# English Trotting and Cantering - Help Please?



## iBeMagikal (Sep 2, 2015)

Hello!

So, a little bit of back story ~
I ride one day of the week, every week that I can. Sometimes I cannot ride every week and have to wait 1 to 2 weeks at a time. I don't own or lease, I just take lessons.

So, since I don't ride _much_, my trainer has me ride Western from time to time, as I am a little more comfortable in it than I am in English, even though, my goal is to pretty much learn English.

When riding Western, it's pretty easy for me. Mainly because it's a bigger saddle, and the ways of riding are different, like in Western, you don't have to post the trot or anything. I can canter pretty well in a Western saddle as well.

Now, the thing is, that I am having trouble getting English down. When I try to post, it seems very hard to, and It does not feel smooth. I always feel like I'm losing my stirrups, even though I'm positive they are at the right length, and it's just not good or good feeling. Posting trot just feels very flimsy and sloppy and I know it feels way harder than It should feel, even though my trainer says it looks great. I don't know what to do to make it easier and an actual smooth posting trot! What am I doing wrong? What can I do? Is it my leg strength or something because I'm not riding so much, my legs need to get stronger? If so, how can I make them stronger? Ughh I don't know why English is becoming so difficult for me...

The next thing I have tons of trouble with is the canter. Ohh, the canter. So, if trot isn't easy and doesn't feel good for me, canter definitely isn't. First of all, when I ask for canter, the lesson horse I ride just fast trots. I try and try, but it isn't unless a miracle happens that I easily get him to canter. Therefore, I am bouncing up and down like a maniac on his back and constantly (have to try to regain myself), and try my hardest to get him to go! How do I fix this? The constant bouncing already lowers my self-confidence. I try all the cues as well! I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I know what my trainer is telling me to do, but I just can't do it.
My trainer tells me to sit back, relax, and ask with the best of my ability, but I can't do it. If I DON'T curl up, I actually feel like I am just going to bounce right off!! Therefore, resulting in a scared me, confused horse, and ending in a disappointing ride. :/

Also with the canter, if I ever seem to get the horse into the canter, it seems VERY fast and SOO sloppy! I try to "gather" my horse, but I don't even know if I am DOING it right?? What exactly is "gathering" again? Is that even what I am supposed to do in that situation???

I also have such a hard time keeping my stirrups in-tact, and feel like I can't even control the horse, and feel like I'm literally SLIPPING OUT of the saddle. Every time I ride English, I feel like I am just slipping out and about to fall on the horse's neck or just fall off. (I sort of think it's the material of my riding pants against the smooth saddle. If so, how can I STOP feeling like I'm actually slipping??) It's so sloppy and scary for me. I just can't get it down...

Sorry for the read, but does anyone have an suggestions? Advice? Every English lesson is pretty much the same thing, even if I ride back to back.

Thanks in advance, everyone and anyone!


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Sounds to me like you need to strengthen your leg, as that is your base of support for everything. Have you told your instructor you feel insecure at the trot? That you feel you can't keep your stirrups?

If you feel more secure Western, have you tried posting in that saddle?


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

One thing that helps people as they develop that elusive "feel" for riding those gaits smoothly is asking for lunge line lessons-that's when your instructor connects a long line to the horse and guides the horse to move on a large circle. Your instructor will control the horse's direction and transitions so you can focus on YOU. That really uncomfortable fast trot-choppy canter transition? Your instructor could help smooth it out for you by having her ask for the transition, and you concentrate on letting your body move with the horse as he does what your instructor asks. Same with finding your rhythm in a posting trot. If your instructor is controlling the direction and speed of the horse through the lunge line, she can help get the horse moving in a decent rhythm so you can practice following the horse.

What you're describing is not uncommon- sounds like you know you're curling into the fetal position when you become unbalanced. That sets off the whole chain of events you describe, including losing your stirrups because you're contracting your leg rather than letting it stay long and balanced under you.

After a few times on the lunge, you'd then "graduate" to working independently on the rail and asking for those transitions on your own. It will just give you some time to find your balance and the ability to "follow" a horse so you can work on refining your cues more.

Good luck- lots of people go through this (in fact, as I read each paragraph describing what you experienced, I laughed because I could literally _feel _all of that bumping and jostling around as though I was learning to ride again!)


ETA: Here's an example of an instructor giving this kind of lesson, if you listen with sound, she explains her rationale. I don't know either of these people, but the discussion made sense to me:


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

I am wondering about the skill level of your instructor. For example, if you are a beginner and your instructor is asking you to gather your horse and you don't know what that even means, what good is having that instructor?


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

While your instructor may be asking you to post when riding in an English saddle and do a sitting trot when riding in a Western saddle, you should understand that the saddle should not be the determining factor as to when a rider might post. The rising trot was developed to easy any bouncing effect on the rider's seat and on the horse's back. Generally, if a horse's movement at the trot is not causing a rider's seat to come out of the saddle, there is no reason to do a rising trot.

If it feels as though you are about to lose your stirrups when doing the rising trot, you are probably squeezing the horse with your legs. In doing so, you are blocking the effect of gravity which would otherwise keep your feet firmly resting on your stirrups if the joints of your body are opening and closing with the movement of your horse's body and your own. 

If you are having trouble getting a lesson horse to canter, the first thing I would suggest is asking your instructor to canter on this horse. This should give you an idea of how much of the problem is caused by the horse and how much is caused by the rider.

Most riders find that a canter has a more flowing motion than the trot. However, a fast tense trot is seldom fun. The question to ask is: "Why does the horse go into a fast trot rather than a canter?"

While there may be physical reasons for this with a particular horse, let's consider other reasons. It the rider is tense, his horse is generally tense. It is harder for a horse to change its motion from a trot to a canter when tense. It is also difficult for a horse to transition into a canter if it is heavy on the forehand and feels it must rush forward to maintain balance. This last statement does not negate the fact that some riders push a horse forward so much it must begin cantering because it cannot trot any faster. Such a canter – even if a true canter in regards to footfall – is neither comfortable nor pretty. Again, such a horse is simply rushing forward rather than moving smoothly and in balance.

Much of your problem appears related to tension – tension in your body and, therefore, tension in your horse's body. 

A good instructor should be concentrating on helping you to relax, sit in balance, and move with your horse. Cantering early in one's riding experience may help a rider gain confidence. This usually requires a good horse that can move relatively smoothly despite what the rider is doing. I think you would be better off by first concentrating on relaxing and moving with your horse at the walk and trot before considering the canter.

Most riders pay little attention to what is happening at a walk because the minimal movement of the horse requires little effort on the part of the rider. Just because the rider is not falling off, however, does not mean that he is riding well. To ride well on a horse that is walking, the rider should be able to feel his center of gravity balanced over his horse's center of gravity. He should be able to feel an even tension on the reins as his arms open and close so his hands follow the motion of his horse's head. The rider should feel his seat bones moving independently of one another as the muscles of his horses back move. It should feel as though the riders hips are moving with the horse's hind feet much as if the rider himself were walking or marching along.

Once the horse and rider begin moving in synchronicity, the whole experience of riding changes for both horse and rider. Then, trotting and cantering become simpler as the rider applies similar techniques to allow his body to move with his horse's body. The trot and canter movement of the horse will be smoother and more flowing once the horse learns to relax under a rider free from unnecessary tension.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you just have to grit your teeth and keep going. what you are describing could easily describe how I felt, 20 years ago or more. you just have to get better by DOING.

one thing that helps; buy some full seat breeches. the leather on the inside will help you feel more stick to the saddle. do that soon.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

Western style riding often has the lower leg forward. Which is fine for that type of riding but once you move to a dressage type saddle you are going to be off balance of you don't ride in the right position which is a straight line heel - hip- shoulder. Without this you're centre is going to be off and posting will be like a pivot causing you to collapse. Position is important in western riding too but it's easier to get by without it. 

So what I would try is keeping your legs under you as you ride and then just post a little . With your legs in the right place your weight should be more centred.


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## Tihannah (Apr 7, 2015)

All of this takes A LOT of time to develop. I am fairly green myself (began lessons last May), and most of it is just now starting to click for me. The understanding and "the feeling" comes from repetition, repetition, repetition. And I hate to say this, but 1 lesson a week is going take a long time before you will feel like you're doing it right. Our senior trainer, for the posting trot, told me to sit and let the horse bump me out of the saddle and then catch it from the bump and continue posting, and THAT's how you know when you're posting on the correct diagonal. Keep your legs long and heels down and try to post with your core, hips, and thighs.

The thing that helped me was leasing a "beginner" type horse. I still took lessons once a week, but rode 5 days a week working on all these things from each lesson. I purchased my first horse in December and I wanna say it's only been since maybe November that posting trot felt natural to me and I could instantly tell when I was on the wrong diagonal.

I had the same problem with canter - the fast trot and bouncing all over the place, and only really figured it out a couple weeks ago. I was the same as you and curling up my legs and hunching over to prepare to only get thrown all over the place in the saddle with MAYBE 2-3 strides at canter if I was lucky.

I did a clinic a couple weeks ago and he told me, no matter what, keep your legs long, heels down, shoulders back and sit back. Open your hips and relax and let your body move with the horse. Because if you tell her to canter with your legs, then curl up, you're giving her mixed signals. It takes A LOT of conscious effort to control your body and practice, but once you can focus on what you are doing wrong, then it will come together. I can FINALLY get my mare to canter with ONE leg cue and NO fast trot.

Like I said, I am green too, so I know it takes time. A lot of things won't make sense, you get frustrated and feel like you're going nowhere. But when it finally clicks and you feel it and see it in the horse you're riding, then it will be so rewarding! Good Luck!

P.S.
I also watch A LOT of youtube videos for whatever problem I'm trying to work through and try to pick up tips from other instructors online.


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## SillyStallion (Feb 7, 2016)

Have you heard of Heather Moffat and Enlightened Equitation? She is a fab trainer and has lots of videos available on YouTube. She also has a hardback book (available free in the UK) which is now available as an ebook - it's got hundreds of colour photos really explaining concepts. I had my first lesson yesterday off an EE instructor and I was in tears - it just made things so easy! I have been struggling for 20 years thinking I had reached the limits of my abilities but it seems not.

A few vids

use of legs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6PTs1XPAug

Movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6PTs1XPAug

Canter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbbm_U9MdPc

Trot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WfEjdk0gKs

Position and feel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yyyLHBiHAM


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## CityslickerfrFla (Jan 11, 2016)

Feel your pain but it takes lots of practice! I was all over the place with perfecting the posting trot (instructor and I were just laughing about it yesterday) and tried various school horses and finally learned to catch the rhythm, rising with the outside shoulder on the diagonal, etc. Once you nail posting trot, cantering is next and I just started learning. It still terrifies me and my body is tensing up, toes go forward instead of keeping heels down, etc. - typical reaction for newbies. :runninghorse2: But I really want to learn so I have to get over this anxiety in the canter.

When I have that brief moment of relaxing into the canter and moving my hips with the horse while keeping my balanced seat, I felt how fun it could be as it was only my 2nd canter lesson. Just be patient - we all work at different speeds, levels, and some have more time to practice than others. I can only ride once or twice a week - so of course, it will take me a long while before I can canter well. And still working on posting my trot and using more leg aids, etc.


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## Paulc (Feb 17, 2016)

In trot use your upper inner leg pressure against the saddle to help you rise and balance, for a canter its the opposite if you grip you will loose a stirrup esp on a horse with a good collected canter so just sit and lean well back with your heels down .
Make sure you have a slow sitting trot need to practice this without going into canter for a few weeks or the horse will just get excited every time and speed up.
Start on a 20 mtr circle put your outside leg back but also give with the outside rein at the same time. and make sure to look in the direction you are turning I tend to over do this a bit to help the horse.


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