# Sitting trot or posting first?



## Dressage10135 (Feb 11, 2009)

I was taught posting trot first. In my opinion its better because you can get the rhythm of the movement down without bouncing all over the poor horses back. I think with western its easier to sit because a trot is more like a jog.. so there isnt as much movement. 

I've been taking lessons consistently for a little over a year and still can't sit the trot 100%. However, put me in a western saddle on a paint or QH that knows how to jog and I can go all day! :lol:


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

It depends on the instructor. I was taught to post first, but I took my earliest lessons on some very rough-trotting Morgans. I got to the point where I would automatically post, and my sitting trot was just terrible/nonexistent. When I got to sitting trot, my instructor literally took the saddle away and had me ride bareback until the sitting trot clicked. I think I learned to post bareback before that happened... :lol: 

If I were teaching a new rider, I would probably lean towards posting before sitting, just because new riders are usually too tense/don't have the right muscles built up yet to sit without bouncing. Relaxation and muscle will come with time, and better to save the horse's back than to push the sitting trot too fast on horse or rider.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

Posting trot is first. Sitting trot isn't required until 2nd level in dressage I believe.


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## Jamzimm101987 (Aug 11, 2011)

ALWAYS posting trot first...if you're not steady with your hands at the posting trot, they will be terrible at the sitting trot and in that case all you will do it yank on your horse's mouth


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

If all other things were equal, I think it would be better to learn sitting the trot first. However, I started riding at 50, and it took me a long to to be able to sit the trot. Why? Because, as Scoutrider wrote, my body & legs didn't have the flexibility to sit a bouncy trot successfully.


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## Shasta1981 (Nov 12, 2010)

Posting trot first for sure. Sitting the trot while keeping your balance and staying out of the horse's way is more difficult.


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## Puddintat (Jul 24, 2010)

When I took english lessons many years ago I was taught to post at the trot. I didn't really even realize you could sit it out. My most recent instructor (western) definitely likes to work on a sitting trot and posting trot transitions before teaching the canter because it helps with balance.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

smrobs, I personally did learn to ride english myself. So I started with whatever (sitting (aka bouncing) of course), and then posting just "clicked there" one day. But from what I see at the lessons the better way to go is to start teaching the posting one. in fact it's HARD to do sitting trot correctly. It requires a good balance and really good core muscles/leg (I'm not talking about just bouncing on horse back most beginners start with, but actual riding).


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## Carleen (Jun 19, 2009)

Posting trot was taught first, as sitting trot isn't required until First level dressage (I believe, may be second level - my coach wouldn't let us post during anything higher than Training level).

Also, a beginner generally doesn't have the ability to not flop around like a sack of potatoes on the poor lesson pony's back - so posting is generally considered easier for both rider and horse until rider develops better muscling.


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## Dresden (Jun 24, 2011)

I was taught posting trot first when I started English lessons but I have a western background so technically I learned a sitting trot first. I find it harder to sit a trot in an English saddle.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Huh, that is interesting. I always wondered because I started with the sitting trot first (of course at like 4 or 5, I just basically kept my hands glued to the saddle horn and giggled my *** off until the horse stopped on his own). Shoot, I didn't start posting the trot until I was in my teens and ended up with my first _really_ rough riding horse. Even now, it's tougher for me to post correctly than it is just to sit unless the horse is exceptionally rough riding. I guess it's more what you're used to and what you are taught that dictates what's tougher for you LOL.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

If someone is flexible (kids) and using a western saddle, then sitting the trot can be done the first time they ride. I told my daughter-in-law (25) to grab the horn if needed and just bounce & smile. Within an hour, she was sitting the trot.

It took me TWO YEARS. 40 years of regular jogging had my legs so tight that I couldn't really sink into the saddle. In the end, I had to lengthen my stirrup a hole every couple of weeks until I could barely touch the stirrups, and then ride like that for a few months. Even now, I need about 5 minutes of warming up at a walk to loosen up my legs.

Also, I find it my harder to sit the trot in my Bates English saddle than either an Aussie or Western saddle. Don't know if that is because of the CAIR panels, shape of the saddle or what. Sometimes the Bates feels like it is stuffed with rubber...


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## jfisher256 (Jul 12, 2011)

Definitely posting trot first. That's what I was taught, I've been to at least three barns, and did the posting trot first at all of them. I'm especially a fan of posting trot without your stirrups or saddle. It really helps with your seat and balance!


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I prefer to post in an English saddle but I find it very difficult in a Western! Is that just me or is it common? Same horse, just different saddles.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

smrobs said:


> Huh, that is interesting. I always wondered because I started with the sitting trot first (of course at like 4 or 5, I just basically kept my hands glued to the saddle horn and giggled my *** off until the horse stopped on his own). Shoot, I didn't start posting the trot until I was in my teens and ended up with my first _really_ rough riding horse. Even now, it's tougher for me to post correctly than it is just to sit unless the horse is exceptionally rough riding. I guess it's more what you're used to and what you are taught that dictates what's tougher for you LOL.


But you grew up riding western. You asked how it is taught when one learns to ride English. Any lesson program I have witnessed that teaches western does not even teach posting.

With the little peanuts (like you were when you started riding) it really does not matter. Their first trotting experience is kind of like what you describe. They are not going to hurt the pony's back bouncing around up there.

Learning posting first is just as much for the lesson horse as it is for the rider. As has been pointed out, learning to sit with out pounding the horse's back can be a difficult thing. Learning posting first also gives the bonus of the rider learning to feel the rhythm of the horse.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

smrobs said:


> Huh, that is interesting. I always wondered because I started with the sitting trot first (of course at like 4 or 5, I just basically kept my hands glued to the saddle horn and giggled my *** off until the horse stopped on his own).


Well.. That's actually not a true "sitting trot" in _english_ (although I don't see a problem when little kids do it). It's "not able to post". :wink: BUT you also ride western so "no posting" is quite general as far as I understand plus western horse's trot (jog) is very different from, say, TB trot (which is huge at times). 

On side note "posting" definitely doesn't come in one lesson. So every beginner I've seen does go through "sitting trot" stage till he/she learns how to post. And I agree with AB, it also helps a lot to feel the "rhythm" of the horse.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Good points KV.

The lesson horses I have seen that do western type lessons are very capable of shuffling along at a slow jog/trot that just about anyone could sit to and not bounce (and I am not saying they are peanut roller show quality go no where jogs).

Even the kick to go English lesson horses seem to have bounce to their slow sitting trot.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Just a western note: The lady who teaches my 13 year old daughter daughter her posting first in a western saddle. Also, western horses trot at all speeds, not just slow jogs.

Although I started riding for real at 50, I had a few lessons from an old cowboy when I was 20. He said the purpose of trotting is to cover ground without wearing out your horse. Walking was too slow, and loping too tiring...so trot. And FWIW, he wanted me to post so my horse would be fresher when I got to where I was going. And no diagonals...he thought trotting was meant to go somewhere, not for doing circles.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

bsms said:


> Also, western horses trot at all speeds, not just slow jogs.


I think we are all well aware of this fact. Western horses who do real ranch work like Smrobs' uses for sure trot at a pace that requires posting.

The question implies a lesson setting, not a working ranch setting and most western lesson horses are able to jog, which works well for sitting. That was the point. Not that western horses can only go one pace.


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