Horseback Riding 101

Lesson 7: Beginning to Post theTrot

Posting the Trot: Posting on Straight Lines

Posting is the way you will ride the trot most of the time in hunt seat. Jumping can be done from a trot, and it is a lovely gait to use when you want to go out in the fields and look around and play with your horse, and on trail rides. It is the gait likely to give you the most exercises, as well, because although the horse’s hindquarters will help push you forward and slightly upward as you trot, you have to flex your ankles and knees, and use your buttocks and abdomen to help set your buttocks back down without slamming into the horse’s back.

By now, you’ve got the cadence of the trot. Each horse is slightly different, of course, so you might want to stick with the same horse the first time you go from riding the trot in two-point to posting. Then you won’t have to deal with a rhythm you haven’t experienced as well as a technique that is new to you.

To begin to post the trot, place your horse on the rail at the beginning of a long end facing forward in to the left. (In ring work—arena work—we always begin to the left, which means the rider’s left hand is nearer the center of the ring than her right. And riders usually refer to the arena as the ring, never RINK, as that refers to ice-skating.)

Now take inventory of yourself. Be sure that:

Your stirrups are a comfortable length so that you are neither reaching for them nor are they cramping your leg. Use both the anklebone check by dropping your feet out of the irons and letting them hang to determine if the bottom of the iron is in the vicinity of your ankle. But also use your comfort level to see that within that range, they work for you.

You are holding the reins correctly, coming up from the bottom of your hand, running under the three fingers with the pinky not over the reins and the thumb holding them against the first knuckle of your index finger.

You have ‘pistol wrists’ and the knuckles of your thumbs are pointing up.

Your upper arms are hanging slightly in front of your torso from squared shoulders.

Your elbows are bent so that you create a straight line with the reins from your elbow to the horse’s mouth.

Your hands are a few inches in front of the pommel and held in mid-air about an inch above the hors’s neck.

Your legs are in contact with the saddle and horse every place they reasonably can be.

Your heels are relaxed downward and your toes are higher than your heel.

Your eyes are level and you are gazing softly at the horizon, while also using your peripheral vision to know your environment.

You are breathing.

Got it?

All right. Let’s post the trot.

As long as you are in a safe arena with the gate closed and there are no riders acting wild, you will begin trotting with your eyes closed. Really.

Breathe. Relax.

Ask your horse to walk forward a few steps.

When he’s walking nicely, close your eyes. Really. Keep your legs and hands just where they are. Just close your eyes.

Then press your horse into a trot, remembering how hard that pressure had to be from your last lesson.

As he begins to move, stay relaxed and when you feel your buttocks bumped by the saddle, allow your pelvis to drag your buttocks forward and slightly upward with the motion. While the horse is lifting his other pair of feet—it’s a split second—allow your seat to drop back down where it was, controlling the movement with your abdominal muscles, your thighs and your buttocks so that it is soft and even.

Do this for just a couple of steps. Then open your eyes and let your body continue the motion.

Breathe.

If you are not yet comfortable posting the trot around a corner, sit, ask the horse to walk by closing your fingers on the reins or pulling back if you need to. Walk to another long side and then begin again. You can begin again by closing your eyes, or by keeping them on the horizon.

Don’t look down at your feet or hands when you ask the horse to trot. You’ll have a much harder time getting him to trot that way.

Practice making the transition to a posting trot until it seems natural to you. At first, you will be experimenting with the right amount of leg pressure, the right distance to let your hips go forward before taking them back and setting your seat back down in the saddle. That’s all right. Everyone goes through that. If you’re an adult, think of it as being like driving a standard shift car with a clutch for the first few times; all of a sudden, when you least expect it, the way to do it comes to you. If you’re not an adult, think of it in much the same way as finding balance on your bike the first time. In the beginning, you wobbled and couldn’t figure out how to steer, balance and turn the wheels all at once. And then one day, it came to you in a flash and you never had to think about it again. This is the same.

You may be getting tired. It is some work for the rider, even though the horse does most of it. Don’t push yourself; if you do, you are more likely to plop down on the horse rather than sit gently, and that might make him fidget or get too fast. Even if he stays perfectly equable, you will run the risk of causing pain. So quit before you’re bushed, so you’ll have strength and enthusiasm for it next time, and so will your horse.

Before you go on to the next lesson, confirm your abilities at the trot. Be sure you have practiced enough to be able to ride around the arena in each direction twice, at least, before you need to stop and walk. You can progress toward this goal faster if you remember to BREATHE.

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