GOSH! (Happy faces :D) Also -can u help? advice etc needed!

[PinkFairy]

well.. to start off, i've always hated thursdays! Because its our lunge and ride session with the ND students and I'm not too fab at that so I always dread it and I dont really get on with some of the students so i worry about who will teach me. However, they gave me a girl i already knew to teach me and a horse of 16.2hh named Daisy. So obviously i was feeling better. We worked on my sitting trot as i find it a problem to actually SIT as i bounce a lot and I hate sitting trot as its uncomfortable for me and we also worked on my leg position. After the 20minute session, the instructor who i usually don't get on with, told me she was "absolutely shocked at my riding.. thinking 'oh dam what did i do this time' she then continued.. i have never seen you ride so well i was amazed i practically sat with my mouth open, you did excellently well im really pleased with u, you were the best i'd seen"!!!!
I was overwhelmed, honestly i have never really been praised like that for my riding and it did wonders for my confidence!

Now the problem..

With my legs, i know your heels need to line up with your elbows i think it was, and my legs are always forward(not very far, just not lined up) and i find it hard to keep my legs in position and my heels down. It gets worse when i trot my heels go straight back up, my stirrups slide about and my legs fall forward again!

any advice/tips? thanks for reading - sorry its rather long!

 

[Blizzard]

Congratulations on doing so well! There is nothing nicer than being told you are improving! Good for you!

Have you tried working without stirrups?

 

[Penguinboots]

Well done!!

I'd say work with out stirrups too...it's not fun (in my oppinion!), but it helps so much with your position!

 

[PinkFairy]

That is what we did today, we worked with stirrups and without!

it felt really good, especially as im a bit insecure about my hearing when im riding.

 

[henryhorn]

Well done, you may not realise it but your problems are not coming from your legs or heels but your seat. You are scrunching your upper body up which in turn lifts your leg and heel.
Next time you get lunged preferably without stirrups, hold the saddle pommel gently with one hand, and stretch your free arm out at shoulder height straight in front of you. This makes you lengthen your torso, and your weight sinks down onto your seatbones. Concentrate on keeping your arm out and you will be amazed at what your body does!
Once you can feel your bum is sitting comfortably think about keeping the back of it underneath more, I used to think under under in my head.
Your tummy should be soft and you can feel the muscles (or lack of 'em) sort of floppy going in and out.
Once you have cracked this position you can do it for life I promise...
post some pics of you when you feel secure, we'd love to see them.

 

[Blizzard]

Aww I love your little sig, very sweet!

anyway, yes I think its lovely to hear you are riding well, especially if you are not very confident, been there got the t shirt and the negative comments LOL!

did you find after working without stirrups your position was better when used them again?

 

[PinkFairy]

aw thanks! yeah they said my position had been improved, but i need to work on keeping my legs back and heels down!!

 

[PinkFairy]

p.s. the dun mare i WISH I LIVED CLOSER in fact i dont know how far u are from me

 

[eohippus]

your ankle should be inline with your hip and shoulder. Try to stand up against a wall with your heels against the wall also about the width of your body apart, then drop your body , so that your upper body and heels are still against the wall. You should feel a pull in the back of your lower leg and a pull in front of your thighs. Your core muscles will feel braced to support your upper body and shoulders relaxed. This is the feeling you get when on top.
So when you are mounted feel for these pulls and let your ankle remain supple.
When sitting you need to rotate your pelvis forward to the motion of the trot and keep your hips open.
hope this helps
Dawn

 

[Blizzard]

umm Kent is about 5 hours I think LOL so a bit far!! ha ha unless you can fly up every day!

She is a real sweety, very pretty girly, loves attention, needs someone to take her out for loads of fun hacks!

 

[YorksG]

This is very hard work, but does wonders for your overall position, ride rising trot without irons. My instructor when I was a kid used to have us doing this lots, every now and then I do it now, not often 'cos it's such hard work and I am lazy! We used to do this in the school and in the field and woe betide anybody who used their hands to support them! give it a try, but only for short bursts.

 

[PinkFairy]

I'll try that out, but they said it wasn't a good idea. So we relied on sitting trot because i have problems balancing when i do this so thats what we worked on