Sitting trot on Little Ponies...when you are tall....

[hApPiNeSs]

is this entirely possible??? :D :D :D

Happy just seems too bouncy and fast to get any sort of decent sitting trot :eek:

i can sit to it, but its very difficult and not very comfortable? do any fellow adults-who-ride-ponies have the same problem??? i think it may be due to having long legs on a small barrel, and not much to sit on!

[notpoodle]

i know what you mean :D especially when pony does the 'pneumatic drill trot' when she doesn't fancy a canter :rolleyes: maybe try riding without stirrups (if you dare, hehe) a couple of times and try to just stretch your leg downwards (watch out as to not scrape the floor though, ho-hum) and balance somehow.

Julia
x

[Wally]

Our little guys are small but are big movers. Fákur has a trot which is HUGE.

[Mehitabel]

you need to be able to keep moving your hips in time, even if it is super-speedy, and not tense up and brace against the movement. it's the same principle as sitting to a bigger or normal sized stride, just faster!

[shoniedaspony]

pneumatic drill is about right...the worst is the out of canter running trot or the evil driving pony road trot...what helped me is actually cantering without stirrups as its an easier rhythm to sit to on littl'uns i found, helps yopur seat deepen etc i think.

you just gotta get used to it...drop your weight down into your heels (but DONT brace your calves) go all jelly and absorb the movement thru your lower back.

or...try riding bareback because you have no choice but to sit it and no saddle to grab and wimp out on! not that i always stayed on bareback but i found myself with one leg on the floor and the other still over my ponies back!

[RachelBraz]

Last time I rode a small pony it was so small for me I couldn't do anything BUT sitting trot! I couldn't get out of the saddle quick enough to sit down again! I just tried to soften my back so I didn't bounce and sink the poor pony into the school floor! That was the only time I've managed a half-decent sitting trot, so it *can* be done!

[Wings]

I'm 5'6'' and love riding little ponies (from about 12.2) I find rising trot more difficult than sitting trot on small ponies, because it is so quick. With rising trot, the trick is to only rise a tiny little bit, so you have time to get back to the saddle and up again in time. It almost feels (and looks) like you are not rising at all, but it does make life a lot easier.

How easy sitting trot is depends more on the bouncyness of the horse than on it's size, I think. The little ponies that I used to ride had a fairly smooth trot, so very easy to sit to. Misty (14.2 appy) has a very bouncy trot and, even though the movement is slower, it's very hard to sit to it.

[Laura+Phantom]

Glad it's not just me with the rising trot thing...my friend was in hysterics on her big strapping 14.2hh welsh cob watching me on Cassie, 13.2hh, about to die because I couldn't keep up with her trot! I said "do we look like we're going REALLY fast?" because it felt like it, and she said we looked nice and forward going! It was a killer!

Sitting trot on her however, at a slower speed, (ie jog!) is lovely, I could do it all day!

[fatflamingo]

I am tall and beacuse my two horses dont like trotting i find ponies are faster and a bit more speedy at trotting and are more intrested in what their doiing ! although if you can get my horses to trot its a smoother ride. ido find ponies quite bouncy!