# How long until you could do posting trot without looking at the horse's shoulder?



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

It's been 25 years and I still have to glance down on some horses.


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## GamingGrrl (Jan 16, 2013)

Been riding off an on for 9+ years and I still have difficulty posting on the left diagnol, so I always at least glance down to double check.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

waresbear said:


> It's been 25 years and I still have to glance down on some horses.


Me too! I do feel it but I still glance down anyway!


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## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

farmpony84 said:


> Me too! I do feel it but I still glance down anyway!


Same, I just have a habit of glancing down now...I'm 99% of the time on the right diagonal but I still look anyways haha


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## NaeNae87 (Feb 26, 2013)

I have been riding for 2 1/2 years, most of the time I get the correct diagonal but occasionally I will look down to double check.


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## Shropshirerosie (Jan 24, 2012)

I generally get it, and I always feel if I haven't got it - but I still glance down!, it's a habit of 14 years that's not going to go away now....


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

I'll confess that I often don't worry about the correct diagonal. About half of my trotting is out of the arena, in straight lines, where it doesn't matter. The other half often involves serpentines or random turns around pylons, so the 'outside' shoulder becomes the inside, then back out, then we're straight, then inside....so I usually don't pay attention. 

When I do look, I'm probably 'correct' about 75% of the time.

IOW...after 5 lessons, don't be surprised if it isn't always obvious. Mia tends to do a smooth jog and I don't feel much difference even if I do correct to the 'right' diagonal. Of course, it could be my ineptitude showing...


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Like others, I have been riding for 25+ years and I still can't "feel" it on some horses. Others are quite obvious and make picking up the correct diagonal super easy.

It takes a lot of years to learn to feel what every part of the horse's body is doing and only the absolute best riders can do it almost unerringly on every single horse they ride.

It just takes a lot of time spent in the saddle...and I'm not talking 1 hour lessons, I'm talking years of intensive daily experience. You certainly don't need to feel like your falling behind because you still have a bit of trouble after only a few lessons :wink:.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

I never have looked at the shoulder. I don't do arena work, just out trail riding so it really doesn't matter.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Tracking left I never have to check. It's as clear as night and day. Tracking right my horse likes to displace his haunches in one direction and it produces a false sense of diagonal, so I still check to this day. I have perfected the art of glancing just with my eyes instead of a full head gawk. On some horses, you will always have to do it.


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## jinxremoving (Apr 6, 2009)

waresbear said:


> It's been 25 years and I still have to glance down on some horses.


This ^^^

On some horses, I know immediately when I am on the wrong diagonal and on some other horses it's not as obvious. Fortunately, I usually pick up the correct diagonal from the sitting trot 90% of the time but that takes a lot of practice and knowing your horse.

Here's the thing though:

I *always* peak down, one second at the most, and there's nothing wrong with that. Some instructors will tell you that you should never look down and it should always be by feel... but that's not realistic in my opinion and more or less them being nit picky. Now, if you're looking down longer than 1 second and I really mean 1 second... fine, but peaking is totally acceptable.

Like everything in riding, it's going to take a long time for you to pick this up without even thinking about it.


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## EdmontonHorseGal (Jun 2, 2013)

i feel when i'm on the correct diagonal but i still look down occasionally. this is after riding for 10 years then taking a 12 year break and now just back to riding for the past 4 months or so.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I've been riding for fourteen years, get it right 90% of the time, but still look. It's probably more habit now, than anything else... xD A quick, discrete look isn't a terrible thing.

As a brief aside, if you are showing in equitation (or planning to) it is correct to wait to begin posting until you are on the correct diagonal, rather than changing it from incorrect to correct.


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

I feel no shame in saying that I have been riding for about 12 years and still have to look often times.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

I still look on most horses, but if I am schooling the same horse for a while, I learn which one they always start on, and sit one beat on the weaker side. 


Nancy


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I really struggled with this until a guy I was working with pointed out that I was focused on the wrong end. I was trying to feel the movement of the shoulders when it is easier to feel the rise of the corresponding hind leg.

Turned out to be great advice for all sorts of things, like cuing for the best moment to ask for a canter or a smooth stop or a lead change.

Old cowboys. Whodda guessed?


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## eeo11horse (Jun 22, 2012)

Most of the time I can feel if I'm on the wrong diagonal but I usually check to make sure.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Julie Goodnight had a great program where she helped a rider always looking down for the diagonal. She told the rider to feel for the weight shift. I think *the best way* is to have a friend watch for you and to close your eyes for several strides, then go from sitting to posting trot. Then, you can start to feel it and have your friend verify it for you. I don't check anymore, but after 28 years I can usually pick up the correct diagonal.


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## tlkng1 (Dec 14, 2011)

I lied a little. No matter which horse I have ever ridden, I still never get the correct diagonal when tracking right and have to look. Knowing I am always wrong I literally tell myself (silently) to sit one beat and still manage to screw it up . To the left I pick it up every time.

The only time I get the one tracking right for certain is coming off the right lead canter. That isn't a matter of feel but simply knowing to immediately post at the down transition.


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## faiza425 (Dec 21, 2012)

Question...

What exactly should I be feeling? Haha, kind of an oxymoron asking what I should feel, but anyway... Some people say feel the hind legs pushing you forward, some say feel the horse's belly swing inside, some say it's a weight shift. It's all there in my head - I get the idea of diagonals and which one to post on and can pick up the correct one each time, I just can't do it without looking. I haven't done a lot of work at the sitting trot (I try to avoid it at all costs, haha) so I can't distinguish which pair of legs is working. I assume if it's back right/front left I am pushed slightly left and back left/front right I shift slightly to the right?

Thank you!


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

faiza425 said:


> Question...
> 
> What exactly should I be feeling? Haha, kind of an oxymoron asking what I should feel, but anyway... Some people say feel the hind legs pushing you forward, some say feel the horse's belly swing inside, some say it's a weight shift. It's all there in my head - I get the idea of diagonals and which one to post on and can pick up the correct one each time, I just can't do it without looking. I haven't done a lot of work at the sitting trot (I try to avoid it at all costs, haha) so I can't distinguish which pair of legs is working. I assume if it's back right/front left I am pushed slightly left and back left/front right I shift slightly to the right?
> 
> Thank you!


You've got it.


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## Chickenoverlord (Apr 30, 2013)

Never had to. I can, and always have been able to, feel when I'm wrong. It jut gels out of synch when I'm on the wrong diagonal.


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## SarahandDallas (May 28, 2013)

I usually pick up on the right diagonal,but I still glance down to make sure  I've been riding for nearly 2 years and I've owned for 5 months


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## Cappaloosa (May 21, 2013)

bsms said:


> The other half often involves serpentines or random turns around pylons, so the 'outside' shoulder becomes the inside, then back out, then we're straight, then inside....so I usually don't pay attention.


If you are working on serpentines or lots of turning/ changing direction, it's probably best to use sitting trot as posting on the wrong diagonal can confuse your horse and cause you to be off balance or 'left behind' on a direction change.

It is always important to changes diagonals when changing directions to keep you and your horse in sync and to also keep your horse from compensating for their rider.


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## Waltz (Oct 28, 2013)

I still have trouble with it. I used to show horses in high school and I started taking lessons again over six months ago. Sometimes 2 or three times a week. I lease a horse now so I ride almost every day and I still get mine wrong some times.


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## TheBiscuit (Oct 31, 2013)

When I first starting riding as an 8-year-old, my instructor only told me to look for the diagonal. It wasn't that I started up again this summer (now 21 years old) that my new instructor taught me to sit the trot to feel for the diagonal. I caught on pretty quick and I can get the right diag 90% without looking, but of course I still glance down and check. If I'm going too fast, though, there's no way to know. It has to be a slow trot.


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## ShaynadhMarzer (Oct 19, 2012)

Don't worry about little things like that, you still see the pros doing it. Been riding for thirteen years, know people who've been riding a helluvalot longer and we all still do it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Well all these responses sure make me feel a heck of a lot better!

I have NEVER focused on diagonals. Riding a western horse at a jog in the show ring ... well, you don't have to! Out for general riding, I do post when we are at a good working trot but 99% of the time I am on the right diagonal. It is just comfortable for this. 

This fall, I started trying to force myself and FEEL which one I was on. Plus, I figure it has got to be annoying for my horse if I am always riding on the same diagonal. For his physical health, I really should switch it up. So I've been working on it, but I do find myself glancing down a lot to check!

Diagonals, I think, are much harder to feel than what lead your horse is on when loping. I never have to look down for the lope.


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## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

I usually am good at picking it up without looking. If I think too hard about it I never get it. It is literally the only thing I have ever been complimented on, so I got that going for me, which is nice. :lol: But my new mare is going to be a challenge. I can pick it up, but her trot is very animated and tosses me around. Hard to even sit a few beats to figure myself out.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

beau159 said:


> Well all these responses sure make me feel a heck of a lot better!
> 
> I have NEVER focused on diagonals. Riding a western horse at a jog in the show ring ... well, you don't have to! Out for general riding, I do post when we are at a good working trot but 99% of the time I am on the right diagonal. It is just comfortable for this.
> 
> ...




A lot of times the horse prefers the rider to post on a certain diagonal , no matter the direction. They will almost "toss you up" with their way of moving that makes one diagonal feel good and the other feel wonky. On the straightaway it doesn't really matter , though its better for the horse to not be allowed to stay as unbalanced in his muscular development. If one side is weaker and he wants you to be always posting off the other one, you should be sure to work him on both his easy AND his hard side.


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## disastercupcake (Nov 24, 2012)

tinyliny said:


> A lot of times the horse prefers the rider to post on a certain diagonal , no matter the direction. They will almost "toss you up" with their way of moving that makes one diagonal feel good and the other feel wonky. On the straightaway it doesn't really matter , though its better for the horse to not be allowed to stay as unbalanced in his muscular development. If one side is weaker and he wants you to be always posting off the other one, you should be sure to work him on both his easy AND his hard side.


Yes, 

Cloud HATES me to be on the right diagonal! He will either kind of 'skip' or slow and start again so that I'm on the left. It's pretty annoying :s


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