How to ride a big bareback sitting trot

[canteron]

Having to ride my horse without a saddle - and she goes so nicely and feel so free, the problem is that when she finds a big sitting trot I can hardly sit it.

Any clues, or any thought where I can look to see someone riding a big sitting trot well!

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

I’m not sure it is possible to sit a big trot bareback lol…long long stretched down legs, no gripping coupled with very flexible and shock absorbing hips and lower back….failing that model your technique after the folk riding at Appleby horse fair..lean back, legs out and forward and bounce bounce bounce lol

 

[SpeedyPony]

Rise? Or just stick to walk and canter!
On a more sensible note, teaching the horse to 'jog' or give a easier to sit trot is very useful.

 

[Rumtytum]

I ride a 14.2 bareback so admittedly a lot different! Anyway, my technique is to move each hip bone with the corresponding hind leg, so right hind forward with right hip forward, left hind forward with left hip forward so I’m sort of synched with the movement (only hips, not my legs). Don’t know if it would work for you but it takes out a hell of a lot of the bounce.

 

[maya2008]

Get them in an outline and really working through. Makes trot much easier to sit to - even if you get a bigger movement as such it feels less bouncy for the rider.

 

[HaplessHorse]

You could rise? I used to rise to my Welsh’s trot bareback, it took leg and core strength, but going with the motion, rather than against it, helped.

 

[Lois Lame]

Rising to the trot bareback only teaches you to grip, so it's not good.

 

[honetpot]

I used to rise to the trot bare back and just rolled on my thighs forward. At one point I didn't have a saddle and would ride for miles bareback and my technique was allowing my lower back to go with the movement.

 

[DabDab]

When I had my big horse (big working trot movement but also great hulk of a shoulder and long slopping wither on him), I just used to skip trot and go straight from walk to canter when bareback. I'm pretty sure that with his conformation and movement style the only rider physique that could have sat a bareback trot and still managed to be in any way effective as a rider would be a long lanky man with a core of steel.

 

[janem_g]

Rise? Or just stick to walk and canter!
On a more sensible note, teaching the horse to 'jog' or give a easier to sit trot is very useful.

 

[Time for Tea]

I used to rise to the trot bare back and just rolled on my thighs forward. At one point I didn't have a saddle and would ride for miles bareback and my technique was allowing my lower back to go with the movement.

I used to do this and I didn’t grip at all, did have a very comfy pony though