This week in lessons...

This week in lessons we are going to be doing some sitting trot work. Being able to sit the trot helps when schooling lateral work and transitions. A misconception about correctly sitting the trot, is that the rider must hold themselves still. What in fact needs to happen is for the rider to maintain themselves in motion that absorbs the horse's motion and gives them the appearance of being still. In the trot, there are two motions that the rider must absorb; the side to side motion created by the shoulders, and the up and down motion created by the back. The side to side motion requires the hips to rise and fall in rhythm with the shoulders and requires looseness in the pelvis. The up and down motion is addressed by the rider contracting and relaxing their core muscles (the muscles right under the ribs) with EACH step. So for each footfall, the rider must relax and contract their core muscles (so this is double time compared to posting!). It can sometimes help to imagine you are trying to lift the horse's back up and forward with your seat bones. A common issue riders have, in particular females, is that we tend to have a bit of a sway backed which tips the your pubic crest into the saddle and makes sitting painful and absorbing the motion difficult. It is important that you are supporting your back with your core rather than letting your lower back take the strain! For jumping...well...Nicole has claimed she has a course designed for lessons that involves a lot of twists and turns...we will see! Karen