# I can't sit a lope!



## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Breathe.

I know it may sound silly, but when I find myself tightening up, I check to make sure I'm taking nice deep breaths. You can't tighten up and brace if you're breathing deeply. Well, you can, but it's ridiculously difficult and your body doesn't like to fight itself like that.
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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

SING, then you have to breathe, truly it is the breakthrough that got me sitting and actually riding the lope. Nursery rhymes work really well.:wink:


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

What helped me after my car accident and hurting my back was to exaggerate the sliding motion. Now I can sit the majority of everything (except my mare's trot..lol). I "scooch" my hips with her motion and I stay in the saddle just fine. The only time I really pop out is if she cross-fires, in which I usually fix it and settle right back in. Leaning back slightly also helps, but depending on how much you use that, it might take a bit to fix, which is just as hard as learning to sit the lope in the first place, haha.
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## clumsychelsea (Jul 9, 2014)

Agree with Golden Horse. My trainer used to torture me by making me sing cheesy pop songs while I was sitting the canter and it really does help loosen you up, no matter how stupid it might seem! After a while the breathing and relaxing just comes naturally.


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## tinaev (Dec 2, 2012)

I read something on here once that said to visualize that you are glued to your saddle. Out of everything that has helped me the most. When I feel myself being tense or off balance I mentally think about me being glued to the saddle and how I would "stick" if that were the case. It's helped a lot, but I am far from perfect. I also need a larger saddle to accommodate my extra large rear end. But we're just not going there yet.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

tinaev said:


> I also need a larger saddle to accommodate my extra large rear end. But we're just not going there yet.


It's a good point though, if your saddle is way to big or small it makes sitting properly very difficult


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

Breathe...deeper. 
Rhythm...have it in your head before you lope...one, two, one two. then stick with it and even say it out loud.
Hips...relax those hip muscles. Sit tall and deep using core muscles but allow your hips to swing into the rocking horse motion of the lope.
Smile...cause you are riding a horse =P
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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

WildAtHeart said:


> Breathe...deeper.
> Rhythm...have it in your head before you lope...one, two, one two. then stick with it and even say it out loud.


Surely for a lope it is one - two - three?


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## jacks329nd (May 5, 2014)

Thanks for the tips! I'll try the deep breathing thing and when it is just me and Barbie I'll try the singing ( if I do it when I'm with other people, I might damage their ears lol)


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

jacks329nd said:


> I've been working on sitting the saddle and I can decently sit a trot which my trainer says can be a difficult thing to accomplish, but I'm all over the place when I'm loping. My trainer says it's because I tighten up. I love to love but I think the subconscious fight or flight thing kicks in and I stiffen. Any tips on how to loosen up?


Following the motion of a lope or canter is normally easier for most riders than sitting a trot, because it is more of a flowing motion. However, most people consider the lope or canter to be faster than a trot, and the thought of going faster may cause people to tense their muscles.

There are a number of things you can do to combat this tension such as breathing deeply using your diaphragm rather than just the upper lungs, humming, or singing. But if these, in themselves, don't release the general tension, there are other considerations.

You may be trying to brace against the forward motion by straightening your legs and sticking them out in front of you. You may be trying to hold on to the horse with your legs. It is important to realize that you cannot follow the motion of your horse properly if you do either of these things.

Work at relaxing, balancing, and following the motion of your horse better at the walk and trot. Try to consciously release the tension in your muscles when in the gaits you are more comfortable riding. You should feel your torso expand upward while your legs drop. Hopefully, this will carry over into the lope. Riding without stirrups can help you realize how hard it is to fall off a horse if you are relaxed, balanced, and moving with your horse. I even have students who prefer to canter without stirrups, because they sit better. 

As you learn to relax, your seat will settle deeper into the saddle, your center of gravity will become lower making your seat more stable, and your body with be better able to follow your horse's movements.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

The motion of the canter (lope) is similar to to the motion of the walk. I'm sounding like a broken record, BUT, you need to set aside one full week and ride at the walk WITHOUT STIRRUPS for one full hour, every day, for one full week. Then, you will be comfortable swaying and moving WITH the horse and the motion of the canter will then feel natural and you should be able to easily follow it. You are not sitting deeply, so it feels to you as if you will lose your balance at the canter. Once your master the canter, you won't ever forget it. =D


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Totally OT, but TXhorseman, I LOVE reading your replies! They are always thought out so well and so easy to understand.
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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> Totally OT, but TXhorseman, I LOVE reading your replies! They are always thought out so well and so easy to understand.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Thank you DrafyAiresMum. I have learned over the years that, if I can be misunderstood, I will be misunderstood, so I try to be as clear as possible. However, I still have problems.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

TXhorseman said:


> Thank you DrafyAiresMum. I have learned over the years that, if I can be misunderstood, I will be misunderstood, so I try to be as clear as possible. However, I still have problems.


For me, it's not just how concise you are. You put things in terms that are easy to understand and apply, and that make sense. 
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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

The only way to get better at riding it to ride, a lot. You need to lope for a long, long time. I don't mean just one or two circles...I mean, you need to burn some tracks in the footing. You'll relax the longer you do it.


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## MaximasMommy (Sep 21, 2013)

I found that yelling WOOHOO IM A COWGIRL helped. And if I was falling forward, put my hands up a little, or if I'm getting careened to one side to lean my head to the other side to reset my balance in the center. Mostly yelling about being a cowgirl and pretending I'm chasing bank robbers. Cuz........ *hangs head and shrugs*


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## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

I had a really hard time with this too. The way I overcame it (and my daughter too) was to first learn to canter in 2-point or half-seat position. Then once we were comfy with this, we were able to slowly lower ourselves into a fully seated canter. Maybe it was learning the rhythm without all the bouncing, maybe it was just a matter of gaining confidence. Regardless, it worked! I can do both now, and when I have any trouble with sitting a canter, I just stand up in the stirrups a little and I'm on solid ground again in my mind.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Sink into your heels, and open your shoulders. From there, counting out loud (or singing out loud, as others have suggested) can be helpful in both making you breathe as well as keeping a steady pace.


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## mrsgrubby (Jul 6, 2014)

Great replys everyone, I was going to ask this same question today, and searched this thread out.

As some of you know, I am a trail guide for a small farm. While I am good about getting people to understand how to trot comfortably, by having them use their legs to lift slightly out of the saddle, and use their knees as a spring, or think of a "pogo stick" to absorb the shock of the trot, I have a hard time getting some people to visualize what their legs are supposed to be doing during a canter. My boss tells them to put their right foot a bit forward so that it encourages them to move with the horse better, but ive personally never tried it.
What would you tell someone to do with their legs, who totally was not a horse person. I always tell them to breath deep and put their heels down, but specifically for a canter what else would you say?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I'll bet that if you went on a 6 hr trail ride, sitting the lope wouldn't be an issue by the time you got back to the barn.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Exactly the right medicine to teach a deep seat! When you sit upright in the saddle you will feel as if you are leaning slightly backwards. When you ride the canter correctly you will tip forward, level out and lean backwards following the motion of the horse. Teaching yourself to sit deeply fixes all problems following the motions of the three gaits.


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## 3ringburner (Feb 8, 2014)

I honestly couldnt sit a loap untill my previous trainer took the saddle away and made me ride bareback so i could feel the horse and be close contact. We started out slow and did walk intell i was comfortable, then trot untell i was comfortable, then we did a little bit of a loap. She gave me back the saddle and wha-La! I could sit the loap! But my big issue was i never relaxed my hips, i was always tense and if you dont relax your hips when your bareback it really hurts, ESPECIALLY if your on a horse with high withers. Once you get confident with the horse and trust the horse then its easier to relax your hips also.


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## 3ringburner (Feb 8, 2014)

mrsgrubby said:


> Great replys everyone, I was going to ask this same question today, and searched this thread out.
> 
> As some of you know, I am a trail guide for a small farm. While I am good about getting people to understand how to trot comfortably, by having them use their legs to lift slightly out of the saddle, and use their knees as a spring, or think of a "pogo stick" to absorb the shock of the trot, I have a hard time getting some people to visualize what their legs are supposed to be doing during a canter. My boss tells them to put their right foot a bit forward so that it encourages them to move with the horse better, but ive personally never tried it.
> What would you tell someone to do with their legs, who totally was not a horse person. I always tell them to breath deep and put their heels down, but specifically for a canter what else would you say?



I was always told to put my inside leg forward and kick with my outside leg a little farther back to pick up the loap


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

That's the cue designed to put the haunches in, and point the lead foot forward. In the arena you ussally ask for the lead to be the inside foot. A "counter canter" is when you ask the lead to be the OUTSIDE foot.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Corporal said:


> That's the cue designed to put the haunches in, and point the lead foot forward. In the arena you ussally ask for the lead to be the inside foot. A "counter canter" is when you ask the lead to be the OUTSIDE foot.


Scratching head...Not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with 3ring there.

On a circle your outside leg goes back to cue the outside back leg to pick up the canter, which is followed by the inside foreleg coming forward, hang on here you go


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## mrsgrubby (Jul 6, 2014)

Corporal said:


> That's the cue designed to put the haunches in, and point the lead foot forward. In the arena you ussally ask for the lead to be the inside foot. A "counter canter" is when you ask the lead to be the OUTSIDE foot.


 
When my boss is telling this to people, its not to get them to "cue their horse" the horses will canter, when he or I start the canter from the front of the line. He says by having people sit this way it sets their body up better to ride "with" the horse during the canter.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I don't know if that advice would be useful or not Mrs Grubby, it would depend on which lead the horse picks up I would think, it can't be more comfortable on both leads I think.


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## mrsgrubby (Jul 6, 2014)

Golden Horse said:


> I don't know if that advice would be useful or not Mrs Grubby, it would depend on which lead the horse picks up I would think, it can't be more comfortable on both leads I think.


 
I asked him the same question and he said that since we are only cantering on straight trails, for very short distances, that the horses naturally almost always pick up the same lead each time.

I don't think I will suggest it to people, but I do know I am taking out a ride next Tuesday, and its their third time coming to the farm, and they specifically asked that I work with them on feeling comfortable at a canter, as last time they were there, they saw me cantering accross a field and want to be able to do it someday and feel more comfortable. 

I guess they have done walking and trotting on their other two rides, but the short canter they did was a bit scary for them as they felt they were bouncing around. 

So the owner booked them with me, and I need to try to give them some better tips then they have gotten so far.


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## elisie (Jun 30, 2014)

Try riding without stirrups, and if you can, get your trainer to lunge you at the canter and stretch your arms out parallel to the ground...it might feel like you're going to fall, but it will teach you better balance and force you to relax into the saddle. Also, remember to breathe. We tell the kids at the barn where I work to act like jello - not meaning to jerk your shoulders around or anything, but to allow your bum and hips to relax in the saddle. It takes a lot of practice, but you'll get it eventually! I actually find the lope the most comfortable gait now, but it took me a while to consciously learn to relax. You can also try putting a piece of paper on the saddle, and focusing on not letting it slip from underneath you.


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

Golden Horse said:


> Surely for a lope it is one - two - three?


I should have clarified...I was counting the three beats of the lope / canter stride as one 
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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Golden Horse I am in AGREEMENT with you. I was just explaining that the canter cue is designed for the horse to move away differently from each your legs, haunches in and forehand forward. When your horse is finished he won't tip his haunches in towards the center of the ring and the forehand towards the wall, but in the beginning you set him up to pick the correct lead for making a sharp, inward turn without losing balance, like when you turn at each corner of the arena.
When your trail ride it doesn't much matter what lead you pick. However, if you always let the horse pick his lead trail riding, he will over develop 1/2 of his muscles and under develop the other half. People that show or just train in the arena AND trail ride often change leads enough to keep the horse cantering on each rein and half the time.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

WildAtHeart said:


> I should have clarified...I was counting the three beats of the lope / canter stride as one
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Now I'm even more confused!
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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

**hugs**
If someone can't ride the canter, they cannot ride the gallop, either!!
A canter is BL, BR & FL hit together, and then FR, and this is a right lead.
A gallop is BL, BR, FL, Fr and is 4 beat. Speed is not an indicator that your horse is cantering. A horse must have at least a little bit of collection to canter, and a horse CAN gallop slowly.
I think it would be clearer if I came to your house and showed you. =b


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