His walk was a fantastic, ground covering, swinging stride. Worse, we were on a 30,000 acre grazing association, so days could end up long.
> 
> ...


He's a great horse & I trust him to do basically anything, I just feel like I look sort of, idiotic, on his trot, because I can't sit it. I've tried trotting him for three or four hours at a time to try & sit it out. I sit up straight, keep my heels down, I've tried to squeeze more with my upper thighs, didn't help.. tried leaning back deeper in the seat, didn't help. He has high withers, for a Paint horse I think. He's completely sound in everyway though.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Try bending him to the inside when you're riding in a round pen or ring. The idea is to bring his head a little to the inside and bend him around your leg, so you're riding more ) than l, but still going down the straight side of the arena. I had a mare who was so rough I never could sit her trot, but bending her did help some.


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## paintgirl96 (Oct 6, 2012)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> Try bending him to the inside when you're riding in a round pen or ring. The idea is to bring his head a little to the inside and bend him around your leg, so you're riding more ) than l, but still going down the straight side of the arena. I had a mare who was so rough I never could sit her trot, but bending her did help some.


Okay, thank you! I'll try that this afternoon.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Learn to post!!! 

No I don't think a tie down would help, that will not add in anyway to the softness that might improve things for you. Bending, yielding, circle work, that is all I can think of. 

Some horses just have a horrible trot, or canter, and you have to either learn to love it, or sell them on.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

Aha, posting is your friend! I also find that sitting in your half seat position helps quite a bit too!


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## luv my horse hinke (Aug 7, 2012)

I love this book I have a friesian who i couldnt sit well to and it has a section on sitting to the trot/ canter etc.. I feel so much better trotting now and so does my horse. i don't know if this is the issue though... hope to have helped 

Buy the Centered Riding Book, by Sally Swift, new approach to horseback riding, at Mary's Tack


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I posted often on Bomber. I post a lot during a typical day.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

paintgirl96 said:


> He's a great horse & I trust him to do basically anything, I just feel like I look sort of, idiotic, on his trot, because I can't sit it. I've tried trotting him for three or four hours at a time to try & sit it out. I sit up straight, keep my heels down, I've tried to squeeze more with my upper thighs, didn't help.. tried leaning back deeper in the seat, didn't help. He has high withers, for a Paint horse I think. He's completely sound in everyway though.


To me this sounds like you are more stiff like a board than loose and allowing your hips to move with the horse's hips.

I'm going to link you a video


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

^^^ What a great exercise for both horse and rider.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Skyseternalangel said:


> To me this sounds like you are more stiff like a board than loose and allowing your hips to move with the horse's hips.
> 
> I'm going to link you a video
> 
> How to ride sitting trot with Anna Ross Davies. - YouTube


I couldn't watch past the rider's flapping heels. I HATE that. 

Some horses are just rough. The horse I had was so rough, I didn't even like posting her trot. In fact, since she wasn't a show horse, I rarely used her trot at all. I walked or I cantered. Riding her bent smoothed her out somewhat, but not all.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> I couldn't watch past the rider's flapping heels. I HATE that.


Yeah I notice that on a lot of advanced riders.

But the point of this exercise is to approach sitting trot not like "I GOTTA GET THIS DONE" but more like "I'm going to ease into this and not push past what I am not ready for"


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Ok, I went back and made myself watch it. That horse has a lot of suspension and a huge stride, not a rough trot. 

I do see what she's doing opening her hip angle and loosening her back to follow his motion. That's great on a horse that doesn't shake you up like a blender. I had a friend who was a very accomplished dressage rider, ride Lady for me to see if she could give me some insight into sitting her rough trot. SHE couldn't sit it for more than a few strides it was so bone jarring. She had a very straight shoulder and short pasterns.....NO shock absorption, LOL! 

Anyhow, she was a wonderful horse and had 4 other lovely gaits, walk, extended walk, lope and canter. I just gritted my teeth and mostly got into a good 2 point when I needed to trot a few strides. She was a lot of fun and despite her awful trot, I loved to ride her and wish she was still with me.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Definitely some trots are harder to sit than others, but yeah shouldn't spend hours trying to force yourself to "get it" like the OP did. If the horse is not accepting you sitting on their back (as in they are nice and relaxed and swingy) then.. no amount of time will make that better. Only easing into it.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I like that exercise, I'll have to try that with Ben and his huge trot.


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## TerciopeladoCaballo (May 27, 2012)

Haha... One of my lesson horses had a bulldozing bone jarring trot and canter, he was an old Thoroughbred with all straight angles as far as I can remember. Excellent lesson horse, he was bombproof, never sped up or gave any mischief besides wanting to go ahead of other horses in group sessions. My trainer told me has one of the best athletic canters (I don't think I ever got the chance to ride him when my stiffness faded, but I did get a glimpse some times). 
I would fall off that sucker like a booger, I would just get bounced so hard my whole body locked up and I would slide off to the side. I looked ridiculous coming off. 
I would really have to relax, roll my shoulders back, and "find my seat" as my trainer would tell me tirelessly. The gelding had the tendency to sleep through the lesson or be a little lazy, I dreaded the idea of making him go faster but it did help waking him up and getting him moving more, so that his stride covered more ground and it wasn't just bang, bang, bang every time his hoof landed. He's a workman's horse... and tbh, I never really liked him much compared to the mares I rode. I liked the bratty Welsh greenbroke more than him x)


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## rascalboy (Jun 30, 2007)

If you can't ride bareback, you're not going to be able to sit the trot. Sounds like you have no idea how to go about doing that. Get the saddle off and give it a try. Try not to hurt yourself.


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## JulieG (Jun 25, 2013)

The horse I ride has a very rough trot as well.

I've been working on slowing her down as she's an OTSB and can trot at about 35mph. It's helping a bit but even when she slows down it's still hard to sit.

I even took some video of myself- I look horrible!


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## spurstop (Mar 22, 2012)

Can you post a good conformation shot of him? 

I'm going to guess that it's probably from the way he's built.


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

My guy's conformation is a bit straight. When he came to me he couldn't hardly trot in a straight line with a rider and his trot actually resulted in me pulling groin muscles more than once just trying to stay on. It was horrible. With a million and one transitions and teaching to carry a rider and himself, it's now passable. I doubt it will ever be fanstastic, but it's a million times better. We're even working on a 'jog' now, something I could only dream of a year ago.

Relax, work on yourself on other horses with better trots, work on him, but I might also consider just posting and giving both of you a break too. Some horses just don't have an easy trot.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I'd say it's likely due to how he's built, though I'd make sure that he's rounding up through his back and keeping him slower (more like a jog than a trot) will help some. Some horses are just rough...and others are _really_ rough LOL. I've rode several horses that had one gait that was just awful. One mare had a phenomenal trot but her lope was like riding a jackhammer in the back of a pickup with no shocks going 40 mph over a row of speedbumps LOL. I've got 2 geldings right now that their lopes are amazing, smooth, and ground covering, but their trots will jar the fillings right out of your teeth.

It's just something that you sort of have to get used to. If you haven't done it yet, you might want to get video and just see how it looks. I know before I started videoing some of my rides, I was convinced that I must look like a ragdoll up there on some horses. Surprisingly enough, I actually looked good on them, even when I _felt_ like I was on the verge of flopping off their side.


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## PrairieChic (Sep 12, 2012)

If he is sound and tack is fitting correctly and he's still rough then it truly is just something you will have to get used to. Post. Lol. My saddle horse is a quarter/percheron cross and his trot is rough. When he gets cranky he can throw himself into a ground covering-leave your guts on the ground a mile behind you trot that will be faster than a run. He's 11 , I've had him since he was 4mos its not gonna change. Its better when he gets all collected up and has a good rhythm but really I thinks its just that I've become accustom to it. My Bf can't ride him. He watches me ride and can't understand how come I can sit him and he doesn't look rough. But it because I'm used to him. You probably don't look that uncoordinated either. Working on collection and serpentines does help but mostly its just getting relaxed and finding your seat.


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## tcvhorse (Oct 14, 2012)

My appaloosa had a really rough trot. How I learned to sit it: Really I stopped using stirrups for awhile! It was highly motivating.  Seriously though I found the more I rode without stirrups the better my leg and overall balance was, and the better my seat became. Next thing I knew, I could sit Mercury's jackhammer trot.


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Is he straight shouldered with straight pasterns? If so he is built to trot roughly, not going to change that.

And it may be that you are riding the saddle instead of the horse which will make trot hard to sit too.


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

Ohhhh... those memories! My guy is 17.2 with the conformation of a freight train:










It took probably 6 months of conditioning, teaching him to use his back properly and trotting, trotting, trotting. Finally we found that sweet spot! It's slow and smooth and suits my old bones just fine. But an extended trot will loosen your teeth! Just keep at it and you'll be happy you did :lol:


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## TerciopeladoCaballo (May 27, 2012)

Boo Walker said:


> Ohhhh... those memories! My guy is 17.2 with the conformation of a freight train:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
HOLY straight back!

No kidding, train indeed.... does steam come out his nose when he blows? :lol:
Tall dark 'n handsome fella, though


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