Diaganols Outdoors

[CityGirl]

Can anyone tell me what is the best way to tell the right diaganol to post on when you're not in a ring? If there is no "wall" to determine the outside leg - what is the standard way to do it? And is it still imporant? (I've been doing eventing training & want to make sure I've got the horse as properly balanced as possible)Thanks!
Citygirl

[mikka]

I alternate them every 10 minutes or so.

[jUmPingIsLifE]

i don't think there is a diagnol when not doing ring work, when your out on trails and such. just make sure you change your diagnol every so often, i think someone told me if you stay on the same one you can make the horse tired or something? i don't have to worry about that when trail riding because my horse doesn't trot, he does the paso fino gaits lol

[CityGirl]

Sorry for the further ?s. Why would having the correct diaganol matter in the ring & not matter once you're out? My understanding is that the correct diaganol is important b/c you're in balance w/the horse. Wouldn't that be even more important when you're out in the "real world"? Maybe I'm just not understanding.... Thanks guys - sorry if I'm being thickheaded
BTW- JumpingIsLife - I got to ride a Peruvian Paso last week ( which I think is a relative of the Paso Fino) - amazing how smooth he was. When I get a little better, I would love to take some lessons to learn their gates:D

[kedwards]

You can't really go straight for very long in a ring, so there is always a bend to adjust for. On the trail, you're often straight most of the time, so there is no correct diagonal. If your doing circles and figures outside of the ring, you should adjust your diagonal based on the direction of bend (i.e., the inside is the side to which the horse is bent).