Every time my trainer asks me to drop my irons and post trot, my heart drops. I hate doing it because I don’t know how! I try and try but I always end up stopping the horse because I think I’m going to fall off. My legs flail around and my trainer yells at me. Everyone else is doing it perfectly except for me. How can I post trot without stirrups? And also, is there any exercises for my legs to help me trot without stirrups?
The mistake I see a lot of riders make is trying to post too high–think of it as more of a rolling motion, hips up and forward, then down and back, using the muscles on the inside and back of your thigh. Think about stretching your leg long, knee pushing toward the ground. Try sitting a few strides when you first pick up the trot, to center yourself and feel your horse’s rhythm, then roll into your post.
Do lots (and lots and lots) of no-stirrup work at the walk. Try two-point position or posting down the long sides and sitting the short sides, then back in two- point. As you build strength, do the same thing in trot, still without your irons. It’ll come to you, and it’s a great foundation for later as you progress in your riding!
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Are you riding hunt seat? If so, wrap your legs around your horse like your giving a big soft gentle hug. Then think tiny little movements out of the saddle. I really like to use a grab strap with riders learning to post w/out stirrups or grab a chunk of mane.
One thing that works for me if you can sit the trot, is to post 2 steps and sit 2 steps, next time post 5 steps and sit 5 steps and keep working the numbers higher until I can post all the way around with no stirrups. Also try posting with one stirrup and alternating legs till you have built up your leg strength.
Squeeze with your abs. Pull your pelvis forward and up with your belly button.
That’s what stirrups are for. To get off the horse’s back.
I am a firm believer that posting without stirrups stiffens your body in an incorrect way and inhibits your ability to follow the horse.
Now, riding (and jumping) without stirrups is a fine way to develop balance. Just watch the old westerns with the Indians galloping bareback cross country. Pretty impressive riding.
There is no need to “post without stirrups”…you just follow the horse’s motion.
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Have you told your trainer you don’t understand how to post w/out stirrups? Perhaps they have a horse with easier gaits to learn this on?
It sounds like you are just lacking the muscle strength to do the exercise and trepidation is impeding your ability to relax and catch the rhythm.
Exercises that can help build leg muscles are,
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Drop both stirrups and post. Master this at the walk first then the trot.
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Stand in the stirrups as long as possible, then drop the stirrups and do the same thing. Master this at the walk then the trot.
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Only drop one stirrup/keep the other foot in a stirrup and post, alternate throughout the lesson, Master this at the walk then the trot.
All these exercises can be practiced on a horse standing still, and in a saddle set on a sturdy saddle stand on the days you can’t get to the barn.
Your instructor should know other confidence building games and exercises.
Keep at it and you’ll get the hang of it.
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I have to say I disagree with this. Only because, in my experience, when I was very riding fit and at my peak, posting without stirrups was EASY and was no different from posting with stirrups. I never felt that it stiffened or otherwise contorted my position. At least as I have learned riding hunters, posting is not about standing straight up off the back, but closer to a lightening of the seat, which is quite simple to do when you have the relaxation and proper conditioning for it. Now that I’m no longer in college and sit at a desk and in a car 11 hours a day, it DOES make me ride stiff and crappily so I will keep doing other strengthening exercises until I’m back where I don’t feel I’m harming or confusing my horse.
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Actually you prove my point…
When you were young and riding lots of horses you had innate feel, BALANCE and an independent seat…and you were able to lighten you seat because you were relaxed in the saddle and in balance with the horse’s motion.
Now that you have joined the world of the desk bound, you don’t ride as much and have lost your BALANCE.
And I speak as BTDT…back in the day, I used to gallop without saddle and take jumps without stirrups. I could feel the horse’s legs as my own legs…now, as I have aged and sat behind a desk, riding bareback at a trot and canter is an exercise in bravery…and I don’t bounce so good any more.
Instructors who focus on JUST the mechanical aspects of posting without stirrups, make a rigid rider. They ignore the most important part…that being able to post without stirrups is the RESULT of having a rider who has developed an independent seat.
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Ah, with your clarification, yes we are on the same page. I think the question really is then, what benefit does posting without stirrups really have, if those who need to do it do not have the strength to do it properly and those who do not need to do it, do not need to do it?
On the other hand, if I were riding a schoolmaster type and not a green 4 year old, I would maybe use posting without stirrups as a means to an end, because I do know the ultimate feel that I am hoping to achieve, having once had it.
OP, sounds like you may have an insecure position and have not achieved balance. And you are probably gripping at the knee, which will only exacerbate the balance problems since it creates a pivot point that can launch your upper body forward.
If you’re just lessoning once or twice a week, that is not often enough to build core strength, which will really help with your balance. Look up ‘core strength’ exercises and do 10-15min a day every day- no gym needed, you can just do at home when you get up or before bed.
Ride-a-buck game is a good way to retrain yourself about gripping at the knee. Place a dollar bill on the backside of your calf, and walk-trot-canter that way, trying to hold onto the dollar bill as long as you can. When playing with a group, the last person who still has their dollar gets everyone else’s.
And talk to your instructor about this! That’s his/her job, to find a way to explain the task and help you achieve it.
Best of luck to you!
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OP, ask the instructor for a longe lesson and lean there how to balance properly with and with and without stirrups, posting without will come naturally then.
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Try to think of hugging your horse with the long bone that runs from your knee down to your ankle. It will give you what I call positive traction, much more contact than gripping with your knee. For the actual trotting, just think about sending your hips forward in the saddle with each post, not up. The up will come once your legs and core are stronger. If it helps. hold the reins with one hand and hold the pommel to help lift yourself out of the saddle for the posting motion until you can get the hang of it without worrying about losing your balance.
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I’m guessing this is a group lesson, and the trainer has limited time with each of you. Have you sat her down and asked her for specific instructions?
It sounds - as others have said - that you haven’t yet developed an independent seat and core yet. Lunge lessons without stirrups is really the best way to do this, but there are exercises you can do - there are videos on yoga for riders that might be beneficial, and developing core strength.
If you have time, can you go to the barn and ride by yourself? Just cross the stirrups over the withers and walk the horse, letting your body relax, letting your legs find where they want to be and letting your seat find the sweet spot in the saddle. (And that’s another thing - does the saddle fit you and the horse? If the saddle is pitching you either backwards or forwards, posting w/o stirrups is impossible - you’re always fighting your own position).
But your trainer, IMO, shouldn’t be ‘yelling at you’ for this. They should be actively trying to help you find a solution.
GREAT point about the saddle. Girth up as you normally would for your ride, and place your crop from pommel to cantle-- is it level?
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Imagine your legs are filled with sand…they are getting very heavy…heavier…you are reaching for the ground.
Now, your upper body is being stretched and is filled with down - lightweight and easily formed. Think airy but moldable clay (I’m sure there is already technology for this, but I’m old).
Your hips can only move slightly forward, and as they do, you rise up a bit towards the pommel. Its similar to a half-halt.
You may only get a few “posts” the first time until you build your core, but once you do, your seat and feel will improve in surprising ways.
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All my trainer says is “You need to do exercise” and doesn’t tell me what to do. But my barn friends told me to do 50 squats each day. I’m assuming that workout is good?
Squats are okay, but you need to focus on core strength as well as an independent seat. There are quite a few videos and articles online that can help with that - I think Dressage Today usually has some fitness articles (used to, anyway).
Can you sit the trot easily? Have you done work without stirrups on the lunge line? Do you feel off-balance when you are in the saddle - do you ever feel you are fighting to stay sitting upright? Has anyone ever had you drop your stirrups and then look at you from behind to see if you’re sitting centered and balanced in the saddle (i.e., not sitting off to one side or the other)? If you aren’t balanced, you can’t post w/o stirrups. Those things need to be addressed and crossed off the list first, IMO.
Bottom line, for me, though, is this: it might be time to find a new riding instructor. You are paying them to TEACH you. Are you getting your money’s worth? (Sorry, I was a working student who taught a lot of ‘up/down’ lessons, so this is sort a prickly point for me!)
I can sit the trot easily (If it’s a slow horse). I have not done work without stirrups on the lunge line. I do feel off balanced in the saddle when I’m posting without stirrups.
The one and only good thing about posting without stirrups is that it teaches you to quit working against yourself, and simply allow yourself to be tossed, as it were, onto the correct diagonal and into the proper rhythm.
The minute you start clutching with your legs, or forcing the rising phase, you’re pretty much toast.
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Get a new trainer who actually teaches you in person (easier than a bunch of internet strangers teaching you!) and doesn’t yell so much.
