Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[Rising]

Hi, I am a bit new to riding horses but I have to say that I really like it! I would like to get better though, does anyone have any tips?

What riding style are you learning (english, western etc) and how long have you been doing it for? Can you identify your main faults so far? We'd be happy to help you but some more information would help.

The best tip I can give is: if you fall off, get back on straight away. The quicker you get on the less time you have to become nervous.

[Dragongirl00100]

Hi, I am a bit new to riding horses but I have to say that I really like it! I would like to get better though, does anyone have any tips?

What riding style are you learning (english, western etc) and how long have you been doing it for? Can you identify your main faults so far? We'd be happy to help you but some more information would help.

The best tip I can give is: if you fall off, get back on straight away. The quicker you get on the less time you have to become nervous.

I've been learning English riding and I've only had five lessons so far. I started riding about abyear ago, but I had a huge gap in lessons for a couple months. Ive started again now, though. My main faults are probably balancing while posting (I almost fell off in my last lesson because of this) and probably sitting trot. Thanks for any help!

[why.]

Hi, I am a bit new to riding horses but I have to say that I really like it! I would like to get better though, does anyone have any tips?

What riding style are you learning (english, western etc) and how long have you been doing it for? Can you identify your main faults so far? We'd be happy to help you but some more information would help.

The best tip I can give is: if you fall off, get back on straight away. The quicker you get on the less time you have to become nervous.

I've been learning English riding and I've only had five lessons so far. I started riding about abyear ago, but I had a huge gap in lessons for a couple months. Ive started again now, though. My main faults are probably balancing while posting (I almost fell off in my last lesson because of this) and probably sitting trot. Thanks for any help!

I'm not the best rider in the world, of course, but I can give you some tips. When I learned posting, I always had trouble standing up, mainly because my upper body isn't straight enough or my feet aren't in the right place, one time I even accidentally made the horse gallop because of my feet position. I'd say keep your body straight, make sure that you are firm at where you are standing, and I'd say go with the rhythm of the horse's trot. And about the sitting trot, I usually move the gait of my horse into a slower kind of trot to practice sitting trot. Sit on your back pockets and try to sit right in the saddle, it helps a lot. And when you get a hang of it, try to let your horse into a faster trot and you
L get a hang of it. Hope this helped!

[Nocte Luna]

@Dragongirl00100 Don't stand up completely in the stirrups and plop back down. Rise gently, moving your hips forward a little bit, and let the horse bounce you out of the saddle. Sit back down just as gently. Keep your leg strong and firm. I know it's really hard to keep your leg from not moving around, but try and focus on that a lot. As for sitting trot, core (abdominal muscle) work is very helpful, if not necessary. Situps, plank, etc are all good for your core and a strong core is definitely necessary for riding. Sitting trot also helps build this core. Try sitting trots on horses with a more gentle trot first. I recommend trying the long sides of the arena at a fairly slow sitting trot. Sometimes, not using stirrups can help a rider have a more successful sitting trot. It lets you lengthen your legs and really sit down, where as if you have shorter stirrups (set for jumping, etc.) you're more likely to bounce around because your leg is meant to extend for a posting trot.

[Dragongirl00100]

@Dragongirl00100 Don't stand up completely in the stirrups and plop back down. Rise gently, moving your hips forward a little bit, and let the horse bounce you out of the saddle. Sit back down just as gently. Keep your leg strong and firm. I know it's really hard to keep your leg from not moving around, but try and focus on that a lot. As for sitting trot, core (abdominal muscle) work is very helpful, if not necessary. Situps, plank, etc are all good for your core and a strong core is definitely necessary for riding. Sitting trot also helps build this core. Try sitting trots on horses with a more gentle trot first. I recommend trying the long sides of the arena at a fairly slow sitting trot. Sometimes, not using stirrups can help a rider have a more successful sitting trot. It lets you lengthen your legs and really sit down, where as if you have shorter stirrups (set for jumping, etc.) you're more likely to bounce around because your leg is meant to extend for a posting trot.

Thank you for the advice! (PurpleRocks too )

[Rising]

Never mind, found one.

What are some good cheap sources of girths in the UK? Also when measuring them do you include the buckles? Jessie currently has a 3'4'' girth if you include the buckles but it's seriously baggy now so I think she might need to drop down to 3 foot. That's 36 inches. Not that she looks any slimmer. Sigh.
Thanks in advance!

[kathwren]

@dragongirl00100 - sitting trot is one of my favorite things to do! c:
my main tip is to relax, and i grip with my thighs while my hips are completely relaxed and loose. it's important to not bounce on the horse's back because it can hurt them, and like others have mentioned, longer stirrups make it easier to really stretch down and relax and sit the trot.
as for posting trot my trainer and i are working on my eq at the trot, so it's all pretty recent information.
make sure your leg is all the way under you, but not slipping out behind you. the girth line is a pretty good judge, but you should be be able to feel it in time (or now!). it's important to sit back and tall on your butt. my trainer always says to let your belly button lead, and that's a good point of reference because it really makes you sit up tall and in a good position. c: the horse's motion should gently bump your hips forward, so try not to overdo it, trust me, it's exhausting xD

[Dragongirl00100]

@dragongirl00100 - sitting trot is one of my favorite things to do! c:
my main tip is to relax, and i grip with my thighs while my hips are completely relaxed and loose. it's important to not bounce on the horse's back because it can hurt them, and like others have mentioned, longer stirrups make it easier to really stretch down and relax and sit the trot.
as for posting trot my trainer and i are working on my eq at the trot, so it's all pretty recent information.
make sure your leg is all the way under you, but not slipping out behind you. the girth line is a pretty good judge, but you should be be able to feel it in time (or now!). it's important to sit back and tall on your butt. my trainer always says to let your belly button lead, and that's a good point of reference because it really makes you sit up tall and in a good position. c: the horse's motion should gently bump your hips forward, so try not to overdo it, trust me, it's exhausting xD

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind the next time I ride

[Fortunea]

Lesson tomorrow! For once I'm excited! I'm on Chez again (yes!) for jumping, even though she's a bit funny with jumps, they won't be that big. I barely ride Tink anymore ( ) but I suppose he isn't a challenge.
ANyway, my friend and I had to take these two small-ish girls out on a hack (oh, joy) they could ride but we wanted to go somewhere we couldn't take them. And a note to self: don't put Tink at the back of the ride when you haven't ridden him out in 2 weeks. There was a tiny canter, literally 30 seconds, and last time we went Tink threw in a buck, I lost my stirrups. XD The same happened, he bucked, I didn't lose my stirrups though. His head was literally as high as it could go. -.- And of course, since we had the smaller ponies there too I couldn't let Tink go any faster. I really need to just take him somewhere and let him have a good canter. Oh well. XD

[inkyy]

help
In my dressage test it says to "half circle right 10 metres diameter to X"
and then " half circle left 10 metres diamter to B"

How do you ride these?
Ive never had to do one before and my riding friends dont have a clear answer and I dont have a trainer.
whoops.
wondering if you guys could help <3