what is a diaganal?

[irishhorselovr]

my insnstructor always asks me if i'm on the right diagonal. sometime i get it and sometimes i don't mostly its just luck. does any one have a way that would make it easier to see. thanx.

[Maci]

An easy way to see if you are on the right diagonal is to look at the horse's outside shoulder: When it goes forward, you should be out of the saddle.

Getting The Right Diagonal Takes Practice!
Maci :)

[Shelly_D]

Oh oh, I know this one! I just learned what a diagonal is in my last lesson. When you are in a trot and you are posting, the horse's front leg that goes back as you are sitting down. So like if you are posting, up, down, up, down, look at the horse's shoulders and you can see them go forward and back as his feet are going forward and back. As you are going "down", the shoulder that is going "back" is the diagonal he is on, either left shoulder or right.
I am so not good at explaining things. Sorry.

[JumperGirl]

An easier way to say it is if you look at the OUTSIDE foreleg, you should rise and fall with it.

[Liz E.]

Hey guys, this is pretty embarassing b/c I think I've been riding too long to have this problem. But it's worth asking, and you can ALWAYS learn in riding wherever you are.
In the trot, I'm mostly focused on leg position, hand position, and EVERYTHING else,lol. Well everything that is, except my diaganol. At my old barn, my trainer would ask me if I was on the right diaganol each time I picked up a posting trot. Now I sort of dropped that good habit of checking. Even when I do check to make sure, I end up just glancing down quickly, and pull my head up because I thought my head was down too long. I think out of the year I've been at my new barn, my trainer has said the word "diaganol" once... and a while ago. Should I bring this up with her? And any suggestions on how to improve it?
Thanx

[intouch]

Teach yourself to tell when the inside hindleg is touching the ground, first at walk, then at trot, then sit when the inside hindleg touches the ground and u wont hve to look at the shoulders.

[Maci]

Talk it over with your instructor, and explain to her all your diagonal worries. Ask her to "quiz" you every once in a while, during the lesson. She might think you know what a diagnal is, so it's important to tell her what's wrong. Don't worry about glancing down at the shoulder- you're probably not doing it for very long anyways. Make a habit that as soon as you pick up trot, glance down at the shoulder, and make sure you're on the correct diagonal. Make sure you look down long enough to determine that!

Maci :)

[Wally]

Or you can simply do what Frances did and buy a horse than cannot trot! Kills lots of birds with one stone!

[JackiAH]

Lol Wally!!!

I take it that WOULD be easier than having to learn about the diagonal, especially for those of us who are diagonally impaired...

Having said that, I think Maci was pretty much right on your problem Liz, if I were you I'd definetely talk it over a bit with your instructor, and ask him/her to tell you when your on the wrong diagonals...

Also, I've noticed that if I ride with not stirrups, I'm pretty much never on the wrong diagonal. It may be a bit of a help to drop your stirrups, feel the diagonal, then practice picking up the stirrups again! Hey, you need to learn how to do it sometime, why not start now?

Ok, nuff from me, cheers!

Jacki

[Somethingroyal]

Originally posted by Tammy
"Rise and Fall With the Leg on the Wall"

[Rocket Rider]

THE RIGHT DIAGONAL IS WHEN THE OUTSIDE LEG COMES BACK WHEN YOU SIT IN THE SADDLE!
That's how i learned it.

[Liz E.]

Thanks,guys. I wasn't sure if I should mention it (I don't want my instructor to think I have to spend all my lessons the trot!) But now I see how it's important to tell her. I'll bring it up, as well as the other things like all the new stable traditions I'm discovering! :)
~Liz

p.s. By the way, Maci, you've helped me out with just about every horse/riding question I've asked. YOU could probably be my instructor! ;) Thanks a lot.

[Maci]

(Blushes) :o

Thanks very much, but I'm far from "pro" rider! Very nice! I just try to help people out and give my views. I use what I know to help, and I learn much more from everyone!

Very Sweet!
Maci :)

[Liz E.]

Maybe this wasn't the nicest idea, but in this thread, I asked a question out of someone else's question. I'm pretty sure the help that came after that was for me, but if not... oh well, who cares. ;) Anyway, someone said they liked to see follow-ups to someone's problems. Here ya go...

Last night I had a lesson, and I was kind of worried about the posting trot, after I talked to my instructor last week about it. However, as soon as I got on the horse, I forgot about my problem. I was checking my diagonal automatically again! My instructor didn't have to remind me, and told me so at the end of the lesson. Now I can finally focus all of my attention on the canter.

Thanks! :)
Liz

[Maci]

You Got It! Good Job! :)

Once you do things for a while, they begin to become second nature for you!

Maci :)

[Liz E.]

Thanks. :) I've been kind of a late-advancer, and it seemed really weird to me to be riding this long and still have issues with the trot! But, as they say, the canter is a lot less complicated then the trot. I'll go along with that. ;)

Liz

[jed lewis]

hi when your horse goes forward into trot
he trots using his legs in pairs diagonaily
wether riding left or right we sit to the
movement we sit as the outside shoulder comes
back as the rib cage swings to the inside .
if you are on the wrong diagonal the horse
feels like he is rolling against the riders
movement , in walk try to feel the rib cage of
the horse swing left and right which in turn
will move your seat bones ,hind outside comes
forward the horses hip has dropped and then
moved forward so your inside seatbone lowers
and moves forward ,this happens to fast for
a novice so ask your horse to walk slowly to
feel this .try not to rise to high and to fast
as this will unbalance the horse which in turn
will unbalance you ,also your horse may run
from underneath you .
regards jed lewis
do let me know how you do.