# Posting Trot As A Guy... Uncomfortable!



## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

I've been riding for about a year and lately I've been trying to perfect my posting trot. I can post two ways, one is gracefully where I let the horses impulsion lift me out of the saddle an inch or two and the other is where I forcefully push off the stirrups to rise a few inches higher than I should be.

The problem is, when I gracefully post I bump into the pommel in a non-male friendly kind of way. I've tried other saddles, some are better than others but for the most part the problem remains. I don't like how I look when I forcefully post - it seems too exaggerated and frankly looks stupid, but it's the only way I can do so without being uncomfortable.

I'm beyond frustrated! I want to be able to post gracefully where I let the horse lift me up and I pivot forward at the pelvis, with no over exaggeration, but it's just too uncomfortable. I've tried shortening my stirrups but I still seem to run into this problem. Should I continue shortening them even further until it's no longer a problem? My instructors say the length is fine, so I don't know...

Any thoughts or suggestions? Is this a common problem for guys who ride english? I've heard that higher level male riders get custom saddles that are sloped a bit differently in the front but that's not an option for me.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Well... I'm not a guy obviously... :lol: But forceful posting (as you call it) is not a right way of doing it. You have to post with your hips, not your feet/stirrups. From how it sounds I wonder if the saddle fits you (because if your legs are too forward because of the imbalance you won't be able to post correctly). You can also look into more flat (close contact) saddle, which doesn't have much of pommel.


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

So that's why some of the guys I've seen riding here look so... funny :lol: But seriously I've never heard of a pommel being a possible problem when posting for guys, maybe they just don't talk about it? Though majority of the male riders in our stable (and there's probably more of them then girls) ride just fine without any discomfort, our trainers (all male) ride several horses a day so I don't think they have similar poblems as that would be probably unbearable for them. Which makes it seem the problem is either in the way you're posting or in your saddle and is definitely solvable


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

jinx, 

First, wear a cup or the type of form-fitting biker short undergarment when you ride. The biker shorts would be the best choice, and not the fashionable ones, the real honest to gosh athletic version that snugs everything up nice and tight and close to your body. 

Second, the first way you describe posting is the correct way, not the second. 

Do make sure your stirrup is short enough for the important bits to *clear* the pommel at the top to your posting motion. Do also make sure your posting motion is from opening and closing your hip, not from opening your knee - think of the motion as forward and back, not up and down. If you put two fingers at the crease of your hip, right on your hip flexor muscle as you post, you want to feel the crease straighten almost completely at the top of the posting motion. 

Do also make sure the seat of your saddle is big enough for you - there aren't a lot of saddles sized for men and it can be tough to find one. If you're posting correctly using good body mechanics and with the correct length stirrup and you're still bumping stuff you'd rather not be bumping, I'd guess the culprit is a too small saddle.


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

maura said:


> Do also make sure the seat of your saddle is big enough for you - there aren't a lot of saddles sized for men and it can be tough to find one.


That's a very good point, the majority of saddles here in Central Europe, and especialy those in riding schools are eiter 17" or 17,5" which is a female size (though many male riders are often forced to ride in it because there's simply nothing else to chose from, unless they buy their own saddle), for men the recommended size is 18". My dressage saddle is 17,5" and my jumping special (that I bougt from a guy whose horse tragically died) is 18" and I'm telling you, even though the 17,5" fits me just perfecty, I haven't sat on a more comfortable thing than the 18" one in my whole life


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

You're sitting in the saddle wrong. Unless your feet are forward of your belt buckle, and you post 'forcibly' to put your center of gravity over your feet, you cannot hit the pommel.

Are you using a close contact jump saddle? Mine has the stirrup bars farther forward than my AP saddle, putting my feet a bit forward and thus forcing my hips farther forward - if I'm trying to get my center of gravity over my feet.

There are a couple of things you can try. If your feet are forward enough that getting your hips above them causes you to hit the pommel, you can:

1 - Find a different saddle. Gravity tries to force you so that your rump is in the lowest part of the saddle with the stirrup straps hanging straight down. Find one where this happens without putting your feet too far forward.

2 - Post differently. Regardless of saddle type, I prefer to post as minimally as possible. The goal is weight suspended off the horses back - and the horse cannot tell the difference between 1/4" and 6". I shoot for 1/4". I wear jeans, and my goal in posting is for my jeans to remain in contact while my body does not. And no, I don't meet that goal very often. Still, I try to keep both upward and forward motion under an inch.

I don't jump, and I don't know what jumping requires, so it could be different.

One last thing you might try: a jock strap.

One other thing: try posting without stirrups. When sitting the trot, most of my 'bounce-resistance' comes from the weight of my legs pulling my hips down (thus heels under hips), and from the friction of my thighs against the saddle. I don't know if it is different when jumping, but for flats, you shouldn't need your stirrups to post. It sounds like you are trying to balance above your stirrups with your weight in the stirrups, not your legs.

I'm a beginning rider who now mostly rides western/Aussie saddles, so YMMV.


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

posting to follow this... quite interesting to me.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I teach a male student and he's never complained to me about any pain from posting.. and we post every single lesson. We even sit trot and it's immaculate and there aren't any pain problems down there..

A few things that could be wrong are your legs aren't strong enough so you dip instead of swivel. If you have lessons, ask your instructor to put you on a lunge line and put your hands ontop of your head and trot.
Sometimes people also lean on the reins which throws their entire body forward...
Cowboys invented the post for long distance riding too.. so they apparently didn't have a problem 

but I have never heard of someone hitting the pommel while posting.. I have an Aussie and that doesn't even happen xD But I'm a girl so it could be different. But my student has ridden in 3 different saddles, in bareback pads.. and no issues! 

I'm stumped :/


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

bsms, agreed. Posting just aleviates sitting the trot every stride. It's not meant to be fancy, and is supposed to make the trot more comfortable. It was invented by men, so you shouldn't be hurting doing it, unless you are posting in a western saddle with a high metal horn.
It also prepares you for 2-point, so that you can jump the Italian way, balance in the middle of the saddle while your horse bounds over an obstacle. (You can see the old way of jumping if you watch, "National Velvet", with Elizabeth Tayilor.)


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

Do you always ride the same horse? There's one horse I ride sometimes with a weird shaped back, and it makes it difficult to post correctly. Just wondering.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I know you said you've changed saddles, but I used to have a saddle that I loved, but darn it mangled my goodies (female) and so had to sell it. The shape has everything to do with comfort.

I really appreciate your frankness in sharing this. I confess that most of girls kind of wonder why men are not made uncomfortable by this. (we just dont' always understand each other's side of the world, do we?)

Anyway, would you be interested in posting a video of your posting methods? Seeing is so much better than guessing.


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

jinxremoving said:


> I've been riding for about a year and lately I've been trying to perfect my posting trot. I can post two ways, one is gracefully where I let the horses impulsion lift me out of the saddle an inch or two and the other is where I forcefully push off the stirrups to rise a few inches higher than I should be.
> 
> The problem is, when I gracefully post I bump into the pommel in a non-male friendly kind of way. I've tried other saddles, some are better than others but for the most part the problem remains. I don't like how I look when I forcefully post - it seems too exaggerated and frankly looks stupid, but it's the only way I can do so without being uncomfortable.
> 
> (



You should let the horse's impulsion lift you, that way "certain thingys" won't get errrr jostled around so much. :lol::lol:

Or a more supportive jock strap if you try to go the forceful method.:lol:


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

tinyliny said:


> Anyway, would you be interested in posting a video of your posting methods? Seeing is so much better than guessing.



I was going to ask too, but didn't want to come off as a creeper haha
 :lol: :rofl:


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

kitten_Val said:


> Well... I'm not a guy obviously... :lol: But forceful posting (as you call it) is not a right way of doing it. You have to post with your hips, not your feet/stirrups. From how it sounds I wonder if the saddle fits you (because if your legs are too forward because of the imbalance you won't be able to post correctly). You can also look into more flat (close contact) saddle, which doesn't have much of pommel.


I know pushing off the stirrups isn't the correct way of posting. I definitely wasn't taught that way, it just sort of became habit after a while and instructors overlooked it because they didn't have any tips that actually worked for me. The way I post is my biggest complaint about how I ride, and I've been working on trying to find a way to post (correctly) without the awkwardness.

I've done everything from "rearranging things" (sorry, lol.) to sports underwear to borderline spandex briefs, to different saddles. Although you did spark something in my mind, I've used about 5 or 6 saddles and they were all forward seat with a distinct pommel. However, my pony club manual shows all of the different saddles and mentions one called a "flat jumping saddle" that hardly has a pommel. It looks ideal. I'm going to ask next time I'm at the barn to see if they have one I can try out.


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

mumiinek said:


> So that's why some of the guys I've seen riding here look so... funny :lol: But seriously I've never heard of a pommel being a possible problem when posting for guys, maybe they just don't talk about it? Though majority of the male riders in our stable (and there's probably more of them then girls) ride just fine without any discomfort, our trainers (all male) ride several horses a day so I don't think they have similar poblems as that would be probably unbearable for them. Which makes it seem the problem is either in the way you're posting or in your saddle and is definitely solvable


Yeah, that's what I was worried about. I have many friends who ride but non of them knew any other male riders, so I'm left to ponder whether or not I'm the only one who has this problem. My instructor actually mentioned that one of the saddles I use was given to her by her old instructor who was actually a male.

I ride at a respected hunter barn, and my instructors couldn't see anything wrong with my posting when I was doing it correctly - rising and falling with the horse, not pushing off the stirrups. That's what makes it 100x more frustrating for me, because they didn't have any suggestions on what I could do to fix it.

Although, now that I think about it, and this probably doesn't make any sense, but when they had me posting without stirrups earlier this year I don't recall having any discomfort? I'm scheduled to ride tomorrow, I've put this on my "to do list" to see if that's the case or not.

I'll video tape myself tomorrow and upload it to YouTube. Probably be a good idea to get some feedback from people on here, maybe see something my instructors weren't seeing.


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

mumiinek said:


> That's a very good point, the majority of saddles here in Central Europe, and especialy those in riding schools are eiter 17" or 17,5" which is a female size (though many male riders are often forced to ride in it because there's simply nothing else to chose from, unless they buy their own saddle), for men the recommended size is 18". My dressage saddle is 17,5" and my jumping special (that I bougt from a guy whose horse tragically died) is 18" and I'm telling you, even though the 17,5" fits me just perfecty, I haven't sat on a more comfortable thing than the 18" one in my whole life


@maura:

The cup suggestion is a very good idea! I'll feel silly wearing one, but if it lets me post correctly without any discomfort I'm all for it. I'm kind of grasping at straws right now, haha.

@mumiinek:

I'm not a very big person so I don't think a small saddle is the problem. Excluding my height, I'm probably the same body type as a couple of the instructors. I think in a previous life I was born a woman, haha.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

If you weren't experiencing discomfort with a no stirrup post... then maybe you are grippy with the stirrups and push off of them without realizing instead of leaving your leg set in stone on your horse.. that may do it.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

jinxremoving said:


> ...However, my pony club manual shows all of the different saddles and mentions one called a "flat jumping saddle" that hardly has a pommel. It looks ideal. I'm going to ask next time I'm at the barn to see if they have one I can try out.


I'm mostly a western rider now, but I started English. I really think the solution isn't a saddle, but technique.

A saddle that rises rapidly to the front can be a problem, but most of those are western saddles. My Bates AP saddle is one of the flattest I've seen - all the English saddles I've seen have tended to be flatter than the average western.

An Aussie saddle is basically a dressage saddle with mickey mouse ears (poleys) to prevent forward movement. The poleys should be about a finger width in front of your thighs. The Australian stock saddle normally has a mild chair seat as well, but it is still easy for me to post in. That means my thighs don't move more than a finger forward - so posting does NOT put the family jewels much farther forward than sitting.

Even if your stirrups hang way in front of you - and they should not if your saddle fits - you shouldn't post from your stirrups. It should come from your thighs. I have to go by book reading, but it is my understanding that even with jumping, posting shouldn't put you way out of the saddle. Two point might, but the purpose of posting doesn't require standing in the stirrups.

I suspect the problem is related to gravity - the higher you go, the further to come down! And the further you 'fall', the more you hit - on both you AND the horse.

"Although, now that I think about it, and this probably doesn't make any sense, but when they had me posting without stirrups earlier this year I don't recall having any discomfort?"

That makes sense. Of course, my wife has never compared me to a stallion (and anyone comparing a man to a stallion would make me laugh uncontrollably), but posting light in the stirrups or without them doesn't get me high enough to have anything suspended above the saddle, waiting for an impact.

I played around with it this morning, riding in a western saddle that my daughter loves but that is NOT designed with a male in mind...didn't matter. I tried shortening the stirrups, and if I kept my heels mostly under me, it still didn't matter. The 'forward' motion of the post is relative to the ground, not the horse. The horse is moving forward with you.

My daughter's saddle: :shock:










I find it hard to believe any English saddle is less male friendly than that!

My Australian style saddle:










Not much room for forward motion of the thighs there! In fact, you might see if you could borrow an Aussie saddle & try posting in it...


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

My husband rides english, he never says the posting is uncomfortable. Only things he says is our instructor is brutal but he rides for exercise so he expects this.


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

bsms said:


> I suspect the problem is related to gravity - the higher you go, the further to come down! And the further you 'fall', the more you hit - on both you AND the horse.
> 
> That makes sense. Of course, my wife has never compared me to a stallion (and anyone comparing a man to a stallion would make me laugh uncontrollably), but posting light in the stirrups or without them doesn't get me high enough to have anything suspended above the saddle, waiting for an impact.


That makes perfect sense! Maybe that's my problem, rising too high and crashing down - even though I don't feel like I'm rising that high when I let the horse lift me up. As mentioned, I can post without pushing off the stirrups but maybe I am doing it subconsciously and still putting some weight in the stirrups.

I'll mention that to my instructor tomorrow and see if we can put the theory to the test. The idea of rising too high and crashing down never crossed my mind once, it'll be something if that's the problem. 

---

I did some Googling and found someone else who had a similar problem:

Help needed, mens private bits! [Archive] - New Rider Message Board

Good to know I'm not the only one. I get frustrated when it feels like I'm the only one who has these awkward problems.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Another thread:

http://www.horseforum.com/western-riding/posting-while-trotting-male-riders-79035/


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

Thanks bsms! You were right, I was posting too high and that was the center of all my problems. I can't believe the solution was as simple as not rising so high! Grr, I feel so stupid. I watched a video of myself riding today and my posting looks much better than it previously did. I only rise up an inch or two, I don't pivot too far forward and it doesn't hurt anymore.

... can't believe my instructors and riding friends didn't pick this up after almost a whole year! Everyone had suggestions early on but not a single person suggested not posting as high. Sigh. Thanks again.


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

jinxremoving said:


> ... can't believe my instructors and riding friends didn't pick this up after almost a whole year! Everyone had suggestions early on but not a single person suggested not posting as high. Sigh. Thanks again.


I guess they didn't have the balls to tell you something so personal.

:rofl:


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

ROFL at Spyder. Good one. 

It was always an awkward moment during beginning riding lessons with male students; approaching them quietly in the middle of the ring, while they were bent over their horse's neck, and whispering "Next lesson, wear a cup."


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

Spyder said:


> I guess they didn't have the balls to tell you something so personal.
> 
> :rofl:


Haha! I was having a crappy morning until I read that comment.


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

maura said:


> It was always an awkward moment during beginning riding lessons with male students; approaching them quietly in the middle of the ring, while they were bent over their horse's neck, and whispering "Next lesson, wear a cup."


Early on when I was learning the very basics of posting I lost my balance more than once and slammed into the saddle causing me to keel over in agony, only to have the instructor repeatedly ask what's wrong while I try and figure out how to word what just happened. It's awkward because you're trying to tell them what happened so they can offer suggestions without being creepy. When it happens now, I simply say 'guy problems' and they connect the dots...

I'm not so sure a cup and breeches are a good match, haha. In theory it sounds like a good idea, but riding in breeches doesn't leave too much to the imagination and a cup would only make it more obvious. Throw in the fact that I already stand out at an all female barn and I do my best to avoid any unnecessary attention... haha.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Jinx,

I love your posts. I bet the women are so glad you are there. My experience is that most women really appreciate having male riders around. I dont' ride out of a barn, but when I did, we had a few guys and we always treated them like princes. Spoiled 'em.

(ps. my son told me a cup hurts because it digs into his thighs. But for baseball, it's a serious necessity to protect agains long term injury.)


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## Buzzby (Aug 29, 2011)

Skyseternalangel;1158900
Cowboys invented the post for long distance riding too.. so they apparently didn't have a problem :P :/[/QUOTE said:


> No they did NOT, no cowboys in England dear, and this where rising trot to give it its proper title was developed!!


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

I'm pretty sure posting has been developed thousands of times since the stirrup was invented.

I cannot imagine riding with a cup. Or breeches. Or both. Tighty whities and jeans for this old fart! :wink:


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

bsms said:


> I cannot imagine riding with a cup. Or breeches. Or both. Tighty whities and jeans for this old fart! :wink:


Ah I can remember my first instructor in his very very very tight pants. The curves were very very very interesting, every time he moved....oh for the good old days....**sigh**


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

bsms said:


> I cannot imagine riding with a cup. Or breeches. Or both.


I think guys look nice in those breeches. :wink:

Sorry for the dumb question, folks, but does cup go under the pants or on top? :shock:


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

hahahahha!!!! Kitten, i just pictured a bunch of men running around with their cups on the outside of their pants!!! Now that would be quite a sight!! 
They are worn under the pants. Thankfully. :lol:

I gave my close contact flat seat jumping saddle (Beval) to a guy friend of mine. He was starting to get into the jumpers and was having kinda' the same issue. The saddle change, and a few more lessons under his belt, and he had the whole em... well... twig and berries issue worked out. :wink:

This was a great read. you all are too much!


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Oxer said:


> hahahahha!!!! Kitten, i just pictured a bunch of men running around with their cups on the outside of their pants!!! Now that would be quite a sight!!
> They are worn under the pants. Thankfully. :lol:


Except for Stiffen Peters who errrr....forgets the jock strap and gets..........ummm "excited" when he rides.

Makes for good Youtube watching though.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Buzzby said:


> No they did NOT, no cowboys in England dear, and this where rising trot to give it its proper title was developed!!





bsms said:


> I'm pretty sure posting has been developed thousands of times since the stirrup was invented.



What bsms said. But that is what multiple people have told me and what makes most sense. If someone has some other opinion or different ideas than you, you don't need to get so flustered, Buzzby... my gosh.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Spyder... now you have me searching youtube to find an "excited" steffen peters.. lol I can't find anything


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

kitten_Val said:


> I think guys look nice in those breeches. :wink:
> 
> Sorry for the dumb question, folks, but does cup go under the pants or on top? :shock:


My husband looks hot in breeches, & he said he's never hurt the family jewels while riding so I guess his instructor taught him to post correctly from the beginning. When he was trying on breeches at the tackstore, he had all the women working there waiting for him to come out of the dressingroom to see what they looked like. Looked just like a pair on men's pants with a tapered leg, but in all fairness, he did pull up to the tackshop on his harley wearing biker leathers, lol.


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## thequarterhorseguy (Sep 18, 2011)

Wear real supportive boxers to hold the family jewels in place. I had the same problem until i switched. boxers work real well. or if you wanna be some kinda weirdo wear a speedo


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## Kawairashii Ichigo (Jul 18, 2010)

As odd as this sounds if a saddle is out of the option try moving the junk out of the way/to the side by wearing something a little tighter underneath for riding that'll hold it out of place? I know a few who tape theirs out of the way (Wrong time to walk in on that convo!) to me that personally sounds painful to get off, but maybe there's a not so harsh tape? Or just a tighter underwear maybe. Best I can offer~


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Kawairashii Ichigo said:


> ... I know a few who tape theirs out of the way...


:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Just the thought will leave me walking funny for hours! If tighty whities don't do the trick, then perhaps the guy should trade riding horses for a future in XXX films...

Tape???!!!! It would take a LOT of beer to get me to try that! And even more to recover from it.


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## Eliz (Jun 16, 2010)

My Pubic bone hits the pommel sometimes when I post. Now that I think about it I'm glad I'm female.

**** spyder. _Stiffen_ Peters!!


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

bsms said:


> Tape???!!!! It would take a LOT of beer to get me to try that! And even more to recover from it.


I saw a calendar picture with bicycle guys in very tight gear. They had their "it" taped.

What I found was funny is that 9 of the ten had "it" taped to the left and only ONE had "it" taped to the right.

I guess in my case age has NOT stopped me from looking when I can still notice such significant things like this...LOL


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Bicycle guys...hmmm...well, if I rode a horse using a saddle the size of a racing bicycle seat...

Nope. Two-point riding, maybe, but not tape. Uh-uh.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

<-- Has suddenly had her education on men riding expanded a lot, and still trying to work out if it makes me any wiser. 

I do have to say though that when I transitioned from western to English I was having some 'interesting moments' and you can fill in your own blanks.:lol::lol::lol:


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Golden Horse said:


> <-- Has suddenly had her education on men riding expanded a lot, and still trying to work out if it makes me any wiser.
> 
> I do have to say though that when I transitioned from western to English I was having some 'interesting moments' and you can fill in your own blanks.:lol::lol::lol:


Seeeeeeeeeeeee...........the English stuff isn't so boring after all!!:lol:

:happydance::happydance::happydance:


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

Kawairashii Ichigo said:


> As odd as this sounds if a saddle is out of the option try moving the junk out of the way/to the side by wearing something a little tighter underneath for riding that'll hold it out of place? I know a few who tape theirs out of the way (Wrong time to walk in on that convo!) to me that personally sounds painful to get off, but maybe there's a not so harsh tape? Or just a tighter underwear maybe. Best I can offer~


_... was hoping this awkward thread would die off, lol ... _

I already figured that most of my problems were due me rising too high as bsms suspected. Although I still have to take the necessary precautions... tight boxer briefs with one final adjustment to make sure everything is lined up prior to mounting. It's more or less the 'berries' that get squished when I mess up and slam into the saddle. More motivation to get things right. 

Who puts tape down there?! I'm with bsms, that's crazy talk!


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Hell no, awkward threads don't die, we keep the resuscitation kit on hand just to keep a spark of life going.

Or we could derail and say, I hear about the gents problems with rising trot, but how about the ladies issues with sitting trot, especially when you are somewhat generously proportioned







:rofl::rofl:


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Golden Horse said:


> Hell no, awkward threads don't die, we keep the resuscitation kit on hand just to keep a spark of life going.
> 
> Or we could derail and say, I hear about the gents problems with rising trot, but how about the ladies issues with sitting trot, especially when you are somewhat generously proportioned
> 
> ...


Ah but then you use two bras so that the girls can be synchronized together and not have one bounce up and hit you in the face with the other one coming soon after.

This way you only get hit once.

:happydance::happydance:


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## Prinella (Jul 12, 2011)

Men- cycling pants preferably mildly padded not obvious under breeches either

Ladies - well fitted sports bra and a crop top! Please tell your friends it hurts my eyes, and chest when there's lots of bouncing. And yes ima big girl.


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## newbhj (Jul 31, 2011)

I have been educated by this thread hahaha..I have always wondered about posting hurting the "manly bits"! I used to have bouncy boob problem but it was easily solved by a nice sports bra. I'm not very chesty though


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

Prinella said:


> Men- cycling pants preferably mildly padded not obvious under breeches either.


Never thought about cycling shorts under the breeches! That's probably a wicked idea. I'll definitely give them a try. I have a hard time finding boxer briefs that are tight enough to keep everything together... out of harms way, lol. Some things are so unavoidable though! For example I was cantering around last night until my horse tripped really bad and I smashed full on into the saddle.

Good thing I wasn't planning on having kids...


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## krise88 (Sep 15, 2011)

I'm not a guy but my boyfriend also rides and complains about this problem too, and he told me most male riders complain about it. If you know another guy that rides at your barn or a male trainer, why not befriend and ask them? We had alot of male riders at our last barn and 2 male trainers, and whenever they were doing trot without stirrups sometimes one of the guys would yell "my XXXXs hurt!" so it was no secret at that barn! My bf has 3 ways he handles it, when he gets on (or when he needs to) he adjusts so its not in the way, he also rotates his pelvis so hes sitting more back on his butt, and I noticed alot of guy riders sit this way, where girls tend sit more on the crotch and lean forward. Also when I had female instructors, I was told to sit more on the crotch, and male instructors always telling me to sit back. And also when he is posting, or jumping, he uses his legs as a shock absorber so he doesnt sit so hard on the saddle (which you shouldnt slam down on the saddle anyway) but he told me usually sits very very lightly. He also rides with stirrups 3 holes shorter than me even though we are exactly the same height. We were leasing the same horse for awhile which is how i came to discover these things, because the horse was acting different, we realized I was riding the horse with a heavier seat and controling more with the seat but he rode with a light seat and more leg and the manparts were a big part of the reason. But also he is more jumper and i am more dressage. It could also be the horse, we don't agree on horses because I like a horse with a big bouncy trot, and he prefers smooth trotting horses and he told me its because bouncy horses are more painful. But there are MANY professional male trainers that ride anything, so probably its a combination of getting of used to it and adjusting your riding style.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

krise88 said:


> ...My bf has 3 ways he handles it, when he gets on (or when he needs to) he adjusts so its not in the way, he also rotates his pelvis so hes sitting more back on his butt, and I noticed alot of guy riders sit this way, where girls tend sit more on the crotch and lean forward...


I agree with your BF.

For riding English, I read (old US Cavalry manual) to roll back the hips until the fleshy part of the buttocks hits, then roll forward until it does not. For western riding, I was told to leave off that second part.

When sitting the trot, if I start to feel uncomfortable, I roll back on my pockets. For posting, it usually isn't an issue since my legs make it more of a controlled motion.

It also varies some with the saddle. The western saddle I ride was NOT designed for a male...it is one of those shaped like a check mark, rising immediately in the front. Good for clearing the horse's withers, but not so much for my...uh...clearance. My Aussie saddle (and English) are more U shaped, and more forgiving. 

And minimizing the rise in my posting helps me more than anything else.


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