horse prefers sitting trot

digitalangel

digitalangel

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Has anyone else had this? i have a project pony in at the minute shes fab, but shes very unbalanced if you rise to the trot in the first 15 mins - sitting she is a lot better!i am i right in thinking this is related to saddle fitting? saddler coming out as soon as hes answers the phone :)
 
my RI once told me when I asked this very question that it was more to do with what sitting trot did to how i engaged my core, seat, position, contact...
 
interesting - if i try to begin the session in rising she becomes incredibly unbalanced - so i sit and she calms down - later i am able to rise fine, but cant begin in rising!
 
Firstly, if your horse is better balanced and moving more freely in sitting trot it firstly means that you are sitting the trot correctly. By that I mean that you are not simply dumping your seatbones in the saddle, but you are actively using the muscles of your body to absorb the shock, not allowing the horses back to do it. That's a really good thing.

Secondly, all horses are very different, but in terms of finding balance, sitting trot give a horse much more consistency in your weight carriage, so it can give more security to them.

Thirdly, If you go on to rising trot later and the horse stays relaxed and balanced, great. If however, you go to rising and the horse again becomes unbalanced, you need to assess your rising trot and make sure that all of the muscles you use in the sitting trot are in play as you sit in the rising trot. Some riders do just slump in the saddle during rising trot so that's something to bear in mind.

The best thing about this thread though is that you are riders who have the capability to really listen to your horses and respond in a manner to suit them. I think that's wonderful and speaks volumes of the kind of riders/owners you are :)
 
Very interesting thread - one of the horses I often ride in my RS lesson always seems to go better when I sit rather than rise, or start with a bit of sitting and then go rising. She is more forward and 'springier' and I feel like it's more fluid generally. She is relatively green and not as balanced as most of the school horses. Interesting to hear that what I have felt has a logical explanation and I wasn't just being a numpty imagining it! Also good to know that it means I must be doing sitting properly.
 
Sounds like you could do with a horse simulator lesson or a lesson on a school master to assess your rising trot? I'd do that personally.
 
My mare has always preferred sitting trot. She will rush and pull in rising trot, but soften in sitting trot and steady up. I've always done all dressage tests in sitting trot at lower levels BE and local RC dressage, and it's never been mentioned or marked down. I don't have that issue with my other horse, and a teenager who has a weekly lesson on her also gets better results in sitting trot. It's interesting to read comments on this thread though, all food for thought.
 
Thanks everyone lots of food for thought here!

I have weekly/fornightly lessons with by dressage trainer, tho not on this horse. I compete Ele and school Medium at home on my ' schoolmaster ' old boy. This mare i have only had 3 weeks, shes a bit of a project, and shes a whizzy little thing, but again rode her tonight, she was an absolute dream, started in sitting trot and did not get a single head flip and she was nice and balanced. got them later when introducing leg yield but none in sitting trot and only a couple in rising trot. She definitely prefers it. Shes also a lot nicer to sit the trot than my old boy who is bouncy as all hell, So much so that i tend to rise on his mediums when competing as he does my back in!

If shes more comfortable with sitting, ill go sitting while warming her up i think. Ive just never had a horse who prefers it to rising!

Saddler coming thursday in any case. Thanks for everyones comments!
 
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