this week in lessons

This week in lessons we will be working on sitting trot and on transitions between gaits and within the gaits (longer and shorter steps).

Novice riders or less fit riders will be doing walk to sitting trot transitions, with more advanced riders working on going from sitting, to posting, to two point, to posting, to sitting and so on.

The most important things to remember when sitting are:
1) The horse has two motions you need absorb with your body; the side to side of their hind legs swinging, and the up and down of their back as they take each step of suspension.  The slower the trot, the less suspension and so the less up and down motion!
 - To absorb the side to side motion, the hips need to be able to move side to side. A good exercise for this is to pretend you have a tail, and wag the tail with each step! This is an exaggerated motion but can really loosen things up and get you ready to absorb this motion. Wider horses tend to have more of this side to side motion.
- To absorb the up and down motion you need to use your core muscles...the ones just below your ribs. Doing "Plank" exercises really helps get your ready to sit the trot! The muscles need to contract and relax with each step, not with each stride like when posting up and down. A good way to think of it is to imagine you are  trying to use your seat bones to pull the horse's back higher with each step. You do NOT want to force the sit, so if you start to loose your balance/rhythm, walk or go back to posting. The horses with less suspension (time no legs are on the ground) have the smoother trots to sit.
2) Your weight stays in your stirrups! Some people try to make themselves heavier by pulling their heels up and sitting as if in a chair to force the sit. This just makes you bounce harder! Stay as tall as you can, with the weight of your legs still down in your stirrups. If you look down at your feet, they should be hidden by your knees; if you can see toe, your lower leg has slipped ahead, and you are in a chair seat.
3) Stay centered on your seat bones; you need to feel and be on your seat bones. If you are ahead of your seat bones and so on your pubic bone, you will have three points of contact...and those three points won't allow you the motion needed to absorb the up and down motion with your core. It will also hurt! If you are behind your seatbones you will likely also have an arched back and end up supporting your upper body with your lower back. This can really do damage to your back so you want to always make sure that it is your CORE that is supporting your upper body weight!

Jump riders will be working on counting strides, and on adjusting strides before jumps (to ask for a long or a short distance)

Karen