You might feel less like you are flying if you ground your hands. A neck strap, maybe?
If you were under my tutelage, we’d be back on the lunge stat.
If you can’t trot on the lunge with your hands in the air, with your hands out to the side, with your hands wherever the instructor tells you to put them, you aren’t going off the lunge yet. I would have you put your hand on the cantle and pull yourself down into the saddle, and then FEEL what the horse is doing under you. Your hips should be doing a mini figure 8, in a way.
Do you feel comfortable asking this instructor to put you on the lunge until you can do all these things? Sitting trot or posting trot, you shouldn’t be off the line if you’re so stiff you go into that “shutdown mode” body language etc.
1 Like
Posting is WAY easier than sitting. That’s why posting is allowed at the beginning dressage levels, and sitting trot is not required until several levels in.
You’re not helping your balance or your horse’s movement by sitting before you have a secure, independent seat. You’ll get the hang of posting very quickly, and it may make you feel much more in control.
1 Like
Posting is actually kind of hard in a western saddle.
I’ve tried holding the horn, which helps, but I don’t want to become reliant on it
We started a bit on the lunge this lesson, which I preferred because I could focus on myself instead of steering. She wanted me to do it on my own at the end. I could ask for more lunge
1 Like
Posting in dressage tests as used as a marker of the horse’s development was originally intended to help the horse come over the back and build strength before sitting is required. In HJ, it was to save the horse’s back over long distances. I don’t know if cowboys historically posted during longer rides.
2 Likes
Absolutely do. Long trot is the most practical way to cover distance and posting is the most practical way to ride long trot. Most people showing in ranch riding post the long trot as well.
6 Likes
