How to develop that lovely light seat in canter...?

[Sarah1]

Hi everyone

As per title, any tips on developing that lovely light canter seat?

We schooled at the weekend (trying to do this once a week despite that fact that I HATE schooling!) and we had a very nice bouncy canter and I had one of those 'lightbulb' moments where everything seemed to drop into place but I have no idea how to do it again!

My horse is the type who responds better to the very light canter seat (rather than a driving seat if that makes sense) and so I was wondering if any of you lovely peeps have any tips please?

Also any tips on getting a really nice steady 'slow' but 'up' canter? Am I making myself very clear here? Probably not...!

Many thanks

 

[TarrSteps]

How much time do you spend practising canter in a light seat? Have you had anyone work with you on how you, personally, can find the best, most balanced position?

 

[Sarah1]

How much time do you spend practising canter in a light seat? Have you had anyone work with you on how you, personally, can find the best, most balanced position?

Hi, thanks for your reply. Whenever I canter, be it out hacking or while schooling, I try to make my seat as light as possible as my horse finds it much easier that way rather than if I sit deeper and push more with my seat bones. This means probably 4-5 times per week I will canter at some point. I'll be honest I haven't had any lessons in a while (though have some planned with my instructor once camp is over & done with) and even then we would mainly work on how my horse was going rather than on me as the rider.

I am trying to just put a bit of work in myself to try to make the whole thing feel better and once I start lessons again I thought I can try to tweak our issues (of which I'm sure I'll have many!). My horse, while not exactly weak, isn't terribly well balanced. Even though he's now 12 we have mainly just hacked & schooled intermittantly so we have 'motor-biking' in canter on a circle so I'm trying to canter in straight lines for now & hold him up if that makes sense to try to help him balance - hard work!

Thanks

 

[little_flea]

I would have specific lessons for this - lunge lessons with someone good works wonders, then you have some framework for practising it yourself. I think crucial to have someone on the ground to teach you at first so you get a feeling for what is right. It is amazing how hard it is to get a good position and how many people don't seem to care about it. I have lunge lessons to improve mine every few weeks, highly recommended.

 

[Sarah1]

I would have specific lessons for this - lunge lessons with someone good works wonders, then you have some framework for practising it yourself. I think crucial to have someone on the ground to teach you at first so you get a feeling for what is right. It is amazing how hard it is to get a good position and how many people don't seem to care about it. I have lunge lessons to improve mine every few weeks, highly recommended.

Thanks for your reply and suggestions. This will certainly be something I ask to work on when I start my lessons again I just really wanted something to help for the next couple of weeks until my instructor is free - can you give any other tips on anything that I could try which would lay some sound foundations for a nice light seat for when my lessons start up again?
I think if it's something that is hard to get right then its safe to bet I'm not doing it correctly at the moment!

 

[little_flea]

Thanks for your reply and suggestions. This will certainly be something I ask to work on when I start my lessons again I just really wanted something to help for the next couple of weeks until my instructor is free - can you give any other tips on anything that I could try which would lay some sound foundations for a nice light seat for when my lessons start up again?
I think if it's something that is hard to get right then its safe to bet I'm not doing it correctly at the moment!

Ok - my main problem is that my lower leg is not very strong when in a point 2 seat, and that my big mare jumps me a bit loose over a bigger fence. This is what I practise:

– Legs away - with or without stirrups, can be done in walk trot and canter - lift leg entirely away from horse so you are literally only touching the saddle/horse with your bum/seat bones. It is really hard - I couldn't do this at all first!
– Shoulder/arm rotations, raise knee on one side then drop, bend leg with heel back to almost touch back of your thigh - all these things help create an independent seat
– Go from sitting to point 2, to standing up straight in stirrups (horse standing still or just walk) and on tippy toes
– Finding perfect balance in the point 2 seat - shorten stirrups 2 holes, bridge reins and lean hands on base of horse's neck and trot over poles. This is harder than it sounds especially when you have a weak lower leg/lazy horse. Keep at it until it hurts!
– Mix between sitting down and point 2 seat trying to make it as smooth and unnoticeable as possible – your shoulder position should only change minimally. I used to be far to behind vertical with my shoulders which created a heavy "driving' seat (which is sometimes useful when you have a lazy horse, but shouldn't be the default position).
– Alternate the rising trow - two up, two down, three up, 4 down, etc - lots of different patterns help making the rise "voluntary" and controlled rather than just being bounced up by the two-beat movement of the trot.

Note - not all these may be the easiest thing to practise on a sharp horse, "luckily" mine are so lazy they are happy to ignore an accidental thump/kick in ribs.

Hope this makes some sense - I can try and explain better if it is too confusing.

 

[Sarah1]

Ok - my main problem is that my lower leg is not very strong when in a point 2 seat, and that my big mare jumps me a bit loose over a bigger fence. This is what I practise:

– Legs away - with or without stirrups, can be done in walk trot and canter - lift leg entirely away from horse so you are literally only touching the saddle/horse with your bum/seat bones. It is really hard - I couldn't do this at all first!
– Shoulder/arm rotations, raise knee on one side then drop, bend leg with heel back to almost touch back of your thigh - all these things help create an independent seat
– Go from sitting to point 2, to standing up straight in stirrups (horse standing still or just walk) and on tippy toes
– Finding perfect balance in the point 2 seat - shorten stirrups 2 holes, bridge reins and lean hands on base of horse's neck and trot over poles. This is harder than it sounds especially when you have a weak lower leg/lazy horse. Keep at it until it hurts!
– Mix between sitting down and point 2 seat trying to make it as smooth and unnoticeable as possible – your shoulder position should only change minimally. I used to be far to behind vertical with my shoulders which created a heavy "driving' seat (which is sometimes useful when you have a lazy horse, but shouldn't be the default position).
– Alternate the rising trow - two up, two down, three up, 4 down, etc - lots of different patterns help making the rise "voluntary" and controlled rather than just being bounced up by the two-beat movement of the trot.

Note - not all these may be the easiest thing to practise on a sharp horse, "luckily" mine are so lazy they are happy to ignore an accidental thump/kick in ribs.

Hope this makes some sense - I can try and explain better if it is too confusing.

That is brilliant, thank you Lots for me to go at there

I tried the legs away exercise last night, yeah, I definitely can't do that!

 

[little_flea]

That is brilliant, thank you Lots for me to go at there

I tried the legs away exercise last night, yeah, I definitely can't do that!

It is impossible in the beginning! When I first had to do it I was so annoyed I nearly cried.

Me and my trainer actually filmed a lunge lesson (her talking/teaching and me riding) to show to one of her clients abroad, I will see if I can find it, the sound is pretty rubbish but there are some good exercises there.

 

[vam]

Ok - my main problem is that my lower leg is not very strong when in a point 2 seat, and that my big mare jumps me a bit loose over a bigger fence. This is what I practise:

– Legs away - with or without stirrups, can be done in walk trot and canter - lift leg entirely away from horse so you are literally only touching the saddle/horse with your bum/seat bones. It is really hard - I couldn't do this at all first!
– Shoulder/arm rotations, raise knee on one side then drop, bend leg with heel back to almost touch back of your thigh - all these things help create an independent seat
– Go from sitting to point 2, to standing up straight in stirrups (horse standing still or just walk) and on tippy toes
– Finding perfect balance in the point 2 seat - shorten stirrups 2 holes, bridge reins and lean hands on base of horse's neck and trot over poles. This is harder than it sounds especially when you have a weak lower leg/lazy horse. Keep at it until it hurts!
– Mix between sitting down and point 2 seat trying to make it as smooth and unnoticeable as possible – your shoulder position should only change minimally. I used to be far to behind vertical with my shoulders which created a heavy "driving' seat (which is sometimes useful when you have a lazy horse, but shouldn't be the default position).
– Alternate the rising trow - two up, two down, three up, 4 down, etc - lots of different patterns help making the rise "voluntary" and controlled rather than just being bounced up by the two-beat movement of the trot.

Note - not all these may be the easiest thing to practise on a sharp horse, "luckily" mine are so lazy they are happy to ignore an accidental thump/kick in ribs.

Hope this makes some sense - I can try and explain better if it is too confusing.

Oooh useful stuff, guess what im gong to be doing while i spend the next few weeks bringing mine back into work :tongue4: :biggrin3: