two steps forward ............

[Gail May]

My riding is certainly improving since I last posted a message - BUT the more I learn the less I feel I know.

Thanks to Heather my rising trot improved 100% after an equisimulator lesson, but I feel I now have so much to think about - heels down, relax, untense shoulders, keep in rythmn, hold head up - look ahead - dont come down too heavily - hold the reins - squeeze when sitting to keep the momentum !!! The list is endless - if I concentrate on one thing then something else goes wrong. I also find that I have no problems on a right hand rein, but immediately I go to lef, I feel as if I lose my balance.

It also worries me that if I cant do this in the rising trot - how will I manage the canter?

Has anyone had the same problems?

Gail

[Patricia Hodges]

Give yourself time - it's not easy to learn to ride properly and gracefully. Your problems sound like the usual ones to me. Read, watch videos of top riders and then apply new knowledge to your riding, finding out which ways work best. I started riding for the first time a year ago at 46 so I know!

[Heather]

Good advice, Patricia. Remember Gail, Rome wasn't built in a day! Keep persevering, concentrating on the problem which you consider is worst. Don't try too hard and concentrate on too many problems at once. Try to have a lunge lesson or two still, as this is still the best place to sort out positional problems, when you are not personally responsible for the control of the horse, and can then afford to concentrate on yourself!

Heather

[Waltz]

I guess after a while everything becomes instinctive. Until that happens, and I'm nowhere near there yet! - I think Heather's advice is best - work on the worst problem. once that becomes second nature, you can move on and on and on... By the way, I am pleasantly surprised to find that cantering is easier than trotting! so don't worry about it so much. Once you are sitting properly cantering is smooth and I find it surprisingly easy to keep my position - unlike rising trot when i tilt forward.

[Heather]

Waltz,

Tilting forward in rising trot is not nearly so bad as trying to sit up too straight, when you will get behind the horse's movement, in other words slightly out of sync, which will slow the horse down, and make you have to use a) more effort to get the horse going, and b) pull yourself up against the horse's movement instead of letting the horse move you. The most important thing in rising trot is never, ever , let your toe come in front of your knee, it musr remain in line, or you will immediately be out of balane. now most saddles, as I have explained, make this very difficult to achieve, but do concentrate on keeping the lower leg so that the toe is under your knee. Then, make very sure that you are allowing your hips to swing forward towards the pommel, and then back, touching down very lightly in the saddle, with the top of your pelvis, i.e your hip bones slightly forward.

Try this standing. With legs about two feet apart, hollow you back very slightly, so that you pelvis tilts forwards, bend your knees slightly, as if in the riding position in the saddle, now move your hips forward, and then back, but making sure that as you bring the hips back again, that there is a slight hollow in your back, so that the pelvis remians tilted slioghtly forward. Now repeat the exercise several a times as if rising to the trot, forward, when your upper body will come more upright, and then back, when the uper body will remain slightly forward. In this way, you would, if in the saddle, be allowing the horse's movement to take your hips forward and back, so that the movement is very little effort for either of you. These stupid instructors who teach to stay too upright, are causing you to be out of balance, and biomechanically making it difficult for the horse to trot.

Again, as I have also mentioned in the Kindre Way to Ride pages, fix a strap between the saddle d's, and use that to help keep your balance, until you find that you can rise easily, using this forwar and back, not up and down movement of the hips. Hope this helps.

Heather

[Waltz]

Thanks Heather! I will take your advice and try it out in my next lesson. My very tense shoulders are my biggest problem as I hunch them without realising. this action makes me tense and the horse too, I guess. the other thing I haven't got quite right is the brushing the saddle in trot action. I know when I am trotting well because it feels effortless to me. A poor trot feels awful. However, even when I manage a good trot, I find I am not quite soft enough in the saddle. i don't land heavily but I land nonetheless and try as i may I can't seem to hold myself strongly enough. I am pretty fit and have firm thigh muscles but I cannot quite hold myself. Am I applying the muscle power at the wrong time? or maybe there are so many other things to think about that I don't remember to do it soon enough. I am also conscious of squeezing too tight with my knees in trot. I can't wait for it all to be instinctive - if that ever truly happens!thanks for your help and I shall strive to carry the advice out.

[This message has been edited by Waltz (edited 06 June 1999).]

[Heather]

Think of releasing your knee, and pointing it slightly away from the saddle at this stage, Waltz. This will enable to you to bring your lower leg into contact, with the inside of the calf, which should wrap lightly round the sides and always stay there- it should not keep coming off the horse's side, which is what you so often see, particularly in rising trot, as the rider rises, the lower leg pings away from the side.

A good exercise to tone and strengthen calf muscles- you need strong calf muscles in order to have controlled legs- not to grip the horse like nutcrackers!- is to get a large beach ball, and place it between your calves, then squeeze, release your muscles, and repeat, etc.

Try using the strap across the d's as I suggested, and be so careful to let your hips be moved forward and back, as if on an arc.

Hope this helps,

Heather

[Gail May]

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and advice. I think I am quite hard on myself and get frustrated when one lesson I do so well and then the week after, seem to go backwards.

I did have a very good hack on Saturday and managed some very good rising trots - but I had the devil of a job keeping my horse in an active walk. I carried a whip (which I hate) but tried hard to keep a good pace, but he would keep trying to slow right down into an amble.

Once again, have noted all the advice and will try to put it into practice next week!

I am only having half an hour a week (one to one) and feel that this is now not enough - what do you all suggest should be my next move?

Gail

[Jo]

I'm currently having three lessons a week - an hour each - and while it's a bit expensive it is certainly intensive and I look forward to it. As there is a only one day between lessons I also find I remember things easier and I don't get stiff - regardless of what I'm asked to do. I'd ride every day if I could - it's probably cheaper than keeping your own horse and far less time-consuming! I would certainly go for a second lesson if you can manage it and try to have a lesson rather than a hack; it may be less fun but you certainly learn more if you teacher is good.

[Stacey]

Waltz,
I think there is something you could try to help you stop hunching your shoulders. My trainer had me do it every lesson until it became natural for me to hold my upper body correctly. While trotting, or walking if you prefer, put your reins in your outside hand and place your inside hand on the small of your back. Once you are steady that way, move your hand to the top of your head. Then, stick your arm(inside) straight out when you take it off your head. Lower your arm down to your side. These exercises open your upper body to where your shoulders are in the proper position. I also found them relaxing. It also helps in practicing staying more balanced while riding. I think doing work without stirrups will help you to strengthen your leg muscles from your inner thigh to the calf. This will help with problem of sitting too hard in the rising trot and with gripping with your knees. Using your knees is not only hard on you physically, but when you canter you will not be able to stay balanced and comfortable without using mainly your inner thigh muscles. If you grip mainly with your lower leg, then a horse more sensitive than a school horse is very likely to take off with you because it thinks that what you want when you apply that pressure. Sorry, this was really long and I am also only a beginner/intermediate rider, but these are the lectures I have been given repeatedly and thought I would pass them along :-) Hope they help a little!
Stacey

[Marlena]

Hi Gail!

I'm having two lessons a week -- at two different yards! Initially, this was to find out which one suited me best, but thanks to Heather's advice on this site, I decided to stick to both. I have found this hugely beneficial, particularly for my confidence, because the schools have completely different approaches to teaching. Most weeks I feel useless after one class and good after the other, and I have begun to realise that I'm not always the only one responsible for my 'failures' -- at least I shouldn't be too hard on myself!

If trying out another school is out of the question, go for another lesson at your current school. I know there are many riders who absolutely hate group lessons, but for me they were just the right step. When I was only having private lessons, I got so tired of having to concentrate on ten different things at the same time, and I never felt good even if I managed to do one thing right. In a group you will get less attention, which can sometimes be a good thing. I noticed that helped me relax as I was TRYING less hard, and I could also begin to learn to feel the horse. Another good thing was that I got the chance to experiment a bit, and I learn a lot from the other riders too.

I am certainly no expert since I only started riding this year, but these two things really helped me boost my confidence. Good luck with everything, Gail!

Marlena.