Ideas for teaching small children to rise to the trot.

[Shazzababs]

I am currently trying to teach my son (Age 5) to rise to the trot...and failing! We have had a pony on loan for the winter to gauge how keen he is and the answer is very, which is yea!
I'm stating to look for something more permanent for him (as loan pony was only for 6 months and has to go back to her day job at a trekking yard at the end of the month).

My issue is that although he is loving riding and is really confident, I'd like to get him rising to the trot so that I can consider taking him out on the lead from my (sensible) horse. I'm not prepared to do this (for obvious reasons) until he is stable in the saddle and rising to the trot properly. Also if he can rise confidently when we start testing out other ponies, we can go for something slightly less 'saintly' than if he cant! I'ts been a long time since I taught anyone, and all the tricks I remember to help kids get the hang of it have failed so far.

The issues are

1) He likes bouncing in the saddle, so is laughing too much to rise.
2) As he is my son he isn't really listening to what I am telling him to do (teaching other people's children is so much easier!).

Does anyone have any suggestions to any games or tips\tricks I can try to get him concentrating on his rising and feeling the rhythm?

If we don't make any progress in the next couple of weeks I'm gonna pop him down to the local riding school for a couple of sessions, but it would be nice to get him there myself before our 'loaner' goes back.

 

[Casey76]

Why rise, teach him to sit properly. It's easier for smaller kids to sit than to rise correctly (i.e. without pinging off the stirrups)

 

[crabbymare]

not having seen him please take these comments as being very general and not aimed at you. firstly are his stirrups too short? a lot of the time small children are sitting with shorter stirrup lengths which means that they have their knees bent too much and their seat and body balance is pushed back meaning that to rise they have to use a lot of energy and work hard and by the time they manage the up bit the pony is coming down again si its uncomfortable as well. if their stirrups were longer (oviously not so long that they lose them) it would be easier to stand up in them. try sitting astride a bale of hay or straw with your legs at the same sort of angle that the child rises at and see how easy or hard it is to rise to an imaginary trot make sure that the child has a neckstrap or grab strap on the front of the saddle to hold onto for balance so they do not need the reins. then make a game of rising x amount of times or from point a to point b at a walk with plenty of well dones for trying and graduate to a slow trot for a few strides. if you try to do too much its very tiring for a small child so think short distances with atention and praise for trying and keep the sessions short and have sitting trot and games or something in between so that its made easy to concentrate for short periods of time

 

[Merlod]

Practicing getting him to stand up and sit down at halt and in the walk. You can make it a game, leave him standing for a bit longer, then a quicker sucession and letting him know how important it is to gently land on his pony's back for the sit part. Once he's quick off the mark at listening to your up-down commands then introduce it in trot - they pick it up fairly quickly.

 

[Baileybones]

Teach him to rise at halt by saying 'up down up down' in the rhythm you want him to achieve. This means you can make sure he isn't just dropping his bottom into the saddle
Then you can progress to rising in walk and then finally in trot. If he can't get it in trot just come back to walk and get the rhythm again.
Also try and keep it to short bursts of trot because little people struggle with strength to begin with.

Good luck

 

[Baileybones]

Double posted

 

[Annagain]

My niece thinks it's hilarious to trot and laughs the whole time too. The last lesson she had (2nd ever, she's had little rides on my boys - both 17hh! - but has only just started lessons) the instructor made her call out "Up, down, up, down" in the right rhythm instead of laughing and by the end of the lesson she was nearly there.

 

[Shazzababs]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.....

Casey76 - I might go with the sitting only soon , we do a fair bit of sitting trot already as he loves holding on to handle and moving with the pony.

others

I will check the stirrup lengths, but I think they are more likely to be too long than too short, he is in a cub saddle with a fixed handle so is holding on to that. We are doing rising in walk, and standing up for as long as he can to build up his muscles and balance. I've been trying to get him to 'slide' his bum rather than dropping into the saddle.

Looks like I am doing the right things, glad I haven't forgotten everything from my teaching days! Just need to persevere I think.

 

[_GG_]

My niece thinks it's hilarious to trot and laughs the whole time too. The last lesson she had (2nd ever, she's had little rides on my boys - both 17hh! - but has only just started lessons) the instructor made her call out "Up, down, up, down" in the right rhythm instead of laughing and by the end of the lesson she was nearly there.

Haha, yep. Got to second this. With little ones I have always made it a vocal thing, getting them involved and usually with some form of horsey bribery as well. Usually...if you say it out loud with me and do the rising and sitting in time, I'll let you sit on (insert name of big safe horse here) as for some reason that has always worked as the smaller the kids, the more they seem to want to sit on huge horses xx

 

[be positive]

Teach him to rise at halt by saying 'up down up down' in the rhythm you want him to achieve. This means you can make sure he isn't just dropping his bottom into the saddle
Then you can progress to rising in walk and then finally in trot. If he can't get it in trot just come back to walk and get the rhythm again.
Also try and keep it to short bursts of trot because little people struggle with strength to begin with.

Good luck

This ^^^ plus if you can get him to count one/ two/ one/ two as he does it that can help keep both rhythm and to some extent concentration, although I have taught children who have no sense of rhythm and even counting in a rhythmic was tricky, you can say up down but not him I find the delay when they say down is too long so they end up missing the beat.
The stirrups need to be short enough to help them not too long so they have to reach down too much, once they have the rising trot and balance they can gradually go down.

As he is a boy he may benefit from being given some incentive to get there, they sometimes require a slightly different approach to girls as it is harder than they think it should be so can give up trying.

 

[thedunthing]

In my experience there are no special tricks or hints just lots and lots of practice. Stirrup length is crucial, better a little too short than a little too long - to long and their legs tend to shoot forward in a water skiing position.
My eldest girl took months and months to get it whereas my middle one got her up downs pretty much straight away.
Sometimes they find it easier on a bigger pony with a longer stride than a dinky pony that has a short choppy stride. The pony with the bigger stride tends to almost 'throw' them out of the saddle at the right time. Patience is the key but I appreciate it can be very frustrating.

Oops just realised posted on daughter's account - she had mastered her updowns for a good few years by the time this pic was taken 😉

 

[Shazzababs]

Oops just realised posted on daughter's account - she had mastered her updowns for a good few years by the time this pic was taken ��

I like the bribery idea. The promise of 'rewards' seams to be quite a good way to concentrate his mind for most things.

I might try '1 - 2' rather than up down, It might help me puff and pant less if nothing else!

 

[be positive]

I like the bribery idea. The promise of 'rewards' seams to be quite a good way to concentrate his mind for most things.

I might try '1 - 2' rather than up down, It might help me puff and pant less if nothing else!

I certainly find it easier than up down, you are less likely to mistime, once they start to get the hang of rising getting them counting properly is good as is doing the alphabet to keep the focus but stop them trying too hard to get it right.

 

[twiggy2]

he is 5 so if he can rise or not I would go for something saintly especially if you want to hack, as it gets fitter it may become faster but hopefully your son and the pony will get to a stronger fitter stage and grow an understanding on the way.

I taught my girls to rise to the trot by getting them to stand up in the stirrups and find balance first-they found rising easier than standing so worked harder at it

 

[Maesfen]

I will check the stirrup lengths, but I think they are more likely to be too long than too short, he is in a cub saddle with a fixed handle so is holding on to that. We are doing rising in walk, and standing up for as long as he can to build up his muscles and balance. I've been trying to get him to 'slide' his bum rather than dropping into the saddle.

Looks like I am doing the right things, glad I haven't forgotten everything from my teaching days! Just need to persevere I think.

Back in the days when I used to teach, we would start with feet out and the bottom of the stirrup just below the ankle bone to give a rough idea of length needed and usually found as they did more without stirrups, the length would increase but by the ankle bone is a good start point.
Try getting him to stand (at halt first) and put your hand on the saddle seat before he sits down to give him some idea of how gently he must drop; it also might help if you guide his legs to the right position so he doesn't get into the habit of them shooting forward or back too. Ask for him to count 1 - 2 - 3 before he sits, then 1 - 2 and mix them up so he learns quicker reactions; even at that age they love to be competitive. Then ask for up and down; when he can do that without any jerks or arms shooting upwards even with a neckstrap, then do the same at walk. Then progress to short bursts of trot. It will come much quicker once he has learnt the earlier rhythms.

Personally, I would want him far more balanced and able to do rising trot properly with no mistakes before I'd think about leading him from a horse as I found you need to be on the ground until they are safe in their balance and can anticipate movement better. Where I used to teach, we always did that before taking them out on lead rein, it made it much easier for them and less nerve wracking for us, nothing worse than having a young rider disappear from your side when you have two animals to deal with too; not only that but it, at the least, frightens the riders let alone the chance for injury and that's the last thing you want have happen.!

 

[Chococat]

My daughter used to say "Baked Beans" to help her with rising trot when she was little! Baked when she rose and Beans as she sat down in the saddle.

 

[stormclouds]

We used nursery rhymes where I taught - "there once was an ug-ly duck-ling" is quite a good way for them to get the rhythm. Having said this, I don't know the rest of the words so I just repeated that one line over and over again...

Nelly the elephant is good for canter too

 

[YorksG]

I do think it is hard to learn to rise on small ponies with 'sewing machine' trots When Methusala was a teenager, I learnt to ride on small ponies (10hh max) and remember feeling that I'd only just sat down when I was already two strides behind! I got it eventually though

 

[Pennythetank]

I was taught to sit the trot first. I then 'progressed' to standing upright while in trot. Only once I had mastered both was I allowed to rise up and down. It worked for me and all my cousins and tbh I still find sitting trot easier!
If he enjoys bouncing along, let him but make sure that he is still learning the correct position (within reason obviously-he doesn't have to look like a mini Carl Hester!)
A cousin of mine didn't learnt rising trot until she was 7/8 and in pony club! As long as his balance isn't affected, leave him off.

 

[Thriller]

I always teach 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

 

[fatpiggy]

OK, this is how I always taught rising trot to the small people, and it never failed. You have to accept that some people have better rhythm than others, and you need some basic muscular strength too. Get the child to hold, with both hands, a good tuft of mane about 6 - 8 inches in front of the pommel. Practice standing up and sitting down in halt and then walk, varying the time they are up and down for. Practice going up and staying up (for balance) in halt and walk. This helps build up the muscles too. Then do some sitting trot,holding the pommel to get the feel of the two beat rhythm of trot. The go back to the mane holding and do up and down to a regular beat. Go into a slow trot and have them stand up and sit down slowly at first then faster and faster until they are in time with the trot. Go for short bursts of practice frequently so they don't get tired and lose control of it. I always tell them to pretend there is a big drawing pin sticking out of the middle of the saddle and woe betide them if they sit down heavily and/or stay sitting (always makes them giggle). But the single most important thing for me is the holding of the mane which keeps the shoulders forward. It keeps them from getting behind the movement and crash-landing, and helps prevent the legs from flying forward. Think about it - you don't actually go up and down, you go forwards and backwards over the pommel. Practice on a gym ball is really good too for building up stamina. Once they have got it you can refine the height of the rise and then start adding one hand on the head etc to improve balance and independence of the hands.

 

[Doormouse]

Haha, yep. Got to second this. With little ones I have always made it a vocal thing, getting them involved and usually with some form of horsey bribery as well. Usually...if you say it out loud with me and do the rising and sitting in time, I'll let you sit on (insert name of big safe horse here) as for some reason that has always worked as the smaller the kids, the more they seem to want to sit on huge horses xx

I learnt to canter on a 15.2hh when I was 4 off the lead rein. He was a saint and all I had to do was hold the front of my saddle and my instructor said "canter Whistle" and Whistle cantered, very carefully around the school until he was asked to stop!!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I am currently trying to teach my son (Age 5) to rise to the trot...and failing! We have had a pony on loan for the winter to gauge how keen he is and the answer is very, which is yea!
I'm stating to look for something more permanent for him (as loan pony was only for 6 months and has to go back to her day job at a trekking yard at the end of the month).

My issue is that although he is loving riding and is really confident, I'd like to get him rising to the trot so that I can consider taking him out on the lead from my (sensible) horse. I'm not prepared to do this (for obvious reasons) until he is stable in the saddle and rising to the trot properly. Also if he can rise confidently when we start testing out other ponies, we can go for something slightly less 'saintly' than if he cant! I'ts been a long time since I taught anyone, and all the tricks I remember to help kids get the hang of it have failed so far.

The issues are

1) He likes bouncing in the saddle, so is laughing too much to rise.
2) As he is my son he isn't really listening to what I am telling him to do (teaching other people's children is so much easier!).

Does anyone have any suggestions to any games or tips\tricks I can try to get him concentrating on his rising and feeling the rhythm?

If we don't make any progress in the next couple of weeks I'm gonna pop him down to the local riding school for a couple of sessions, but it would be nice to get him there myself before our 'loaner' goes back.

I am a BHS Instructor and this is how I teach rising trot.


Firstly make sure you have a safe mount who will stand still.

Secondly get him to stand in the stirrups - at first get him to hold the saddle but this is only temp as it makes the body stiffen including the arms and stops pelvic coming forward


while he is in the standing position correct his legs position and explain legs to be straight and his heel inline with his hip but toes facing front. His back straight not leaning forward -


Next when he is confident and balanced get him to try let go of the saddle and rest his fingers in front of the saddle on the ponies withers one each side keep arms straight. That would be enough for the first time.

Gradually get him to do the above but with hands down by his side so his legs take the weight.


Once this has been accomplished repeat this in walk, then get him to turn the wrist upwards and balance a jumping whip on his wrist so he learns to keep hands still then move onto - mimic holding the reins in correct position if he was holding them still at the walk.

Then try transition halt to walk and visa versa

Get him to count the front legs as he walks so he gets an idea of a stride (later the trot).

Then I would practice him trying to rise and sit in the walk still using the whip on the wrist exercise. Once mastered you can do this in the trot. then do the standing exercise through walk to trot and trot to walk

This takes many weeks to master and you could find your on step one for many weeks. The rise is the hardest part so starting the rise in halt strengthens the legs and helps with riders balance. This should be done on lead rein - moving onto the lunge once balance - control - stability and confidence is mastered.


The reins should not be given to a rider while learning to trot as they can and do pull themselves up by the reins. The jumping whip exercise shows you and the rider how to keep hands still so they do not rely on the ponies mouth to haul themselves up.


Once he is confident to stand in the trot you can introduce the same but with transitions halt to walk - walk to halt etc



After this get him to sit and count the trot strides - later get him to rise and sit and count the strides to only this should be done on the lunge with no reins I do let the rider rest fingers on the withers while they trot at first. I will stop here as this is enough to start with........

Just remember each rider takes a different length of time to learn and each ponies stride is different to master.

We have also used the plastic beaker too with a bit of water to get riders to keep hands still during the above and many got wet but soon learn to keep hands still.

 

[FfionWinnie]

You will still need something saintly if you want to enjoy hacking together. Believe me I've been doing it for 3 years and my daughter is nearly 6 and very competent for her age but the pony is still a complete saint. Initially hacking together was the most stressful thing I've done in my life. It's great now