racing people/exercise/work riders. Improving position

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FinalFurlong

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Can anyone give me any advice for improving my position when riding racehorses? The boss tells me I need to get my butt in the air more :cool: I mainly struggle with getting my back straight when my butts in the air
 
It is all about fitness (sadly). I cannot believe that I once used to be able to ride like that for three and a half miles over fences. But then in fairness I was hunting all day twice a week and running 7 miles a night.
 
Mike007 said:
It is all about fitness (sadly). I cannot believe that I once used to be able to ride like that for three and a half miles over fences. But then in fairness I was hunting all day twice a week and running 7 miles a night.
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It is. When I first started my legs began to go after the first 2 furlongs :o now they don't (unless I am riding 3 times up our 7f gallop they ache but im too determined to give in!) I just want to get my position more neat and correct. I need to spend some more time in the gym too! I really want a racewood in house in front of the telly
 
Skiing exercises (probably originaly invented by the spanish inquisition)are a good start ,but you cant beat pavement pounding as well.
 
FinalFurlong said:
It is. When I first started my legs began to go after the first 2 furlongs :o now they don't (unless I am riding 3 times up our 7f gallop they ache but im too determined to give in!) I just want to get my position more neat and correct. I need to spend some more time in the gym too! I really want a racewood in house in front of the telly
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Ha! Try going 3x up a 6f woodchip hill AND cantering back down! 4x a day! And if we aren't doing that then we are going 18x round the 1.2f round sand gallop 8x a day depending on staff levels :P

Position is something that you can improve on to an extent and you need to find one that both works for you and is comfortable. Generally speaking your lower leg needs to be straight down, knees bent at a comfortable angle and yes stick your bum out behind you. It also depends on your trainer as to whether they let you ride on your your bridge or if you have to keep your hands up off of the horses neck. It's much easier to prop your hands just infront of your saddle pads and the rest should slot into place.
 
Yeah I only go once a week so can't practice as much as I would like to. I'll soon be doing it everyday though, its just something I need to practice at. Thanks for the advice guys :)
P.S I'm typing this while doing a ski sit :p
 
There is no one 'set' good position when riding short, I think this boils down a little bit to your own build - it can be harder to look neat when you are very leggy, if you are short in the leg there is less to balance! With practice I think you can find something that works for you.

When I first started riding out I used to struggle after about 3f, now I will quite happily go round a 6f round canter 4 times straight without feeling a thing. This is even with me only riding 2 lots a day (as I have to go to main job afterwards!)

I would always aim to ride with hands on the horses neck in a bridge, although I do tend only to ride with a single bridge. If you can think of putting more weight down onto the bridge it can often help settle pullers, rather than riding with your hands up and pulling against them. So when something starts to pull, I think of pushing down on the neck rather than lifting hands and pulling back - stops you getting into a battle and has the added effect of making you look a bit more stylish at the same time.

Also you will generally look better when you take your knees away from the saddle rather than pinching them in.

Some examples..

OH riding work. Riding v short, only toes in stirrups - bit posey if you ask me ;)
399521_10151014542327655_73621231_n.jpg


Me riding quite a bit longer on my mare
383566_10151223210006355_1862844382_n.jpg
 
RachelFerd said:
There is no one 'set' good position when riding short, I think this boils down a little bit to your own build - it can be harder to look neat when you are very leggy, if you are short in the leg there is less to balance! With practice I think you can find something that works for you.

When I first started riding out I used to struggle after about 3f, now I will quite happily go round a 6f round canter 4 times straight without feeling a thing. This is even with me only riding 2 lots a day (as I have to go to main job afterwards!)

I would always aim to ride with hands on the horses neck in a bridge, although I do tend only to ride with a single bridge. If you can think of putting more weight down onto the bridge it can often help settle pullers, rather than riding with your hands up and pulling against them. So when something starts to pull, I think of pushing down on the neck rather than lifting hands and pulling back - stops you getting into a battle and has the added effect of making you look a bit more stylish at the same time.

Also you will generally look better when you take your knees away from the saddle rather than pinching them in.

Some examples..

OH riding work. Riding v short, only toes in stirrups - bit posey if you ask me ;)
399521_10151014542327655_73621231_n.jpg


Me riding quite a bit longer on my mare
383566_10151223210006355_1862844382_n.jpg
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Thanks that's really useful :) and your horses are stunning!
 
If you were on Facebook you could see my photos. But as above, we call that the tea cup position.

Core strength is paramount. You will get there as you get fit but maybe try some exercises to build your core.

Terri
 
It's more martini glass than teacup!

Think of lower legs as the stem, thighs as one side of the glass, back as top of the glass and your forearms as the other side of the glass. Should make a triangle balanced on top of the stem, and also means that your hands are *not* half way up the horses neck - means that you are riding on a long enough rein and not in a stranglehold on the bit rings.
 
RachelFerd said:
There is no one 'set' good position when riding short, I think this boils down a little bit to your own build - it can be harder to look neat when you are very leggy, if you are short in the leg there is less to balance! With practice I think you can find something that works for you.

When I first started riding out I used to struggle after about 3f, now I will quite happily go round a 6f round canter 4 times straight without feeling a thing. This is even with me only riding 2 lots a day (as I have to go to main job afterwards!)

I would always aim to ride with hands on the horses neck in a bridge, although I do tend only to ride with a single bridge. If you can think of putting more weight down onto the bridge it can often help settle pullers, rather than riding with your hands up and pulling against them. So when something starts to pull, I think of pushing down on the neck rather than lifting hands and pulling back - stops you getting into a battle and has the added effect of making you look a bit more stylish at the same time.

Also you will generally look better when you take your knees away from the saddle rather than pinching them in.

Some examples..

OH riding work. Riding v short, only toes in stirrups - bit posey if you ask me ;)
399521_10151014542327655_73621231_n.jpg


Me riding quite a bit longer on my mare
383566_10151223210006355_1862844382_n.jpg
Click to expand...

There is precious little point in riding short if you fail to get your centre of gravity over the withers .Personaly I think your OHs position is awfull. His heels are up and his knees too far back.He is avoiding having to have the necessary strength, by standing up . Look at where the bulk of his body is, a long way behind the withers . None of this helps the horse. My opinion ,take it or leave it.
 
RachelFerd said:
It's more martini glass than teacup!

Think of lower legs as the stem, thighs as one side of the glass, back as top of the glass and your forearms as the other side of the glass. Should make a triangle balanced on top of the stem, and also means that your hands are *not* half way up the horses neck - means that you are riding on a long enough rein and not in a stranglehold on the bit rings.
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Yeah I was thinking 'ive never heard of the teacup, I always thought martini glass!'

Is resting my hands on my horses withers okay until I get my balance/fitness better? That and putting my weight in heels?
 
Mike007 said:
There is precious little point in riding short if you fail to get your centre of gravity over the withers .Personaly I think your OHs position is awfull. His heels are up and his knees too far back.He is avoiding having to have the necessary strength, by standing up . Look at where the bulk of his body is, a long way behind the withers . None of this helps the horse. My opinion ,take it or leave it.
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I agree with you on that.

Personally I ride with my legs a little behind the vertical and lean on my knees a little. It suits me, it doesn't affect the horses work the only time it does affect me is when jumping, I am not as secure in the saddle and tend to fall forwards a bit on a steep landing and that's why I don't jump very often as it's not beneficial to the horse.
 
EKW said:
I agree with you on that.

Personally I ride with my legs a little behind the vertical and lean on my knees a little. It suits me, it doesn't affect the horses work the only time it does affect me is when jumping, I am not as secure in the saddle and tend to fall forwards a bit on a steep landing and that's why I don't jump very often as it's not beneficial to the horse.
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Yes ,pretty much what I used to aim at (cant always say I suceeded :D) would change position for the "last three "into a fence sitting down and using a lot of leg ,then ramming my boots forward for all I was worth during take off.Body almost in a U bend at the top of the climb then rapidly leaning back and bracing against the soles of my boots to take the shock of landing.
 
Mike007 - I think it's probably trend. Look at all the flat boys in Newmarket and they are all riding with their heels up and just toe in iron. I disagree that his weight is behind the withers though, I think its fairly neatly over the wither. He is riding like a monkey up a stick, but then it is a boys showing off ground here at HQ!!

Of course there is also a difference in how short you are going to ride depending on whether you are just cantering, or whether you are doing a proper fast bit - and I have always worked at flat yards rather than NH yards, so we probably do all ride unnecessarily short!

TBH I think heels pushed down when riding work is generally a bad sign - usually happens when you are getting tanked off with and have taken your hands up off the neck and started fighting. Feet parallel to the floor looks tidy and balanced without encouraging you to brace against the reins.
 
I had it drummed into me by the lads never ever to lean on your knees. Sometimes I revert when they start to tow me, but I soon know about it as my knees end up bleeding shortly afterwards which soon stops me!
 
RachelFerd said:
I had it drummed into me by the lads never ever to lean on your knees. Sometimes I revert when they start to tow me, but I soon know about it as my knees end up bleeding shortly afterwards which soon stops me!
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The first time I went on the gallops I did this for the first furlong, I locked my knees and pointed them in. After the first furlong it KILLED. Never done it since
 
Mike007 said:
Yes ,pretty much what I used to aim at (cant always say I suceeded :D) would change position for the "last three "into a fence sitting down and using a lot of leg ,then ramming my boots forward for all I was worth during take off.Body almost in a U bend at the top of the climb then rapidly leaning back and bracing against the soles of my boots to take the shock of landing.
Click to expand...

More like the Andrew Thornton style of riding then Barry Geraghty's :-)
 
Drop your heel 3 inches and you drop your c of g 3 inches which reduces the rocking moment of the jockeys torso, which the horse has to expend energy to absorb. For the same reason you need to get your upper body as low as possible. It is ALL about reducing the effort the horse has to expend.
 
EKW said:
Like button needed for that!


This pic was taken a few years ago on my usually pish easy ride ont he sand gallop who decided to be a total madam because she had an audience lol! Not my greatest style lol!

DeliSand.jpg
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Nice, that is more like the lester piggot style. Keep everything as low as possible and forward as possible.
 
img089.jpg
Had to wrestle with dinosaurs to recover this picture ,it was so long ago. Me and my ex PC Pony turned pt to pt er (no 12). Jeez was I ever that thin WITH A back protector:eek:See, ***** position. just given him a bit of a back hander into take off . Not hailing a cab Honestly:D
 
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