Sitting trot (another one!)

[Tangle]

I think I'm getting confused on how to acheive a nice, balanced, harmonious, synchronised sitting trot. Upto now I've felt quite a lot like a passenger - I sit on top, try to keep horse trotting and going where I want but I tend to follow the motion passively. The good news is that it's really starting to feel like I'm moving with the horse :) - my confidence is improving and I'm bouncing much less :o :D . But I know that to be able to gain more control (through me rather than reigns) I need to be able to control the motion actively - and this is where I'm starting to get confused. I feel like the squirrel who's found a loose peanut at the bottom of the tree and know's there's a whole load of them somewhere, he just can't quite work out the ingenious obstacle course someone's spent far too much time designing :D.

Up until my last lesson I've been mainly feeling the rhythm in my stomach/back while trying to relax. As I say, it's been getting easier to stay with the horse, especially with no stirrups, and I've become aware of my hips moving independantly - which results in my legs moving on oposite sides as the horses hips move them. Having read Heather's book I thought that this was probably a Good Thing ;).

At my last lesson I got the impression that my instructor wants me to be doing more work with my hips, so that both legs move in more of a "1-1-1" rhythm, rather than alternating in a "1-2" kind of way (if that makes any sense). The way it was described in halt was to "try and push the saddle up the horses neck".

Upto now if I tried sitting trot on an wheelie office chair the wheels stayed pretty still - now they move forward and back an inch or so with each "stride" and I don't know if this is good or not :rolleyes: . When I tried to get the same feeling while trotting I could see a way where I would be controlling the motion, but is this the "driving seat" that Heather says should be avoided at all costs :eek: ?

Thoughts, comments, opinions, help!?

[virtuallyhorses]

No help here Tangle - I'm still a shocker at sitting trot. Well that's not entirely true - I'm pretty good at it if I don't think about it - but if you specifically set me the task 'go do sitting trot' I overthink and overdo the whole thing urrrggghhh!

However when I'm playing with my horse I can do it automatically and use my seat to ask him to do things - which is a lot of fun. Don't really like that description you've been given - its sounds too 'driving' to me - when I'm really going well its like your legs meld into the horses flanks, or perhaps your seat bones lock into his back and your hips are directly connected to the horses back legs - then you move your hips in a way which reflects the fact that you now have these big long powerful legs...

completely rubbish description, sorry Tangle I'm sure someone else will do much better

[Torny]

Time,

Just do a few strides at a time.When you can sit comfortablt for 5 strides then next time do it for an extra 2 strides etc....

In the end it will amount up, you'l do ten strides, 20, 30 and in the end be able to do a whole circuit of the arena and more.:D

I learnt nothing with have the strirrups taken away and made to bounce uncomfortably around the arena. All I leanrt is how to stay on and have painful thighs the next day!

Once you master Sitting Trot it's really nice, especially when it's collected trot!

[Tangle]

Viv - I think I see what you mean with the "my hips are joined to his legs" bit, and that's kind of what it feels like when I follow (which is nice and I like it :p). But how do I make it pro-active so that I lead?

Torny - I'm sure I'll get there in the end, I'm just at a stage where I'm not quite sure where "there" is any more. What am I trying to maintain for a few strides?

Can anyone tell me what the good old wheelie chair should be doing?

Aaarghhhh! confusion :( . Does it sound possible to anyone that the "moving the saddle" trick is an exageration to give a feeling that you have to move your pelvis and that the reality while trotting is much more subtle? Or am I a dreaming?

[epcd3000]

Originally posted by Torny
Time,

Just do a few strides at a time.When you can sit comfortablt for 5 strides then next time do it for an extra 2 strides etc....

In the end it will amount up, you'l do ten strides, 20, 30 and in the end be able to do a whole circuit of the arena and more.:D

I learnt nothing with have the strirrups taken away and made to bounce uncomfortably around the arena. All I leanrt is how to stay on and have painful thighs the next day!

Once you master Sitting Trot it's really nice, especially when it's collected trot!


Torny you have given me so much relief with sitting trot without stirrups! My instructor made me feel as though the only way I could stop flying about the saddle in sitting trot was with no stirrups toes pointing up. Boomer likes to rush as well with a hollow back, so can you just picture me holding on for dear life as we make our way around the arena? :)
This week I'll try your suggestion.. Sounds so much more promising. I also just bought Heather Moffet's "Enlightened Equitation" from Chapters a couple days ago.. It gave me a whole new view on what my problem is and WHY it's happening.. Finally, some answers! Go Heather! :p

[kelsey]

There are some good articles here....

www.gfdressage.com

I spent a week with this lady and my seat (and sitting trot) improved tremendously.

When I asked for lunge lessons last week, my very fussy German coach actually told me that I don't need them at this point (!!!!!)because my seat is quite good. I attribute it a lot to what I learned during my week's stay.

[Tangle]

Well - had a lesson last night where I intended to have a discussion on all this. But then we did rising trot and got that wrong - too much rise. Got reminded of how to relax our ankles and off we went again, with much more muttering of "that's better", "good" and even once "excellent" (although it was very quiet - I think she was embarassed :D :p). Then we got told to go into sitting trot, and that was still good. So I wimped out and decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

After all of that we just had time for a little canter before the end of the lesson, and even that went well :). I managed to ask for canter all by myself (most of the horses are voice activated - this is the first time there's been no vocal prompting) and I even enjoyed it :o :D. OK - I only did half a circuit at a time, but I figured that was good - as with Torny's trot suggestion, do a little bit and there isn't time to stress.

Bearing in mind that January last year I fell off in canter & then disapeared for a month (work - don't do it ;)), and then was totally freaked out about cantering again. Started riding again in February, and managed to avoid canter till about May - got stopped after a couple of weeks as I was leaning back so far I was unbalancing the horse. Then went away again for August, September, and parts of October, November and December (see what I said about work!). Not much continuity, so not much confidence. But the last few weeks it's all just seemed to be coming together. I used to have a total death grip on the saddle during sitting trot and canter. Last night I didn't even try and touch the saddle in trot and even in canter it felt much more like a habit than a requirement.

Sorry this is so long - I'm just so happy :D. OK - I'll stop now :D:D

[Tangle]

Got so carried away I forgot to say:

epcd3000
Hope things start to improve now you've got your hands on Heather's book. I saw it on here and got it just when I started riding - so far I've been lucky that my teacher uses fairly similar principles. Good luck :)

Kelsey
That place in GA looks really good - it's just so far away. But the idea appeals :). I might have to try and find somewhere a bit closer to home.

[FreedomStar]

one thing that a lot of people who are learning sitting trot do is gripping with their knees and tightening up their leg muscles. You need to remind yourself to not grip with your knees, because that tightens up all your muscles, which does not allow you to relax enough to let yourself relax into the movement. Think of your legs having no feeling, so you can't move them, but they have lead weights in them, keeping them from flapping around. Then think that you've got something attached to your helmet pulling straight up, and that if you slump over then your head will fall off.

[epcd3000]

Torny - I agree with you on that one!! The sitting trot without stirrups gave me some more balance, though like yourself I had very painful thighs the next day!

Tangle, you are definately not alone with the sitting trot woes. Looks like that's a very common problem, even for people who've been riding for many, many years. :D

[spirit]

sitting trot is a nightmare!!!:(
what i do it with stirrups is sit up tall and keep my heels well down, look forwards and let my pelvis, hips and lower back come forwards to absorb the trot. Sometimes it works on a pony that has a very smooth canter but not the ones were the canter is really bumpy.

when i do sitting trot without stirrups: i let my legs hang down as far as i can, i don't grip with them and i sit up tall and keep my heels down and let my pelvis, hips and lower back asorb through the trot to absorb the bounce.

hope it helps sorry if don't.

Spirit:D