Posting

[Rabit]

Are there any rules or tricks to posting?

[Showjumper]

Be respectful, and enjoy yourself! :D We're a friendly bunch here and the mods are very helpful. Also, try to keep all posts horse-related. Have fun! :D

[cvb]

is that the kind of posting you meant ?Or the up-down-up-down type ? :D

[Rabit]

I meant the up and down one, I should of been more specific

[FreedomStar]

Well, you just basically let yourself be thrown out of the saddle with the horses movement. and it's not just standing and sitting in the saddle. You need to have good balance, and a nice active trot helps. Just push yourself up and forward when the outside leg goes forward, and back down when the outside leg goes back. Is that too confusing?

[Showjumper]

hehe *whoops!*:o

[cvb]

there is some useful stuff in some recent posted questions and answers about getting the right diagonal.

Other than that - try not to 'over ride' it by rising more than the energy of the horse dictates. If you make yourself rise too high, you will find it more difficult to keep the rhythm.

[Rabit]

Unfortunatly thats what I did when I had my lesson.

1.I was "over rising"

2.I probably wasn't doing that outside leg [which i kind of don't understand]

3. I was trying to hard.

Are you supposed to rise strait up or ise forward? Also to keep Abbie[my horse] trotting should I squeeze her as I go up?

[cvb]

Hi

- the horse is moving forward in trot. If you rise straight upwards, the horse has moved forwards by the time you come down ! :D
So you need to be rising forwards a little bit. Actually the horse's movement should tend to make you rise that way.

(Sometime it can help if you think of rising from your hips, rather than from your stirrups or bum or whatever).

- the "outside leg" thing is about diagonals. Like I said - loads on this on other threads. But basically the idea is that

in trot the horse's legs move in diagonal pairs - front right with rear left, and front left with rear right. So you can make it little easier for a horse to go around a corner by sitting when a particular leg is on the ground.

(When you are going in a straight line it does not matter - other than that it can be useful to change (e.g. when riding out) so the horse does not get one sided or stiff.)

On the other threads, someone quoted " rise and fall with the leg on the wall". Which I had not heard before but I think its quite a good one !

They are talking about the front leg that you can see ! As the outside front leg comes forward, the inside rear leg will also be coming forward. So if you are sitting as the outide front leg comes back, you are sitting when the inside hind leg is on the ground. Which helps the horse balance round the corner a little better.

Does that help ?

Often with the kind of horses they put beginners on, the trot is not very 'forward' and it can actually be more difficult to feel that the horse is moving you. So relax and don't try TOO hard !

Good luck

[scout4361]

Hi

My instructor told me when rising to think of pushing my bellybutton towards the horses head, which sounds kind of crazy but it works!!!!

[Em 1]

Andy - you're not based in Hampshire are you?! One of the instructors at the stables at which I learn, said pretty well exactly the same thing - 'belly button to ears'. You're right, it really helped and still does if I get competely out of sync for some reason. Rising trot (or posting) is more like a pelvic thrust than a 'rise'. Imagine what Tom Jones does and it'll give you the idea! Not elegant I know but sometimes it really helps if you have an idea of what you are aiming for!

P.S. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about my taste in music!

[Rabit]

Is there a way to know that your no rising to high.
My problem is that I always rise to high.

[mikka]

I don't know how long you've been riding, but it does eventually come with practice. I believe it was cvb who said to think of rising from through the hip rather than from the stirrup.... One instructor told me to think "down through the heel" on every rise -that idea helped me a lot.

There's a cute anecdote in Heather Moffet's book in which she says she can tell if someone's posting incorrectly if his/her head is moving up and down rather than staying on a single plane.

[Gracie]

Rise and fall with the leg on the wall! That always helped me get it!

[cvb]

well one way is to do some rising trot without stirrups and then it makes it much easier :D to rise just as far as the horse 'throws' you. !

[taffy]

i used to over rise and now i dont coz i tried doing this :

Take away your stirrups and try and do rising trot without them. Then take them back and try and only rise as high as you did without stirrups.

[Wally]

Don't sit too upright, bring your shoulders forward, but don't collapse.

Let the horse to the work, nothing on a horse should be an effort. Try to rise from your knees not your feet.

[Rabit]

hmm ill try the nostirrups idea.

thanks for all of the tips