Sitting trot and young horses?

[spider]

I'd always thought that sitting trot was bad for the backs of young horses. In another thread Tia was saying that this is an old fashioned idea, and only true if an inexperienced rider is bouncing about. What are other people's views?

 

[Sal_E]

I haven’t seen the other thread so this may be out of context, but I don’t consider it an old fashioned idea. I think some people take it TOO literally (‘oh my horse is only 5/6 so I can’t so sitting trot yet!’). In reality, you wouldn’t want to sit to the trot on a newly backed horse as they have weaker backs & are likely to tense up – initially you want to make it as easy as possible for them & let them trot loosely & swinging; getting off their backs helps with this. HOWEVER, it doesn’t take them long to strengthen enough for short bursts of sitting if they are backed & worked correctly / appropriately.

So, if the horse is naturally balanced & strong & the rider is skilled, you don’t have to wait that long to start work at sitting trot. However, if the horse is weak & puny &/or the rider an unbalanced lump, I’d say put off the sitting trot for as long as possible!

 

[fairhill]

I've just started incorporating sitting trot into my schooling sessions on my 5 1/2 yr old - instructor says you've got to start at some point.
We've left it for 6 months to encourage her to swing through her back and move forwards, and am now doing short sessions (i.e. 20m circle sitting, then go rising) to start working on collection and strengthening.
She struggles if I do more than that as we lose impulsion and forwardness. I've never heard of it damaging the back though.

 

[samp]

If the horse is working correctly and using there back muscles then start off with short bursts and build it up. My mares back is so strong that I can do most work in sitting trot now

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Once a horse starts moving correctly, swinging his back legs through & softening in his back then you can sit the trot. If he hasn't softened in his back then he will be too tense to sit the trot comfortably, hence the bouncing on the back that you see. Age doesn't come so much into it , depending how long he has been in training, and at what stage he is at will depend when you can sit comfortably.

 

[KatB]

If you are an established rider at sitting trot, it shouldn't make a difference to the horse. After all, your weightv will be on the horses back regardless of whether you are rising or sitting. As long as the rider isnt banging about, it can be very useful with young horses, as you can effectively control the tempo through your back and seat, and teach the horse to move away from under you.

I don't condone it on JUST backed horses, but my trainer got me dong it as soon as the horse was relatively balanced, and working in a baby outline. It hasnt done him any harm, and has taught him that sitting trot is as much of every day routine as rising, and saves getting in the trap of just using sitting trot for upwards/downwards transitions, that can cause tension later on in training.

 

[4whitesocks]

am introducing it with my boy (5) at the mo....had held off as he wasn't really softening through his back but it's good for both of us at this stage so....

 

[druid]

We start ours off in sitting trot, rising comes later..rising is more scary for them in general than someone sitting quietly.

 

[spider]

Now I can do quotes I'll just paste in Tia's comments

Spider
[ QUOTE ]
Tia, I thought sitting trot was bad for their backs when they are young. Am I wrong?



[/ QUOTE ] Tia [ QUOTE ]
Only if it was an inexperienced bouncy rider, but then they shouldn't be on a youngster anyway. I have heard this said before though - it was something that went around many moons ago but I haven't heard it said in recent days. Interesting though - I wonder what western riders would make of it - we don't do rising trot.

Personally I will never do rising trot on a youngster - hey might be time for you to put up a post, LOL!! I'd be interested in seeing what everyone has to say about this in today's day and age.


[/ QUOTE ]

She also says she backs all her horses bareback.

 

[Tia]

[ QUOTE ]
We start ours off in sitting trot, rising comes later..rising is more scary for them in general than someone sitting quietly.

[/ QUOTE ]

My philosophy entirely...however as I always back my horses bareback initially I wouldn't be doing rising trot anyway.

Interesting thread and nice to see how people differ and still appear to get the desired results.

 

[spider]

Really interesting. I guess it was just something I'd been told in the past and never questioned. When I bought my pony at 4 he had only been schooled in walk and trot and I saw him ridden in rising trot so I rode in rising trot. Then when he was about five I started joining in a group lesson and sitting trot was asked for. My instructor told me not to do it for too long. I didn't ask why but it might have been just that he was unbalanced and I was bouncing about all over.

 

[Seahorse]

I do sitting trot on Axel who is 4 but only when doing a very slow trot and when he is soft and round I can start rising.