I need to crack a couple of things before I can really progress with my riding, any advice?

Question

Hi there,

I've been having private riding lessons for about 4-5 months, an hour each week, and I was a complete novice when I started. I'm just now learning to gain confidence in canter, but I feel a couple of things are holding me back before I can progress any more and would love some thoughts.

My main problems are with basic coordination. My first problem is kicking on while in rising trot and keeping the rhythm. Whenever I try to do this, I always end up in sitting trot for a few beats while kicking on instead of keeping the rising. Can anyone advise me on how to do this more easily?

My other problem is my 20 meter circles, which I guess is related to my first problem. I can navigate the front end of the horse with the reins no problem, but as I have trouble kicking on while in rising trot, I can't seem to push the horses body round with my leg.

If anyone could give me any advice on the above I'd greatly appreciate it, as I can't seem to imagine 20 meter circles in canter when I haven't even mastered it in trot just yet!

Thank you!

Answer 1

Go back to walk. First you need to get your position of your legs right that will help with everything else.



When turning on circles or cornering (such as when you are changing reins) you need to get your inside leg at the girth, and outside leg back a bit, just a few inches. The inside leg gives the horse something to bend around and also stops him falling in and making an odd shaped manoever. The outside leg being back will keep the hindquarters from swinging out and also gives the horse a reminder to follow on from behind. The inside rein should be slightly shorter to give the horse the direction to turn in and the outside rein needs to have contact too, to control the speed and prevent the horse from just turning his head too much and his shoulders and the rest of his body following a different route.



Practice changing reins in as many different ways that you can think of - up the centre line, across the middle from say E - B, down diagonals, 4 loop serpentines, circles, 10 meters and 20 meters to mention a few.



Once you have got the steering in walk, you can move on to trot. If it helps count the strides, 1 for rising, 2 for sitting. When you count 2 and you are sitting, give a little nudge with your legs, you should not need to kick! You will get the hang of it.



As for the 20 meter circle, ask your instructor to put up cones at X and C and on the two points on the track where you will touch the outside track for one stride. Practice this in walk so that you get the general shape of the circle, and then try it in trot, remember, nudge, not kick, when you are sitting.



Since you are having private lessons I would strongly recommend that you get a few lunge lessons to help your position and coordination and balance. Because they are strenuous on the horse's joints they will be short - no more than 25 minutes, but if you normally have an hour, you could do the first part on the lunge and then put into practise what you have learned on the next half an hour or so. Lungeing is an excellent way of learning and I find more progress can be made on the lunge than in several hours going large. And they can be fun too! Even the top dressage riders have regular lunge lessons to help iron out any niggling problems or consolidate what they already have.

Answer 2

You are probably posting too much from your feet and thus unable to use your lower leg properly to cue forward. To post properly, you only use your legs for stabilization--the horse's movement is actually lifting you out of the saddle.



It does take awhile to develop and independent seat, so don't let yourself get frustrated as that will only slow down your progress.



If possible, discuss having a lunge lesson with your instructor where you can ride without stirrups and work on your seat and post.



Also, you shouldn't kick forward--a kick should be reserved as a correction and disciplinary measure. You want to use your whole lower leg to squeeze & bump forward, not your heel. The heel only comes in if the squeeze is ignored. Think of squeezing your horse like he is a tube of toothe paste.



Don't stress about the canter--it is an entirely different feel than the trot. While it is a bit faster, many riders actually adjust to it much more quickly as it is a more rhythmic gait to ride-a steady rocking motion that is quite nice if you are relaxed.

Answer 3

i had the exact same problem, it seems to be your balance that is putting you off you just need to stop thinking about everything else and work on one thing at once, try not to think off the circle too be so small just kick on and go with the circle.

i wouldnt start to think about canter before you have mastered to trott wich i needed help with,eventually i bought an exercise ball and tried practising on it, it surprisingly helped. one more think to help you balence is when you are on a lunge line and you ar confident enough you take one of your hands off the and hold it straight out (do this while walking) then hold your rain again and take your other hand off and hold it straight out (also while walking) then when your confident you take both you hands off and hold them out and when you are ready you can do it allin trott, but dont do it to quikly and do it in your own time it helped me and now i am going to shows at only 13 and this is for finding ways to nimprove my balence, i hope i helped and you will end up being a world class champion xxx good look hun

Answer 4

It sounds to me like you are having balance issues. You could get a barrel and tip it over and sit on it. Do not let your feet balance you while they are on the ground, after you have it mastered just sitting there act as if you are holding a pair of reins and try posting. I had the same problem and I did this and it helped so much!



Hope I helped and good luck with your riding :)

Bayley

Answer 5

hi there i used to be a riding insructor a few years back,



1st we will tackle the circle, when you go into the circle use your knees and keep your lower leg slightly back , just sqeeze dont kick keep your heel into the horses flank and lean your body weight over to the side you want the horse to go. gently ease him round once you've got that off right, use the same tecnique on the trot, first try the sitting trot sit tight and sqeeze your legs try and sqeeze rather than kick, then try holding the trot up and gently sqeeze you'll need a good grip and balance

try standing in the up position and hold it there for a while then try the same thing sitting.



Hope it helps stick with it there's nothing like the movement of the horse.. sheilla

Answer 6

- when you are riding the rising trot, rather than kick, squeeze. squeeze on the sitting beat, so then on the rising beat you are only focusing on rising. then when you develop more balance, you can squeeze constantly if needed, or squeeze whenever you need to



- with 20 meter circles, keep your inside leg on the horse constantly so that he knows to push himself out. also, keep contact on your outside rein so that he doesnt bend to much.

Answer 7

I presume you are riding a lesson horse. Everyone who rides the poor thing is different and banging on him all the time so he is dull to everything. Not anything you can do about it unfortunately, especially for the horse.



The key would be to train the horse for proper impulsion. The horse is responsible for maintaining gait on his own. When you ask for a gait, he should maintain it until you ask for a change. You should not be kicking him all the time. That is just insane (my opinion), just like the "instructors" who teach this garbage. Another instructor would be a good idea as well if you could find one who teaches proper riding. That would solve all your problems and at least one for the horse.

Answer 8

Don't kick, squeeze with your legs when you sit. And squeeze with your leg to move the horse over

Answer 9

squeeze dont kick, if your having to kick alot ask for a whip