tips for novice on how to rise to the diagaonal

narkymare said:
please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i tried it for the forst time yesterday and my god - so confuisng!!!!!!!!!!!1
i was tryign to keep him going, keep him on edge of school and rise properly
i so lost it - hes not a school horse, i need ot work to keep hiom going and on track - doing that and watching his shoulder as a novice is soooooooooooo difficult
i want to practice on my own before my next lesson - deal with spooks, the whip - not leaning on reins - any tips please!!!! i think my instructor thinks im a numpty cos i just couldtn keep in the beat x
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I always used Outside shoulder back sit down (or sit back down) I hope this helps & its not easy but it does get easier in time although there is always something else you will want to be better at but thats just life.
 
RISE as the outside shoulder comes FORWARD.

If your horse is dark coloured.....put a white spot of chalk or talc on his outside shoulder so you can see it out of the corner of your eye and you should see it moving slightly.

Once you get the hang of it it will feel 'wrong' when you are on the inside leg.

Practice out hacking.....pick a diagonal, do so many strides and then sit two strides and change it. You will start to be able to feel which leg you are on without looking.

You should work the diagonals equally anyway, so its good to practice changing them.
 
oh ty all - some brillaint tips - i will plait his mane back and do a bit of chalking on his shoulders - excellent - ive - made a little note of all ur rising advice to take to yard with me -thanks everyone xxxx:)
 
I get the feeling that perhaps the lady teaching you is not an instructor, just a more experienced rider, is that right?

It is just that she seems to have given you a lot to deal with all at once, whereas someone used to teaching absolute beginners would perhaps of taken things a bit more slowly rather than expecting you to "get" everything at once.

I would concentrate on just being able to rise in time with the trot before you think about diagonals. It isn't THAT important.

If you are struggling to keep the horse going and steer whilst doing this have someone help by leading you or lunging you.

Don't carry a whip for now, it is too much to think about, nothing wrong with either giving a kick or your instructor holding a lunge whip to encourage the horse.

The beginners at the riding school where I ride start off getting the hang of the reins, brakes and steering in walk with a helper alongside them, then the start doing a bit of trot, sitting just for a short distance with the helper leading the pony and steadying the rider with a hand on the leg if necessary. They practice rising in walk before trying it in trot, and when they try it they do it with someone leading the horse. Often steering etc goes to pot while they rise, and they will often be ok to ride without a helper in walk but not trot for quite sometime.

Only when they can reliably rise to the trot in time with the rhythm and keep a steady rein contact does the helper let go of the pony, but she'll still jog alongside to help keep the pony going and help if necessary. Then eventually they manage without a helper.

Diagonals are ignored until all the other things are established.

Shouting up down or 1 - 2, 1- 2 in time with the ponies strides can help you get the tempo right if that is the problem.
 
thnak yu all for your tips - it has so helped!!!!!!!!!!!!
i plaited his mane and chalked big crosses on his shoulders lol
i started off rising in walk - then we went to trot - no tperfect - but id say 70% of time i was doing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
im so so happy - i think it was a combination of yur tips and being able to practice in my own time withnoone watching - i was relaxed and my horse is always more relaxed when its just me and him
kat thank you - my instructor is qualified, i think she has more faith in me than i do myself!!!! I mean that - its prooved it - im so determined ot ride this boy correctly and today we did it - i had my whip but only needed ot use it once it once today - my boy was so well behaved, like he knew it was just me and him aqnd i was tryng bless him
thanks everyone - im bloody buzzing now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!xxxxx
 
See you have a lot of tips already but I thought I would add my thoughts. You should be able to feel the diagonal (I just recently read about this and when you think about it, makes sense). Your hips should be turning the right way - to the inside - the way you would want the horse to bend, when you are on the right diagonal.

Hope this helps. :)
 
pete thank yu i did feel a much better rhythm tonight - i cant explain it but i didnt hav eto work so hard - before in trot i had to rise up and down - today i found i was sort of rocking backwards and forwards - much more comfortable - i think my instructor asked me to do this because i was rising too high before
 
By jove, I think you've got it!!! :D
Sounds like you are making good progress. Rising to the trot shouldn't be an effort, you are really just going with the horse, sounds like it has clicked into place.
 
haha chestnut i think so too lol - it really was so much easier!!!!!!!!!!! i cant wait for rtomorrow to practice again lol - my instructor will be amazed by next week!!!!xxx:p
 
Teddybully said:
I was and I just imagined that when the inside leg hits the floor it pushes me up out of the saddle!! Strange way to think but that's how I did it!
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Me too!
But I always thought of sitting on the outside leg :p


Out of intrest,because I can't remember ever being given a reason for correct diagonals,is there one?
 
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