Sitting trot question

Rosiefan

Rosiefan

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How is this achieved? Is it technique or muscle control or practice or all three? If it's mainly muscle control, can anyone suggest exercises (on the ground or on horseback) which would help to strengthen the relevant muscles?
Any advice would be welcome.
 
It's all three, but the things I have found most helpful are:

1. You have to be able to open your hips, so I do a lot of stretches which stretch the inner thigh and hip extensors - probably the best one is foot on a chair/step, that leg straight, toe pointing away from you, other leg foot is forwards in the direction you are facing and then get to the point where you can bend the other knee (whilst keeping the back straight and abs tensed) so you are closer to the ground - takes a while - hold for 30 seconds and do 3-5 reps.

2. Take the stirrups away and do rising trot - that motion (but less exaggerated), is the feeling you need in your pelvis/core to do a fluid sitting trot - my trainer always yells 'bounce the trot' at me as you need to feel like you are almost 'lifting' the horse with your thighs I think, rather than trying to sit and absorb the motion, you need to move with it.

3. Keep a slow trot until you have got the motion 100% - if you try and do too active a trot to start with you will bounce and tense up - yes it's not a 'test' trot, but you need to be able to sit to an 'easy' trot first before gradually asking for more activity.

I still can't do it consistently well, and I do have to 'ride through it' sometimes - i.e. just keep going, and slightly bouncing, whilst thinking about not gripping with my knees, using the back of my thighs and opening my hips - eventually I 'relax' into it - sometimes you can't give up too soon and just need to plug away at it for 20 mins until you suddenly 'get' it. I have spent entire lessons on my trainer's schoolmasters not being allowed to rise, and suddenly I 'click' and can do it properly - it is hard work and painful though! I spent/spend literally hours on the lunge perfecting it.
 
Good sitting trot can only really be achieved once the horse has a truely soft back- if the horse's back is in the slightest bit tense the rider will be thrown about everywhere. If you can get the trot soft and swinging and supple in rising trot first, and then go sitting,it should be much easier.You shoul then push out the stomach muscles at the bottom of the stomach, but at the same time pull the stomach and the back IN to the spine -this then puts the spine in the right place and position. ( Mary Wanless's 'riding with your mind' book will explain this better) From then on its all about good core stability ( pilates exercises will help enormously with this- if you can do pilates exercises every single day that is brilliant) and also loosening up the pelvis/hip joints will help ( again there are various exercises to help with that)
Then its about putting all of the above together and learning to go with the movement of the horse.
 
I learnt this tip from a source I cant reveal (for fear of being stoned ;0) ) but basically you need to think about pressing down into the stirrup on a left-right-left-right basis so you hips sink in line wth the horses hips. Use the same rhythm as you would if you were rising to the trot.

It works like magic.

To get the horse to lengthen, just take your shoulders back slightly, lift your belly button a smidge but continue left-right-left-right and you can ride just about anysize of trot without a single bounce !
 
I always think of letting my leg fall down and around the horse with hips open and knee relaxed. Then, whilst sitting up tall and straight let your pelvis move with the horse in a relaxed way (not forced or exaggerated) and try to keep everything else as still as possible, absorbing the movement of the horse through your pelvis.

The lady that taught me to ride used to make us stand with our hands on the kitchen table in riding position swinging our pelvis back and forth with nothing else moving to get us to think about keeping everything as still as possible - whilst hideously embarrassing it did give you an idea of what you were aiming for. I also spent what seemed like several months on the lunge with no stirrups and still whip 'em off whenever I feel I am getting tense/not sitting well (which is quite often)!. It is also important to keep your spine as straight as possible, I went through a phase of sitting with my shoulders a bit too far back, this made the angle of my pelvis change and I was no longer able to move with my horse as well. Hope that makes some sense and does not sound too much like the ramblings of a weirdo.
 
Brilliant everyone - thank you very much......(wanders off to assemble various bits of furniture muttering 'practice, practice, practice)....
 
seabiscuit is right, you can't do it until the horse lets you do it, i think this is often overlooked. i used to struggle like mad (and dread having to do it) until i was shown how to work the horse correctly to get a soft swinging back... then it's easy.
the way i found most helpful was just adding 'sits' in rising trot, so: up down, up down, down down down up down, up down down up kind of thing, just keep sitting whenever you can but the moment you or the horse tenses up just rise again, this keeps you relaxed mentally and physically about it, which is the other key part... once you tense up and start trying, it's hopeless. i was taught to pull myself into the saddle with the pommel on the lunge, which is utterly flipping useless too, imho. it is done through relaxation and acceptance of you into the horse's back, not by locking yourself down onto the saddle by strength.
obviously muscle tone etc does help a lot, and the more upright and balanced your posture (head balanced correctly above neck above shoulders above waist above hips, very Alexander Technique) the easier that makes it.
 
I think some horses are just easier to sit to too - so if you could borrow one thats easier to parctice on that might help? I am riding a friends horse atm and she is very easy to sit to - she is probably less well schooled than mine, but in some ways easier to sit to and actually get beter work from her when ride in sitting trot.
 
Lots of good advise. I always practise by just doing a bit of sitting trot when I feel the horse is relaxed & swinging. I am trying to teach my OH at the moment & even if he can manage 1/2 a 20m circle in sitting then go rising for a circle & then do it again thats fine. Better than bobbling around for ages. Once the horse tenses up you've had it.

Thinking of left, right also helps enormously. The other thing that I find is that I have good & bad sitting trot days, I am not sure if this is a 'girl thing' sometimes I can sit for ages & other days I get a stitch after about 6 strides!
 
I agree with the above that its comes from practise and when the horse lets go over their back.

For me, I sit for two, rise for one, sit for two rise for one and so on building it up until all I wanna do is sit rather than rise.

Opening your hips and pulling up through my tummy helps me.

I like MRussells idea of the right left right left.

I use to try and sit and obsorb the trot through my back, but now I try and move with my horse.

Im still very much work in progress.
 
When I was taught to do it I was told to do a combination of some of the above.

But the first was to try to master it in a really slow trot, I did this for a few weeks, and it gets the horse and rider both used to it, then my instructor basically said it's time to try it with a bit more "oomph" and told me to just go for it and kick on a bit and deal with it. It worked really well. I was also told to do the pressing on alternate stirrups trick which really helps too.

Good luck!!!!

Other tip... good support!!!! ;)
 
All good tips above. I also found being lunged without stirrups AND reins helped. Nearly all riders have an inclination to tip forwards and if you lose the reins you can really concentrate on position and feel your core working. As soon as I take my reins back I have to make more of a conscious effort to maintain that nice relaxed, sitting trot feeling, as you then have to focus on keeping the hands very still and elbows soft which is a whole other issue!

Some horses are brilliant on the lunge for helping to improve your seat. There's no point persevering on a very bouncy horse with big paces as the more you bounce around and tense, the horse will do the same, vicious circle really. When you can control the trot with seat alone (no reins/stirrups) from collected to medium and back etc you are on the right track.

I think the seat is something that is constantly being developed so don't expect quick results.
 
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