Learning to Post

Learning to Post 

Written By: Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

This month?s column is devoted to those of you who are trying to learn how to ride English but are having trouble with the posting trot. Recently, I received a letter from Christina Burns of Vancouver Canada. She writes;

"Dear Bonnie,

I can?t seem to get my posting diagonal right and then - I seem to switch it. I really need your advice. Thank you very much,

Christina Burns

Vancouver, B.C."

Christina brings up a great point and for most people learning to ride English, posting will be the bane of your existence, until you learn a few tricks of the trade. For starters, let?s talk for a minute about why people post in the first place and then let?s talk about how the trot works. Western riders generally do not post to the trot because their horses are trained to jog, rather than trot out. This means that they are taking smaller steps and going at a much slower pace and for that reason, there is no need to post to the trot. English riders, on the other hand, are trying to get their horse to move out, put some spring in their step and extension in their stride. Put in English, this means an English riding horse is more like a jack hammer at the trot and for that reason, learning to post is really a big help!

Having ridden English for most of my life, I can assure you that whether you ride Western or English, learning to post is a great skill to learn. When you get comfortable with the posting trot, you will find that it is a wonderful way to collect a horse or to encourage your horse to sit down on his hindquarters and really kick into high gear with an extended trot. For trail riders, whether you ride Western or English, learning to post the trot is also a nice way to give your horse a break when trotting long distances.

The trot is referred to as a two-beat gait. In plain English, this means that for every step the horse takes at the trot, there will be one front hoof and the opposite rear hoof moving in unison. Since the horse has four hooves in total ? that means that when all four feet have taken a trot step, you will only hear two beats on the ground. Comparing the trot to the walk, which is a four-beat-gait, when all four hooves of the horse have taken a step at the walk, you will hear four beats because at the walk, all four hooves work independently.

So, how do we learn to post effectively, choose the correct diagonal and avoid getting bounced around like a poached egg on toast? Most of the work that is done by the rider at the posting trot will eventually come from your balance and your rhythm, rather than your strength. Christina mentioned that once she gets on the correct diagonal, she has a hard time staying on it. Let me first explain what the diagonal is. In the posting trot, if the rider were to look straight down (without leaning forward) at the front of the horse?s shoulders, you would see that one front shoulder moves forward, while the other one moves back. The simple rule of thumb is that you will rise and fall with the leg on the wall. This means that if you are on the left-hand track or going counter clockwise in the arena, the shoulder closest to the rail will be the right shoulder on the horse. As that shoulder moves forward, you will rise out of the saddle. As it goes back, you will return to the saddle. The reverse is true if you are going on the right hand track or clockwise in the arena. In that case, the horse?s left shoulder will be closest to the rail and you will be rising with that shoulder as it goes forward. The easiest way to see this clearly is to pick up a slow, sitting trot on the straightaway and then glance down at the front of both shoulders at the same time. Remember not to lean forward while doing this and remember to keep an eye on where you are going!

In order to learn how to get on the correct diagonal, I would suggest you ask a friend to help you out the first few times. Have the friend stand in the middle of the arena and ask them to start calling out "up/down, up/down" as the horse?s outside shoulder moves forward and back. Have them continue to do that as you keep a steady sitting trot going around the ring. When you are on the long walls of your arena, glance down and see if you can also get into the same rhythm as your friend. You may even want to start calling out to yourself, "up/down, up/down" with your friend to help you keep a rhythm in your head. As you are able to look down and see it at the same time that you are able to call it out, you are ready to start posting to the trot.

Here is a little secret that should help you get off on the right diagonal each time. When your friend calls out "down", begin to rise out of the saddle. In most cases, by the time you get out of the saddle in the beginning, your friend will be calling out "up" and you will be in synch with the horse. If you wait until your friend actually says, "up" most riders will be left behind.

There is a school of thought that says riders should be able to "feel" their diagonals and this is possible for many riders. I must tell you that after 20 + years of riding, training and showing horses, I think my backside is too well padded to feel much of anything. I would also suggest to you that whether you think you can "feel" the diagonal or not, it is always a good idea to glance down and make sure you are correct, especially if you are in the show ring.

Another exercise I would recommend you try with the help of your friend is changing diagonals while at the trot. If you are having trouble staying on one diagonal it is probably because you are not secure in your inner thigh yet and that is very normal for most riders. In order to strengthen this area, I would recommend after you ride each day, put your horse in a walk, drop your stirrups and practice posting without stirrups. If you are uncomfortable doing this exercise on a moving horse without your stirrups, you can ask your friend to hold your horse and you can do the same exercise while the horse is standing still. Posting at the walk without stirrups is all about using your inner thighs and after you try it for a few minutes, you will know exactly where those muscles are!

So, in order to change your diagonal, you will want to sit one extra beat. Changing diagonal is done when you find you are on the wrong diagonal and don?t want to stop the horse in order to begin again. Get in the habit of saying "up/down, up/down" to yourself as you trot, and when you want to change the diagonal, simply do "up/down, up/down, down" just once and you will have changed your diagonal instantly. Afterwards, resume your normal "up/down, up/down" procedure.

I recommend that you and your friend practice picking up the correct diagonal several times and be sure to have your friend tell you when you are correct so that you can see what it looks like from above while posting. Also, practice changing your diagonal with your friend several times and be sure to have your friend tell you when you have changed correctly.

The more time you can spend safely working at the walk or the halt without stirrups, the more secure you will become in your seat through increasing your sense of balance and strengthening those inner thigh muscles. I refer to this as become tight in your seat and the tighter your seat is, the more control you will have over your upper body which is attached to your lower body. When this happens, you won?t have as much trouble getting bounced from one diagonal to the other and you should find the posting trot to be much more fun!

On a more advanced note, when you rise out of the saddle, I want you to think about lifting your hips up out of the saddle and pushing the front of your pelvic plate forward. For some people, this is easier to think of by rising up and pushing your navel forward. The harder you push forward on the up beat with just your hips, the more you will push your horse forward. This means that if you have your hands set or the reins held steady with contact, the result is a horse that shortens up his stride, becomes more collected and is more attentive to the rider. If the reins are loose, thrusting your hip plate forward will create a faster trot that has a longer stride. The trick is to balance the tight rein and the completely loose rein. Depending on how tight or loose the rein is and how hard or soft you thrust with your pelvic plate, you can compress your horse until he is almost trotting in place, or on the other end, you can create a horse that is trotting very fast and strung out.