Canter seat

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WishfulThinker

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Yet again I am having a hell of a problem sitting to canter, not just on my boy but other horses. I've never been right since I came off him and broke my ankle, and its been worse since I came off in Jan and landed on my head. And then its been REALLY hard to sit to it since I came off my bike doing XC (mountain biking not horse XC). I do stretches, and have been doing the exercises in the saddle - legs out to the sides etc and lots of stirrup work (now ride FIVE holes longer!!)

Everyone says he has a very level canter, it's not rocking horse etc, but they can all sit to it, so I was thinking that, well I'm too chicken to go no stirrups in canter as the downwards transitions are bumpy cos he likes going fast, so would it work if I put a surcingle on him and then like put the stirrups on it - just for security, and then tried canter sort of bareback?

Has anyone (probably kids!) done this before??? It's driving me potty as I now have a rather good XC/SJ canter seat, but actually sitting just ain't working, and it never really has for as long as I can remeber, but its getting worse!
 
hows your sitting trot out of curiosity? do you think mayb your tensing with out knowing because of previous falls? couls it be your saddle doesnt suit you any more?
 
Don't do the bareback/ stirrups thing as your stirrups must be able to come off in case you get dragged and if you tie them on it will be dangerous.
Pop your reins in one hand and put a couple of fingers under the pommel, sit up , relax and breath, allow your body to move with his.Try not up grip up open the thighs and let the legs drop
 
I was going to ask if you were tense as well. To be honest, I would work on your trotting with no stirrups if you don't want to canter. When you get that right you should feel better about progressing to canter.

Also, lessons on the lunge are extremely helpful - really give you a deep and secure seat, so if you have an instructor who could do this, or go to a local riding school for a lesson on one of their horses, it would probably really help you.
 
Well we tried lunge - disasterous as he just buggered of to the gate! Sitting trot is not too bad actually, when he is sane, but he himself tenses up and gets really bouncy, and if I bounce it gets worse!

I am thining the saddle might be an issue as I do feel that I sit a bit too far forward and not on my seat bones and if I shift I just move back to the same place. In bareback I'm sooo much more secure and better at sitting trot.
 
Practise trot! At pony club we did that bareback thing, and put a numnah under the surcingle, so is a bit like bareback

Haz
 
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