Can someone help explain how to sit to trot please

H

henmuffin

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Aug 22, 2008
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South Oxfordshire.
I am bouncing a lot and my RI is telling me to relax my back but I am struggling to do that. Can anyone please explain things that might have worked for them, images, exercises etc. I would be most grateful for any tips. I seem better at sitting trot without stirrups than with :rolleyes:
 
go to www.enlightenedequitation.com and look at the youtube videos, I am sure they will help. The reason you find sitting trot easier without stirrups is because the placement of the stirrup bar is too far forward, which pulls you into a "chair" seat. Without them you can let the leg hang. Are you learning on your own horse or at a riding school? The other thing I can recommend if practise on your own two feet! Have a trot around. Put your thumbs on your hips and feel the forward/backward movement. Put your thumb and first finger in the small of your back and feel how the muscles and back moves. Transfer to riding horse.
 
Are you learning on your own horse or at a riding school?


I am learning at a RS so have several different horses. Thanks for your response. I will have a look at the videos you suggested.
 
I too would say Heather Moffett teaches the best way I've found so far. I have her book "Enlightened Equitation" and the analogies she uses helps me out. My RI also advises me to lean back as far as I can until I can feel my stomach muscles working. Given that I used to ride (and am still prone to) in the fetal position, this helps get me upright, but also helps me absorb some of the movement. I also need to remember to keep my shoulders back, as this also helps keep me upright, and allows my core muscles to go with the movement. The absorbtion techniques are very similar (to my knowledge) for canter and sitting trot, so being able to absorb the movement in one will help the other.
 
Quite often the trouble with riding schools, esp in group lessons is you do a complete circuit of the school rather that just 3-4 strides of sitting trot then coming back to walk before you start bouncing. It is much easier for you and the horse if you build up gradually as you can never get the movement back if you are bouncing around. Go back to walk and then up to trot again. Soon you will be doing a perfect sitting trot for as long as you want.
 
I find that relaxing helps with the bounce (easier said than done sometimes, I know ;))

Think about opening your hips so you are really sitting deep in the saddle, rather than bracing yourself against the trot on top of the saddle.

Breathe!

Sit tall but not stiff. Relax your thighs so you're not gripping, relax your shoulders (I find rolling my shoulders help to stop me shrugging them upwards and becoming tense through my back).

Not sure if it's much help, but it works for me :)
 
make sure youre not gripping with any part of your body even your hands just lightly hold the reins dont tense. like mentioned before easier said then done lol. what helped me to start with is try and keep the horse in a slow steady trot instead of a fast one as it is easier to absorb the movement. hope this helps!:D
 
Relax your bum muscles, that is what causes the bouncing.
Also lean back, sitting on your back pockets, with stirrups one or two holes longer.
 
http://www.classicaldressage.co.uk/html/sitting_the_trot.html

This site gives a really good explanation! Though a bit disheartening when you realise how much effort needs to go into it. The website basically says that its a common misconception that you need to completely relax - you do need to relax your hips but your abs need to work really hard and its all about timing your movements with the placing of the horses legs (eek!). Its kind of like moving your hips in the the same motion that your feet would do if you were pedalling a bike backwards. There's a really good little moving pic on the home page of a rider from the Spanish Riding School and you can really see his stomach muscles working to move with the horse, I think he's sitting to passage.
 
for me it helps to feel the hind legs- treat your bum as two halves and let them move forwards individually depending on the leg behind your 'cheek' if that makes sense.

loosens your hips and gives you more rhythm :)
 
LadyJennivieve said:
I too would say Heather Moffett teaches the best way I've found so far. I have her book "Enlightened Equitation" and the analogies she uses helps me out. My RI also advises me to lean back as far as I can until I can feel my stomach muscles working. Given that I used to ride (and am still prone to) in the fetal position, this helps get me upright, but also helps me absorb some of the movement. I also need to remember to keep my shoulders back, as this also helps keep me upright, and allows my core muscles to go with the movement. The absorbtion techniques are very similar (to my knowledge) for canter and sitting trot, so being able to absorb the movement in one will help the other.
Click to expand...

I have this book too and it's well worth a go :)
 
Heather used to advocate in her book flexing the back in and out in canter. She has updated her ideas on this since the book. Although this sounds strange it does work, but preferably on a horse with a good uphill canter. In canter the hips make a backward ecleptic circle. Try skipping on foot with your hands on your hips, then place your hand in the small of your back. This is the movement you make on the horse in canter. It takes a bit of practise, but when you get it, it really works. Have a look at the youtube vids on the EE site.
 
kathyt1 said:
The other thing I can recommend if practise on your own two feet! Have a trot around. Put your thumbs on your hips and feel the forward/backward movement. Put your thumb and first finger in the small of your back and feel how the muscles and back moves. Transfer to riding horse.
Click to expand...

Now readers, you may feel a bit of a plonker doing this, especially if your share horse's owner and half the yard is watching ;) but it does work!

I have since had a couple of 'trots' round my lounge to remind myself what my body should be doing!
 
TEmily said:
http://www.classicaldressage.co.uk/html/sitting_the_trot.html

This site gives a really good explanation! Though a bit disheartening when you realise how much effort needs to go into it. The website basically says that its a common misconception that you need to completely relax - you do need to relax your hips but your abs need to work really hard and its all about timing your movements with the placing of the horses legs (eek!). Its kind of like moving your hips in the the same motion that your feet would do if you were pedalling a bike backwards. There's a really good little moving pic on the home page of a rider from the Spanish Riding School and you can really see his stomach muscles working to move with the horse, I think he's sitting to passage.
Click to expand...
This looks like a really good site. I'd added this to my favourites for further exploration later.
 
just had a look at this, didnt realise there was so much to it:eek: ie the horse giving you his back! Thats prob why my RI says prolonged sitting trot isnt good for the horses back! Unless you know to feel for this:)
How are you getting on hen?
 
newrider.com
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