# Loping help PLEASE



## Trusty Rusty (May 2, 2014)

I need help learning how to lope my mare. She's a smooth lope but I tend to bounce and have trouble balancing. Can I get Amy advice on how to keep my behind in seat of my saddle. Any advice at all please. Also when I start to lope Hunter she always let's out one happy buck then keeps loping. Please please help with me keeping my butt on the seat. The only time I don't bounce is when I stand in the saddle like I do at a trot.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kapbob8 (Mar 18, 2015)

Trusty Rusty said:


> I need help learning how to lope my mare. She's a smooth lope but I tend to bounce and have trouble balancing. Can I get Amy advice on how to keep my behind in seat of my saddle. Any advice at all please. Also when I start to lope Hunter she always let's out one happy buck then keeps loping. Please please help with me keeping my butt on the seat. The only time I don't bounce is when I stand in the saddle like I do at a trot.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Try dropping your stirrups and really sinking down into the saddle and relaxing. Most bounce is most likely caused due to you being tense and not absorbing the horse's bounce.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

kapbob8 said:


> Try dropping your stirrups and really sinking down into the saddle and relaxing. Most bounce is most likely caused due to you being tense and not absorbing the horse's bounce.


Exactly this.

Relax. That's the biggest thing. Relax and breathe.


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## Jana F (Feb 13, 2015)

maybe your stirrups are too long/short?

Keep your shoulders up/back and your toes down... it's mostly posture... by staying upright your butt will slide against the back of the saddle... each horse has a slightly different rhythm that you need to find and settle into... if you're bouncing, you're out of sync with the horse.

hope that helps!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Jana F said:


> and your toes down...


TOES down or HEELS down? 

Unless you're riding bareback (which I don't think the OP is, with saying she can't keep her butt in the saddle), I'm pretty sure she would want to keep her heels down. :wink:


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## kapbob8 (Mar 18, 2015)

Jana F said:


> maybe your stirrups are too long/short?
> 
> Keep your shoulders up/back and your toes down... it's mostly posture... by staying upright your butt will slide against the back of the saddle... each horse has a slightly different rhythm that you need to find and settle into... if you're bouncing, you're out of sync with the horse.
> 
> hope that helps!


Don't know if you had a typo but toes should be kept up and heels down. Shoulders shouldn't be forced into position but kept in a relaxed down and back position that makes it easy to keep a straight and aligned back.


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## kapbob8 (Mar 18, 2015)

Also, your horse's "happy buck" should be looked at. If your horse keeps bucking even after you have learned to properly sit the lope, you may want to get him checked out. Sometimes an ill fitting saddle can cause back pain. It might not be so happy after all so just keep an eye on him and monitor any changes.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

starting off at a happy buck is going to set you at a disadvantage right off the bat. 

how are you asking the horse to lope? if you are putting on more leg than she /he needs, this can make a hrose get irritated and buck. are you going to a lope from a walk or a trot?

snaffle or curb bit?


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## Trusty Rusty (May 2, 2014)

Thanks for the advice. How do I relax more and not be so tence any advice?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Breathe. Don't overthink it. Tenseness is caused by anticipation. Before you ask for the lope, make sure you are completely relaxed. My bet is on that you're tense at the trot, as well, which is not helping when you ask for the lope.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

First, don't let your horse pick up the lope with a buck! Stop her, set her up, and ask her to lope off correctly
Are you relatively new to riding? A good instructor would help greatly. A lope is actually a very easy gait to sit, esp on a good loper. Sit up, have your legs under you, with weight distributed between your seat and the stirrups, heels down, relax and move with the horse. If intsead you brace, or sit in the saddle like in a chair, you will not be with the motion of your horse.
Check stirrup length. Take feet out of stirrups, and the bottom of your stirrup should be at about your ankle. Next, put feet back into stirrups, and stand, without holding on to the saddle horn, or any part of the saddle, then sit down. That places your legs under your body where they should be.


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

See if you are gripping with your knees (your jeans will usually ride up your boots if you are). Make sure you are sitting straight, not leaning forward in anticipation. Think about keeping your thigh -right behind your pants inseam - in contact with your saddle. Keep your knees soft with equal weight in each stirrup, not jamming your legs out straight, this will cause you to pop up as well. And practice practice practice!


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Trusty Rusty said:


> I need help learning how to lope my mare. She's a smooth lope but I tend to bounce and have trouble balancing. Can I get Amy advice on how to keep my behind in seat of my saddle. Any advice at all please. Also when I start to lope Hunter she always let's out one happy buck then keeps loping. Please please help with me keeping my butt on the seat. The only time I don't bounce is when I stand in the saddle like I do at a trot.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Bouncing in the saddle while loping is generally a sign of tension in the rider. This tension may be caused by many things. It usually stems from concern over increased speed (especially if the horse lopes fast), being unfamiliar with loping, or anticipation of the "happy buck" you mention.

Many riders are not relaxed when loping, because they have not thought about and practiced relaxing at a walk and trot. It is so easy to ride a walk that most riders pay little attention to how they do this; they simply sit any old way. The best way to improve balance, relaxation, and following the movements of the horse in any gait is to consciously think about doing this when performing the walk. Doing so at the walk removes most concerns a rider may have and gives the rider plenty of time to think about what is happening. Once a rider has learned to relax, balance, and move with the horse at the walk, doing so at a trot and lope becomes easier.

Learn to sit balanced on your crotch as well as your seat bones. With an erect pelvis, release tension in your torso and allow your head to balance over your spine rather than holding it there with muscular tension. Release tension in the muscles around your pelvis and throughout your crotch so your seat can settle deeply into the saddle. Be sure to sit in the middle of the saddle so you don't have a tendency to lean against the cantle or pommel. Release any tension in the muscles of your legs, ankles, feet, and toes, so gravity can pull your center of gravity downward. Gravity alone will provide stability, so you need not hold on to the horse with your legs. Then, allow your body to move with the horse's movements.

Relaxed muscles allow a rider to more quickly make the subtle adjustments necessary to remain in good balance while the horse is moving. In addition, a horse has a tendency to relax as it feels the rider relax. This produces smoother movement which makes the rider more comfortable.

It is also important that you address the "happy buck" issue. Be certain you are not startling your horse when asking for the lope. It is often helpful to establish a "tell", "scotch", or "half-halt" signal, to alert you horse to the fact that you are preparing to ask it to perform something different. This may be a simple smooth squeeze and release of the fingers. If the horse has become unbalanced, a more emphatic half-halt should be employed to re-balance the horse before asking for the lope. The better a horse is balanced, the better it will be able to strike off in a lope.


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## mslady254 (May 21, 2013)

Do a google search with these words "Craig Cameron canter". 
The search result should be a link to a you tube video. I can't figure out how to link it to here with my tablet but it should be the first result.

I think you will find it very helpful. He explains and demonstrates what folks on here are saying.

Keeping my shoulders back iswhat plants my butt in the saddle and keeps it there,making it easy to follow the horses motion. But I tend to lean forward naturally so though it feels like leaning back it probably is just getting me in a good alignment of ears,shoulders,hips,heel. Hope that makes sense.
Also I do lean slightly forward for the initial lift of his front end as he goes into the canterz, then immediately put my shoulders/upper body back in correct position. Otherwise I feel like I'm behind the motion on the first stride. 
Agree that the buck is a big disadvantage for you, hope you can get that sorted out.

Good luck.
Fay


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

Relax your lower back, think of it like a door hinge that moves front to back and is at your spine just above your belly button. Your lower spine from the hinge down moves forward to back while your upper spine (and your hands) stay as still as possible. 

You can practice the feeling sitting in a chair. Then practice it in the saddle at the walk. 

IF you have a calm horse at the walk, close your eyes for a second or two and feel your pelvis rock with the horse. Again, try to keep the upper body and your hands as still as possible. I think of it like allowing my lower spine to stay with the horse, while my upper body is hovering above following, if that helps. That same loose spine feeling transfers into the lope.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

all of the above is good advice, and I hope you can incorporate it . if you find you can't remember all that when you ARE on the horse, use this visual image to help you stay back and in the saddle:

Imagine your horse only has two legs; his rear legs. you are like riding an ostrich. sit back a bit and in your mind, "ride" those back legs. use your core muscles to keep those back legs right under you, and focus on them. Just ride the back legs, and stay WITH them by staying loose in your pelvis.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

mslady254 said:


> Do a google search with these words "Craig Cameron canter"...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg3nlPLe95Q&feature=related

FWIW, I find it easier to canter when my stirrups are a little long. I tend to brace against shorter stirrups.


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## PaintLuver13 (May 19, 2015)

sitting lope; keep your butt in the seat, really sink down, heels down also really help! And to NOT tense up, just calm down and try to slow the lope so you can be under more controll and it's easier to sit.


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