Posting lateral work?

[Lunabear1988]

Mostly just curiosity, as I’ve seen some local trainers posting the trot and doing some lateral work such as half pass, shoulder in and haunches in instead of sitting the trot. Granted, I think the trainers I’ve seen do this all have only ridden to 2nd/3rd level themselves.

But is there a reason someone would post instead of sitting for this type of lateral? I understand it for leg yield but I thought SI, HP, HI were all supposed to be done sitting since they were collecting exercises. I was just wondering if there would be any potential benefit or reason anyone would post these movements instead. Personally I like to sit myself but always worth asking/learning.

[pluvinel]

You post on the “correct” diagonal for shoulder-in and on the “off” diagonal for half-pass. The posting is intended to influence the horse.

[Lunabear1988]

@pluvinel thanks! I’ve never heard that for SI and HP, just leg yields and canter departs on a green horse.

Can you explain how it helps benefit the horse? I can see it potentially for Shoulder in but can’t picture it for half pass. But I’m a slow learner sometimes :winkgrin:

[fanfayre]

I post because it’s easier on MY back (as per dr.'s orders), collection be d@^ned! If the lateral exercise is going really well, I may sit the last few steps of the exercise, but not always. But I’m not showing, just schooling for fun

[Dutchmare433]

There’s value in being able to do all those exercises sitting as well as posting. If you see someone posting most exercises because they can’t influence the horse while sitting (or interfere while sitting), that’s not ideal. I often throw some lateral work into my warm up while I’m still posting to loosen up the back. Otherwise almost all the trot work is done sitting unless there’s something specific I feel I can accomplish by posting. Ex) I had a horse avoiding the difficulty of the HP in trot one direction, so she would break to canter and do the the HP that way. I did the HP in almost a medium trot while posting to free up the back and to help prevent the horse from breaking to canter.

[joiedevie99]

Sure! It can really help to encourage the horse to swing through the movement. Heck, I have a tight backed horse that I often post on when outside the show ring, regardless of what I’m doing. Even on a horse that doesn’t have “special needs” that lend themselves to posting, I will typically start lateral work quite soon in the warm-up, before I really want to sit.

[pluvinel]

@Lunabear1988

@pluvinel thanks! I’ve never heard that for SI and HP, just leg yields and canter departs on a green horse.

Can you explain how it helps benefit the horse? I can see it potentially for Shoulder in but can’t picture it for half pass. But I’m a slow learner sometimes :winkgrin:

Try this article…
https://dressagetoday.com/theory/the-importance-of-correct-timing-of-the-dressage-aids

[Lunabear1988]

Interesting! Thanks guys! This is eye opening.

I know Hilda Gurney teaches that you should only post in the leg yield and not other lateral movements. So it’s interesting to hear other reasons/ways of using our various ways to influence the horse.

[Lunabear1988]

https://youtu.be/bJYLlfxU19A dozens of ways to Rome though, especially in horses.

[Denali6298]

@joiedevie99

Sure! It can really help to encourage the horse to swing through the movement. Heck, I have a tight backed horse that I often post on when outside the show ring, regardless of what I’m doing. Even on a horse that doesn’t have “special needs” that lend themselves to posting, I will typically start lateral work quite soon in the warm-up, before I really want to sit.

This^^^^^. I never knew it was “wrong” to post.

[Edre]

Honestly, different horses (and riders) have different requirements. The responses give a pretty clear idea why it could be beneficial to post. Some horses that are inclined towards tightness or hollowness in the back can benefit from posting through the lateral exercises at points. Likewise, I have also found that a few horses really struggle with rhythm - posting can help them tremendously.

Adding to the kettle, some people ride certain movements better in posting vs sitting (or vice versa). This can be an entire combination of factors - rider build, athleticism, old injuries, horse movement/suspension, who carries tension where, etc. I am hilariously terrible at doing a leg yield in a posting trot. It is a hot mess. I am significantly improved when I sit. It is because I have a weaker side that loses efficacy when I post, vs in the sitting trot. And vice versa, some riders (and caveat: when I talk about issues like mine, and this one too, they are very likely not a professional’s situation - but for amateur riders for whom horses aren’t a career or a profession, regardless of how capable we are I think we have more baggage to work through just because we have fewer miles to pick up good habits) have a tendency to really curl up in the sitting trot and their leg wanders too far in front or behind them so they lose the ability to really use it effectively. Posting can really benefit these people (especially when learning new exercises or working on known exercises that are challenging for them).

[Lunabear1988]

@Edre yeah I’m one who would much rather sit than post, especially during lateral. I prefer to sit all the time over posting when warmed up, but alas I have a young horse so I’ll be posting for awhile!

[KyrieNZ]

I rise to the trot in all my lateral movements as I’m a Grade V para rider with spinal damage which means I can’t sit to the trot.

[IPEsq]

For green horses who tend to slow down too much when you sit, posting trot to can encourage the horse to keep the same forward trot while also moving laterally. It feels awkward to me personally but I guess I need more practice.

[Lunabear1988]

@IPEsq it feels awkward to me too but whatever works best for each horse and rider!

[BrokenArrow]

Carl Hester does an exercise for posting while doing piaffe to make sure the horse is truly in front of your leg. My instructor threw that at me one day after he’d one a Masterclass with Carl.

Now THAT is a good way to feel like the most uncoordinated rider in the world :lol:

I rise or sit, depending on how I feel and my horse feels that day. Going back to posting can help when things are getting tight or there’s some tension coming through. My mare has a huge trot that is very hard to sit to unless she’s very soft over the back. Getting her there can be a challenge some days so it’s the easiest way to work through it without her or me getting tense.

[CanteringCarrot]

@BrokenArrow

Carl Hester does an exercise for posting while doing piaffe to make sure the horse is truly in front of your leg. My instructor threw that at me one day after he’d one a Masterclass with Carl.

Now THAT is a good way to feel like the most uncoordinated rider in the world :lol:

I rise or sit, depending on how I feel and my horse feels that day. Going back to posting can help when things are getting tight or there’s some tension coming through. My mare has a huge trot that is very hard to sit to unless she’s very soft over the back. Getting her there can be a challenge some days so it’s the easiest way to work through it without her or me getting tense.

Oh Lord. What an exercise!

I feel that I’m more effective when sitting. I post shoulder-in or leg yield here and there. I could try posting half pass. I feel like posting is one more thing to worry aboit :laugh: I just feel more connected when I sit, and that I can better manage the horses body.

[Drsgqn]

I post all the lateral movements as part of my warm up routine. Then when we’re both good and warmed up I sit the rest of the ride.

[Lunabear1988]

I’m all for doing what helps the horse! I personally prefer to sit but I just hate posting anyways.

Does anyone know why or where Hilda Gurney got the idea that lateral besides leg yield must be in sitting?

[merrygoround]

I feel that it’s a kindness to the horse to post while doing lateral work, particularly if a movement is new to them.

As a rider doing it because you can’t sit properly, simply means that you are not riding up to that level, and need to get there ASAP by working on learning to sit unless you have a physical disability.

As for not having control when rising, it simply means that you are not strong enough to use your legs independently while rising, try riding in 1/2 seat to build leg strength.

When showing S/I, H/I. H/P must be shown sitting. Perhaps Hilda is just emphasizing that.