Sitting, rising and forward trotting. It's all changed!!

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RobbieandRhys

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Oct 11, 2008
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darn unda
Oh my. It's been many years since I rode and I've only had a couple of lessons which I hated. Though I can stay on anything (very sticky bottom), it's hardly HOYS standard! My experience is mostly in happy hacking and harness racing.
Since I last rode, I hear that the old school rising trot is no more. It's now this new fangled forward trot. :confused:
Does anyone have any tips to start me off? I've gone without stirrups and I sit on the aching bones of my arse and try to tilt the ol' pelvis. But it's hard to break the rising habit.
Where do I start?
 
Have a read of the 'Kinder Way' section on the main NR site :)

'Rising' trot shouldn't be tiring, you shouldn't be rising straight up and you shouldn't be rising straight up and down.

Start by getting yourself in the right part of the saddle, bring your knees up in front of the knee rolls and bring you bottom forwards so that you're sitting in the deepest part of the saddle. WITHOUT SHUFFLING BACK drop your legs down, you may feel a stretch in your hips when you do that. What can help is to keep your feet out of the stirrups and point your toes right down like a ballerina, don't even think about dropping your heels or raising your toes. If you're comfortable with this in walk then try it in trot (on the lunge if you prefer).

Unfortunately saddles without set back stirrup bars will make this more difficult to do rising trot correctly so it may be worth getting a seat saver (I like the HM seatbone saver) which will allow you to sit closer to the pommel without doing yourself an injury!

When you rise to the trot think about inclining your body forwards slightly so that you're not bolt upright. You should allow your horse to push you into the rise and the movement is more like a forwards and back arc with the hips. Your head shouldn't be bobbing up and down when you do this.

It's also helpful to learn how to feel what the horse is doing underneath you and to synchronise your movements with the horse (something that will help to stop you bouncing in sitting trot) - again the Kinder Way section describes this :)
 
Same as thoughts as Bay Mare here.

No straight up and down, but arching hips in a rotational forwards and backwards motion.
 
OK can someone define what 'riding for years' means then?!! i.e. is this a new thing, or am I not quite as old as i thought and actually have been taught to rise the new way???!!

I seem to remember being told to bring yr pelvis forwards towards yr hands - is that new or old school?!
 
Sticky's GF said:
OK can someone define what 'riding for years' means then?!! i.e. is this a new thing, or am I not quite as old as i thought and actually have been taught to rise the new way???!!

I seem to remember being told to bring yr pelvis forwards towards yr hands - is that new or old school?!
Click to expand...


i'm only 27 :eek: but i think this is how i have always done it! so can't be that modern?!
 
Not sure if best classed as new or old – but more just different teaching methods. My old old riding school was very much up down in any means you want – mainly using your stirrup irons to help you which is totally wrong.

But different RI’s a long the way and my current RI all want to see arching, no use of my lower leg at all – from the hips/pelvis and as said arch or rotate towards the pommel.
 
Nicely said Nookster. Having taken a long break myself and actually not had consistent lessons, I wasn't sure when this new way came about. And like you say, it's not when it changed but who is teaching which way. The lessons I did have in 2000 happened to be rising seat style, now all my books show the tilt.
It got me confused. I thought it was a recent change....
Apologies.
I'll just go hide in the corner now... :(
 
RobbieandRhys said:
Nicely said Nookster. Having taken a long break myself and actually not had consistent lessons, I wasn't sure when this new way came about. And like you say, it's not when it changed but who is teaching which way. The lessons I did have in 2000 happened to be rising seat style, now all my books show the tilt.
It got me confused. I thought it was a recent change....
Apologies.
I'll just go hide in the corner now... :(
Click to expand...

I can't rememeber how i was taught to be honest - but i only started having lessons after a good few years bombing about on tiny ponies so prob in 1988 :eek: and i've had soo long off lessons (just getting back into them now) that i've kinda developed my own style! :rolleyes:

ETA - dont go and hide! :) you'll find every instructor has thier own way of doing things! it can get v confusing!
 
http://www.guide2horseriding.com/p1_articles_rising_trot.php

Hey guys n gals! I just googled it as I also wondered what it was and the above was 2nd or 3rd result among many!

I also learnt to rise and trot until I started classical dressage/riding and yes I had to learn the "new" (its probably centuries old actually...) trot. My take on this is that as more styles of riding get more publicity through word of mouth, forums like these and parelli/NH shows and more and more people do research I guess the BHS style is having to take things on board and teach "newer" (being new to someone who hasn't heard of it before, not new as in it's just been invented) methods to riders which benefit horse and rider and allows us to think more about our riding and the horses we ride.

I'm all for ideas old and new! :)
 
I think the change comes from getting away from knee gripping, it was physically impossible to truly rise in any direction through the horses movement while gripping, hence old 'up down' type instruction.

I admit to having modified my way of explaining trot over the last 20 years and not only does the forward explanation produce a better balanced rider but enables beginners to trot more much earlier as they are not trying to use muscles to do so.

I don't however use the hips/ pelvis method but encourage body movement forward toward the ears. Beginners told about moving pelvis can try some very odd contortions and get well behind the motion with a locked back.
 
I learnt about this trot by accident, I am 23 and was taught up-down trot. Then when I worked as a hunt groom I rode this particular ex-pointer who would always run off with me and break into canter, I couldn't work out what was going wrong so went for some lessons and learnt to rise up and forward, I can't really explain it very well but I think of it as rising parrallel to the shape of the pommel, this may not be what I actually do but it helps me to think of it this way. Anyway, it sorted out my problem with the ex-pointer.
 
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