You’ve got the “D” thing backwards. The curve of the “D” is your front, and the straight part is your back. Your back should be neutral, neither rounded nor arched.
If you can get someone to lunge you, try the following:
- Use a grab strap so you don’t bounce off and to reduce the pounding on the poor beastie.
- Push all of those tummy muscles and lower abdominals toward your back so that your back is flat.
- Lift your legs out to the sides, away from the horse.
- Collapse from pain.
- Repeat.
I did dressage a long time ago, and then spent a few years doing hunters because that’s what we had at college… I’m getting back into it now, and this is pretty much how I spend my lessons now. I have tight hips to start with, and the thing is that if you really want your horse to have space to bring is back up so that the trot can smooth out, you need to get out of his way and NOT grip with those thighs. That exercise, if it doesn’t kill you, will help your seat to be independent so you can move with your horse.
Please do NOT try to learn to sit the trot on lunge line UNLESS the horse is supple and has learnt how to protect himself with a bouncing rider on top of him.
If the horse is not supple and his back is not up, he is bound to be a jack hammer if he has any decent stride (jogging does not count). When you put a rider who has not learnt how to sit the trot on this horse, the horse can get his back damaged. To protect himself, he is liable to hollow his back, thus making your job as a rider to sit the trot even harder. When it becomes too bouncy, the rider is liable to brace up, instead of loosening up, thus making the horse’ job to carry the rider harder. This is a vicious cycle.
Lunge lessons to learn sitting trot is great, but only if you have a suitable horse and a suitable instructor.
I myself was never successful when trying to learn sitting trot. It never happened until my horse became supple and balanced. At that point, it simply happened. He offered me a place to sit and that allowed me to follow his motions. At that moment, sitting trot was easy and comfortable.
[QUOTE=weebs07;4382640]
Always done hunter-jumping, but somewhere along the way I’ve progressed without learning such a basic fundamental- the sitting trot. [/QUOTE]
It’s admirable that you want to get to be relaxed while sitting the trot. I guarantee you it’s going to help with jumping, even though you got by without it so far. I haven’t read the other answers and I’m sure you got good suggestions, just adding mine.
Key tip:
practice sitting trot ONLY for as long as you feel good and relaxed about it. In fact, go to a walk or posting BEFORE you feel yourself tightening up.
Doesn’t matter why you tighten up, transition to either walk or posting for any reason, your own discomfort, old muscle memory you are trying to override with new muscle memories, or horse needs your attention for any reason at all (horse distracted, horse out of rhythm, etc)
That means, get your horse trotting nicely in a large circle, start sitting, and either post or walk after as little as 2-3 strides. Obviously, you increase the number of strides you sit relaxed with time/practice.
May be easier without stirrups – more below – but you need to feel safe.
You can pursue this goal over time, don’t pressure yourself to do it right away – some things are more difficult to practice when you are an experienced rider already! It will take your mind and body and practice 'till it becomes second nature – but cut yourself a lot of slack on putting pressure on yourself, just “do it” in very short periods of time, but often … say every 10 min practice 2 min of sitting trot etc then go do whatever else you do while riding.
-
Find a good vaulting instructor with a steady vaulting horse and book a few sessions on the longe, say once a week for 2 or 3 weeks. This is not a reflection on your horse etc, it’s just is easier sometime when you have the vaulting pad and a TRULY steady even-paced horse. It’s also sometimes easier when it’s not your home barn and a different horse. Even one session would be great! Be sure to trot (even canter) without stirrups and your hands up the air, one hand up, or rotating both hands front to back.
-
With your horse, with or without your instructor, follow the strategy above of sitting the trot only for as along as you do it without tightening.
It helps to have an instructor sometimes, eyes on the ground spotting your position, as well as someone to keep an eye on your horse – I can “longe” my students’ horse without needing a longe sometimes, subtly help maintain rhythm. If your horse longes well, do that for short periods (a few minutes at most so you do not get involuntarily stiff, due to old muscle memories etc.)
One thing I like to practice myself is letting go and picking up stirrups without looking down or helping out with our hands. Try it a walk first, then at the sitting trot on the longe … but do not let yourself get stiff, go back to walk before that (I’m repeating myself because you are riding and jumping etc and small steps may seem superfluous!)
Practice by yourself as well, sometimes easier than feeling you’re reverting to beginner stuff in front of your whole barn (may or may not be an issue.) Me, I’m in the camp that if we fill the basic stuff we missed or are out of practice, it’s going to help all our riding.
Alone with your horse:
Preferably when the arenas aren’t too busy so no one else gallops by you (depending on your horse, day, weather etc)
try practice walk - trot transitions on the buckle or with very little contact. Work your way up to that in small steps:
- on a large circle, prepare your horse by a couple of w / t transitions the way you normally do them
- then do the same without stirrups (remember, only a few steps of trot) using the reins the way you normally do
- then do another 2-3 walk-trot transitions without stirrups and with as little rein contact as you can muster, to make sure your hands are not involuntarily holding on.
- play with having reins in one hand, typically the inside hand, raise the other straight up. Change direction, same the other way.
The fact that you already know you are going from walk to trot and you only want to trot 3, or 5, or 10 strides than back to walk it going to make it easier to relax.
Exercises:
once you work your way up quarter-circle or half-circle relaxed sitting trot, try the going straight & bend at corners, or snakeline. Again, back to walk or posting before you tighten up. Try sitting the trot and saying out loud “right” & “left” when the right hind or the left hind leaves the ground. One the longe, try closing your eyes and guess exactly when the right hind or the left hind are leaving the ground.
Caution:
*a green horse may be on alert by you picking up/dropping stirrups or you rotating arms while riding, this is the type of young horse education that sometimes may get missed and … well, just be safe.
- while good riders and dressage riders may sit any trot, I don’t (anymore). If the horse gets out of rhythm, stiffens through the body, looses straightness (or the circling bend), trots too fast, is not round, etc etc – it’s better that you address all that, do not try to sit an uncomfortable trot. I often go to two-point on trails with greenies if the trot is too irregular to post – but will try to sit the trot of make sure I still stay balanced and not too forward in case of a lil’buck etc…
Classical equitation used to require that riders go from posting to sitting trot 3 strides before every transition, up to canter or down to a walk, or before cavalletti or a small jump. I’m sure you find lots of new ways to use your sitting trot once you’re comfy with it!
Ok, now I’m going to read the rest of the thread. Let us know about the progress you make!
Rena in California
Well, I have not worked my way to all replies and I am not going to go into the how-to…
But…
To sit the trot you need relaxation. you have to be relaxed to sit, and the horse has to be relaxed to let you. The back needs to be like a swinging suspension bridge. A slow speed does not equal a relaxed back. While you need to sit up straight, you have to allow for the inevidable shock absorbtion. I suppose you have to figure out how to.
ConnectedRiding
[
take a look at Peggy Cummings’ " Connected Riding" Peggy is a master teacher, and may say something which unlocks your body/ mind:cry:
quote=Carol Ames;4389170]Find a Centered Riding instructor who, can do some basic bodywork on you while mounted:yes:; you sound like you are working Too :no: HARD to be supple; the principle to apply is “non doing”; that is going to take someone with a trained eye; something in your body is blocking the motion needed to follow the horse; Leaning back puts much of your body into locking/ contracted mode get tense and I try to relax them). I sit for 3-4 strides, then post for 8, then sit for 3-4 strides, and post for 8. Loose, supple, I read Sally Swift again and again before I ride. I’m doing yoga. I’m working on my core. I’m being patient. It’s not gonna happen overnight. Good advice here, though, and lots for you (and me!) to work on.
[/quote]
Some good advice posted here. . . so I’ll just add to go along with Centered Riding techniques.
Another thought is when you are trying (But don’t really ‘try’ — just ‘let!’ :)) to sit, and only a few steps at a time when your horse’s back feels soft, think of your belly button falling forward and down toward the pommel in rhythm with the horse’s stride. ‘Let’ it happen for a few strides then return to posting, find the rhythm and allow it to happen again.
What Mary in Area 1 and DGRH said.
Personally I think most people put wayyyy too much emphasis on “relaxing”. If you really relax you’ll flip backwards right off the horse as it goes forward, so there’s a clue :lol: it’s actually the right amount of isometric tone that you are looking for. You can skip right over the bouncing around phase if you can minimize your movement to match that of the horses back, which is actually quite small.
What works best for me is to drop my stirrups and work on that for awhile. Once you pick them back up again your legs are much longer and you body is sitting more correctly.
Another exercise that is fun and beneficial to both the horse and your seat is alot of transitions. Start with walk - trot, trot-canter, walk-canter (my favorite :)). Your body and the horse really respond to all three.
One instructor, a year or so ago, commented that I was “overthinking” things told me to think about something - anything - other than what I was doing. “What do you need at the grocery store? LIST IT!”
I know - thinking of something OTHER than riding WHILE riding is not generally the profferred (or preferred ) advice. But… it worked. Maybe because I started naming items in rhythm with the trot? Forgot that tip till now.
Focus on each individual muscle of your back and pelvis. Relax each one. You can’t move with the horse if you are tense. Your pelvis must be relaxed in order for your legs to hang correctly.
Then, it’s as my signature says.
Edited also to add: No to changing the alignment of your spine. Sit tall, correct. Line from shoulder, to hip, to heel.
The key to sitting trot is relaxation of the spine and hips. If you’re not relaxed, you cannot move with the horse, and you bump and flop around. The other key is your core. Your tummy muscles must be capable of holding your spine and shoulders in correct alignment with your hips and heels - one sitting trot stride is equal to one sit up.
The trot is naturally a bump, bump, bump - as Kyra Kyrklund says, “make friends with the bump”.
