How To Ride A Horse. The Sit Trot

How To Sit The Trot UsingMovement Patterns

This is a pace that all horse riders have trouble with. Although the trot is a pace we as riders spend a lot of time on. We spend hours at the rise trot and training in circles, fitness work, and just for pleasure. We spend hours riding at the rising trot and struggle with the sitting trot. 

How To Ride a Horse and How To Sit The Trot. Can be learned using Movement Patterns.

Your core strength, coordination, and synchronization are the key to both. If a horse rider can sit trot well then they can ride just about any horse. Movement patterns to teach horse riders are my specialty. By understanding the muscles and movements required for horse riding it is easy to learn how to ride a horse, and how to sit the trot by breaking up the movements and practicing each of them individually.

Horse riding requires a strong well-balanced posture. The sitting trot is an upright posture and the rider’s seat must stay in the saddle, unlike the rising trot where the rider moves their weight from their seat to their stirrups and back again, there is no weight transfer with the sitting trot. 

The sitting trot is a very bouncy movement so the rider must learn to absorb the two-beat footfall through their seat and this is easy if the breathing pattern and core are trained. 

Horse riders need to be symmetrical with their power, coordination, and skill on both their left and right sides. Many ball sports are one-sided and this suits people because we are one-sided, and get better at this with age. To be able to ride a horse well horse riders must train both their left and right body parts. I spend time trying to write left-handed just to train my brain and left side. 

The muscles needed for horse riding are different from many sports. They all need to be trained for riding, not for netball or football. Although horse riding is good for fitness it requires good endurance and strength in all the posture muscles but especially the core. Good horse riders, especially dressage riders have great posture out of the saddle. They may be stiff and sore but they do stand up tall. Training out of the saddle with core exercises will solve many “in the saddle” posture problems. To be able to ride well a rider first needs to learn how to stabilize their lower leg.

To be able to sit trot well a rider needs to be able to coordinate their breathing, their core, and their lower leg to work as a team, not independently in this case. The rider needs to have a strong lower back that will maintain the upright posture while the core and legs move with the two-beat movement of the horse. By understanding the actions required it is easier to work out which muscles and which movement patterns to train in order to achieve the skill of the sitting trot.

How To Ride A Horse.The Sit Trot

  Many horse riders are taught to sit trot on the lunge and spend hours going in circles clinging to their thighs to build core strength. (This is a great technique but only with a skilled handler and teacher). The core will only build strength if it is engaged properly. Unfortunately lungeing and clinging do not build strength in the right muscles and teach a rider to cling like a monkey. The time spent doing this exercise often results in a rider giving up, simply because it is too hard and does not work. I will state it does work for some riders, but generally, it is a waste of time and effort. I believe this exercise is wrong. However, I do acknowledge it does work well for some learners. I train my pupils out of the saddle as well as in the saddle.

All my pupils follow my program so these core exercises are easy for them to understand.

 Learn to Core Crunch. (Not an Ab Crunch). Many think the sitting trot is only about the seat. It isn’t! The core and lower back need to be engaged and flexible and the lower leg is the body part that controls the bounce as much as the breathing and the seat. All my pupils learn the “Core Crunch” before any other core movement pattern. The next 18 movement patterns are specific to horse riders and horse riding. These patterns are unique to my Applied Posture Riding program and have become one of the most successful training patterns and programs for horse riders to learn how to sit the trot.

How To Ride a Horse.The Sit Trot

The benefits of this training are not only to train horse riders to ride well but also to manage lower back pain and posture problems. The benefits of core exercises are many. The benefits of training under an expert are even greater. To learn how and why and then what movement pattern is the difference in having knowledge as opposed to just exercising. If you are passionate about your riding and want to learn more about the horse riding posture and how to train it they look at Applied Posture Riding Program.

I am a rider coach I teach riders how to ride a horse. I do train horses as well but my passion is teaching horse riders to be the best they can be by understanding the riding posture. If you have any comments or questions I am happy to help, use the contact page. How to ride a horse is my specialty.

LIKE and follow me on the Applied Posture Riding Facebook page for tips and advice and fill in the subscribe form here on the website to stay in touch.

Enjoy your riding and good luck Annette Willson Author Applied Posture Riding