Post by suewhitmore on Jun 22, 2007 0:52:06 GMT 1
This is particularly for Kofihorse, who sounds like the most excellent empathic teacher in the making. These little pieces are all about the rider, they are not intended to school the horse *at all* and are certainly not aimed at high level training. My personal "mission statement" has always been to help the maximum number of riders become competent and confident, my view being that this would in fact help the maximum number of horses.
This particular piece assumes you have mastered the techniques described in the improving walk thread.
Talking about trot. Trot is probably the least comfortable gait for novices to ride, but it doesn't need to be such torture. The late Anthony Dent speculated that the word "trot" derived from the Latin word "torte" - "to twist" and was closely aligned to torture.
Trot is a two time gait where the legs move in diagonal pairs, that is, the left hind and the right front move together and vice versa, with a moment of suspension between each pair. It is a very energetic gait, the horse literally "pole vaults", pushing off with one hind leg then the other. This gives the enormous twist, as the horse's pelvis swings rapidly forward on alternate sides.
Diagonals are named by the fore leg, the right diagonal being the right fore and left hind. The rider is said to be posting on the "correct diagonal" when they are rising when the outside diagonal pair in relation to a bend is swinging forward and sitting with the inside diagonal.
There is a huge difference in the quality of trot in different types of horses. Gallopers, such as TBs, are probably the most energetic vaulters, and find extension easy. Horses that have a gaited ancestry, such as the Iberians, use much more flexion of the hock, that is, drawing the leg up towards the belly, and this gives a more elevated and level ride.
One of the least helpful instructions given to riders is that you should "absorb the movement" of the horse. What exactly is that meant to mean? I have seen the most contorted results from attempts to follow this instruction.
There are four stages required to achieve effective riding.
First we must thoroughly understand what it is we intend to do and how we are going to accomplish it. This is frequently the most overlooked part of riding instruction, and the part I am attempting to address here.
Then we learn to follow the movements of the horse, by knowing what to expect and learning to feel what happens to OUR bodies when the horse is performing different movements. Even following the movements of the horse will actually “absorb” a great deal of that movement, because you are not bracing yourself against the movement.
With practice, this will progress to automatic response, that is, the feedback of feeling has become so attuned that we move with the horse. To the onlooker, the rider appears almost motionless in relation to the horse. The movements of the horse are “absorbed” by the rider.
Finally, we get to the stage where the horse will follow our movements, as, for example, in flying change at canter performed by an accomplished rider, which is achieved by little more than a twitch of the rider’s hips.
When I teach novices to post (rising trot) I first do so at the walk. All my horses are equipped with a properly fitting hunting breastplate. The reason I use them is twofold. With fat round ponies they stop the saddle slipping so much. Secondly, whereas a neckstrap can rise up and put pressure on the horse's windpipe if it is used to balance a rider, the breast plate puts the pressure on the chest muscles and does not discomfort the horse, although many horses will slow down to this pressure, much to the relief of the novice rider.
It is absolutely vital that the rider has something to help them to achieve balance that is not connected to the horse's mouth. I have the horses led for the following exercise, if you are practicing this alone, you need to be able to work where you can knot your reins and leave them on the horse's neck.
At walk, concentrate on feeling your legs move in towards the horse's sides, as you did in the walk exercises. But this time, think about your seat. As your leg moves in, your hip and seat bone on that side will be moving forward. You need to be able to recognise this feeling, and when you do, still at walk, you need to slightly exaggerate the movement of your hip and seat, so you can feel your pelvis going "swing, swing, 1-2, 1-2" very clearly in time to and along with the horse's hip movements. Depending on how sensitive your horse is, you may find that the walk becomes a walk march, as you will be giving seat aids.
It is really worthwhile spending some time perfecting knowing this feeling, as when it is almost automatic your trot timing will become almost effortless.
Rising trot is not an "up-down, up-down" movement, but "forward-down, forward-down". The rider's seat does not need to rise more than an inch from the saddle. If you go straight up, as most novices are told to do, the horse has moved forward underneath you by the time you sit, and you land further and further back on the saddle, becoming progressively more unbalanced.
Still in walk, take a large handful of mane well up the horse's neck, so you are forced to lean forward, with whichever is your outside hand. I have never known a horse object to it's mane being held, but I wouldn't advise doing this on a green horse. With your inside hand, hold the wither strap of the breast plate.
Then, when you feel your inside hip move forward, exaggerate the movement still more, and using the mane to pull yourself forward if necessary, push your seat up away from centre of and towards the front of the saddle. The movement should be circular. You need to think of your seat bones pushing your pubis up towards the pommel of the saddle, and then dropping back down to the centre of the saddle. It's actually quite hard work at walk, as the action of the horse doesn't help very much, but much easier to get a good feel and good timing.
As you are making the forward movement, allow your heels to drop down. You need to use your seat to post, not bracing against your stirrups. Bracing and rigidity in the ankles makes your legs stiff and unyielding and will loosen your seat. It is possible to post both in walk and trot without stirrups and bareback, and very worthwhile trying once you have the basic movement sorted out.
Don't forget to breathe! Breathe in as you go forward and drop your heels, breathe out as you sit into the saddle.
By the time you have done this, you won't need the mane, but always grab the wither strap rather than the horse's mouth if you get unbalanced.
I might just let you trot for real now, if your timing and rhythm are satisfactory!
Again, to start with, you are just going along for the ride, so either have the horse led or work where you can safely go without reins.
Take up your handful of mane and strap again. It helps to incline your pelvis slightly backwards, that is, hips back, pubis forward, so that you can really feel your seat bones pushing into the saddle. Establish walk march. Ask your horse to trot - a gentle squeeze with both legs should do the trick, the correct upward transition is a later discussion.
Allow your hips to move with the horse's hips, breathing in time, 1-2, 1-2. Concentrate on feeling the movement. A dozen strides at a time should be enough to start with. Don't make yourself tired, and stop if you get unbalanced.
When you absolutely know which of your hips is moving when, and you are following the horse's movements without missing a beat, you are ready to post in trot. It may sound very time consuming, but most of my riders get this in minutes, not hours. You have also just learnt to sit in trot without bouncing around in the saddle - because all you need to do to sit is to follow the movement of the horse and allow your hips and seat to move one side then the other, rather than trying to sit still.
I can promise you this, you will almost always get the correct diagonal, because you have just learnt to feel the diagonal before ever you have begun to post. So what do you do? Exactly what you did in walk. As you feel your inside hip move forward, allow the movement of the horse to propel your seat forward and up towards the pommel of the saddle. Allow your heels to drop down as you go forward. Breathe. Don't push from your feet, glide from your seat.
Who'd ever have thought it? After what you've just been doing, posting is a relief, so much easier than in walk, because the activity of the horse does the work for you.
With novices there is a real "WOW!" factor, that the scary gait is actually so much easier than the practice leading up to it, and the practice wasn't in the least bit scary.
What I have found also is that the horses are far less resentful of the novices' lack of balance when you use a progressive method. They are not being continually pulled about in the mouth and their backs banged, so they tend to give nice even balanced trots that actually assist the novice rider to achieve a good trot faster.
This particular piece assumes you have mastered the techniques described in the improving walk thread.
Talking about trot. Trot is probably the least comfortable gait for novices to ride, but it doesn't need to be such torture. The late Anthony Dent speculated that the word "trot" derived from the Latin word "torte" - "to twist" and was closely aligned to torture.
Trot is a two time gait where the legs move in diagonal pairs, that is, the left hind and the right front move together and vice versa, with a moment of suspension between each pair. It is a very energetic gait, the horse literally "pole vaults", pushing off with one hind leg then the other. This gives the enormous twist, as the horse's pelvis swings rapidly forward on alternate sides.
Diagonals are named by the fore leg, the right diagonal being the right fore and left hind. The rider is said to be posting on the "correct diagonal" when they are rising when the outside diagonal pair in relation to a bend is swinging forward and sitting with the inside diagonal.
There is a huge difference in the quality of trot in different types of horses. Gallopers, such as TBs, are probably the most energetic vaulters, and find extension easy. Horses that have a gaited ancestry, such as the Iberians, use much more flexion of the hock, that is, drawing the leg up towards the belly, and this gives a more elevated and level ride.
One of the least helpful instructions given to riders is that you should "absorb the movement" of the horse. What exactly is that meant to mean? I have seen the most contorted results from attempts to follow this instruction.
There are four stages required to achieve effective riding.
First we must thoroughly understand what it is we intend to do and how we are going to accomplish it. This is frequently the most overlooked part of riding instruction, and the part I am attempting to address here.
Then we learn to follow the movements of the horse, by knowing what to expect and learning to feel what happens to OUR bodies when the horse is performing different movements. Even following the movements of the horse will actually “absorb” a great deal of that movement, because you are not bracing yourself against the movement.
With practice, this will progress to automatic response, that is, the feedback of feeling has become so attuned that we move with the horse. To the onlooker, the rider appears almost motionless in relation to the horse. The movements of the horse are “absorbed” by the rider.
Finally, we get to the stage where the horse will follow our movements, as, for example, in flying change at canter performed by an accomplished rider, which is achieved by little more than a twitch of the rider’s hips.
When I teach novices to post (rising trot) I first do so at the walk. All my horses are equipped with a properly fitting hunting breastplate. The reason I use them is twofold. With fat round ponies they stop the saddle slipping so much. Secondly, whereas a neckstrap can rise up and put pressure on the horse's windpipe if it is used to balance a rider, the breast plate puts the pressure on the chest muscles and does not discomfort the horse, although many horses will slow down to this pressure, much to the relief of the novice rider.
It is absolutely vital that the rider has something to help them to achieve balance that is not connected to the horse's mouth. I have the horses led for the following exercise, if you are practicing this alone, you need to be able to work where you can knot your reins and leave them on the horse's neck.
At walk, concentrate on feeling your legs move in towards the horse's sides, as you did in the walk exercises. But this time, think about your seat. As your leg moves in, your hip and seat bone on that side will be moving forward. You need to be able to recognise this feeling, and when you do, still at walk, you need to slightly exaggerate the movement of your hip and seat, so you can feel your pelvis going "swing, swing, 1-2, 1-2" very clearly in time to and along with the horse's hip movements. Depending on how sensitive your horse is, you may find that the walk becomes a walk march, as you will be giving seat aids.
It is really worthwhile spending some time perfecting knowing this feeling, as when it is almost automatic your trot timing will become almost effortless.
Rising trot is not an "up-down, up-down" movement, but "forward-down, forward-down". The rider's seat does not need to rise more than an inch from the saddle. If you go straight up, as most novices are told to do, the horse has moved forward underneath you by the time you sit, and you land further and further back on the saddle, becoming progressively more unbalanced.
Still in walk, take a large handful of mane well up the horse's neck, so you are forced to lean forward, with whichever is your outside hand. I have never known a horse object to it's mane being held, but I wouldn't advise doing this on a green horse. With your inside hand, hold the wither strap of the breast plate.
Then, when you feel your inside hip move forward, exaggerate the movement still more, and using the mane to pull yourself forward if necessary, push your seat up away from centre of and towards the front of the saddle. The movement should be circular. You need to think of your seat bones pushing your pubis up towards the pommel of the saddle, and then dropping back down to the centre of the saddle. It's actually quite hard work at walk, as the action of the horse doesn't help very much, but much easier to get a good feel and good timing.
As you are making the forward movement, allow your heels to drop down. You need to use your seat to post, not bracing against your stirrups. Bracing and rigidity in the ankles makes your legs stiff and unyielding and will loosen your seat. It is possible to post both in walk and trot without stirrups and bareback, and very worthwhile trying once you have the basic movement sorted out.
Don't forget to breathe! Breathe in as you go forward and drop your heels, breathe out as you sit into the saddle.
By the time you have done this, you won't need the mane, but always grab the wither strap rather than the horse's mouth if you get unbalanced.
I might just let you trot for real now, if your timing and rhythm are satisfactory!
Again, to start with, you are just going along for the ride, so either have the horse led or work where you can safely go without reins.
Take up your handful of mane and strap again. It helps to incline your pelvis slightly backwards, that is, hips back, pubis forward, so that you can really feel your seat bones pushing into the saddle. Establish walk march. Ask your horse to trot - a gentle squeeze with both legs should do the trick, the correct upward transition is a later discussion.
Allow your hips to move with the horse's hips, breathing in time, 1-2, 1-2. Concentrate on feeling the movement. A dozen strides at a time should be enough to start with. Don't make yourself tired, and stop if you get unbalanced.
When you absolutely know which of your hips is moving when, and you are following the horse's movements without missing a beat, you are ready to post in trot. It may sound very time consuming, but most of my riders get this in minutes, not hours. You have also just learnt to sit in trot without bouncing around in the saddle - because all you need to do to sit is to follow the movement of the horse and allow your hips and seat to move one side then the other, rather than trying to sit still.
I can promise you this, you will almost always get the correct diagonal, because you have just learnt to feel the diagonal before ever you have begun to post. So what do you do? Exactly what you did in walk. As you feel your inside hip move forward, allow the movement of the horse to propel your seat forward and up towards the pommel of the saddle. Allow your heels to drop down as you go forward. Breathe. Don't push from your feet, glide from your seat.
Who'd ever have thought it? After what you've just been doing, posting is a relief, so much easier than in walk, because the activity of the horse does the work for you.
With novices there is a real "WOW!" factor, that the scary gait is actually so much easier than the practice leading up to it, and the practice wasn't in the least bit scary.
What I have found also is that the horses are far less resentful of the novices' lack of balance when you use a progressive method. They are not being continually pulled about in the mouth and their backs banged, so they tend to give nice even balanced trots that actually assist the novice rider to achieve a good trot faster.
