www.enlightenedequitation.com- simulator trot, sitting/rising

[shadowminx86]

I have watched the video and tried to put it into practise but my boss says I'm still rising to high! I have tried everything I can think of to stop myself but I have no idea why I'm doing it and she still says I need to rise half as high as I am now. I trying to pass my NVQ and at the moment my riding is holding me back. Please help

[enlighteneduk]

@shadowminx86

Yet again as with so many other replies to my videos, I can almost guarantee it is the saddle causing you to rise too high. Do you have any video of you riding as I am happy to have a look for you! Is it a GP and do you have to have your stirrups short to stay in balance?

[piethefish]

Thank you so so much for this video. This will definitely help me when I go to my next lesson. If only I had one of these! It's so hard to be able to ride only once a week and expected to be perfect each time I go, without having any practice. I doubt these things would ever be in my budget range, but if they were, I would never hesitate to buy one!

[enlighteneduk]

@piethefish

Glad to help! Believe me, a correctly designed saddle with the stirrup bars in the right place, ie further back would be the biggest help other than a simulator!

[littleguise]

hey, i am usually a light rider, however i have the problem at moment of my legs swinging forward and making me lean back. so i force my upper body to mov forward slightly to try and move my legs back but it has had no effect, i just look like im doubling over - the horse i ride is very difficult to ride as he does this 'turtle trot' where he stick his head in the air, and starts moving really up/slow/ and bouncy on his feet! do you think you might be able to suggest an exercise i could do?

[enlighteneduk]

@littleguise

I can almost guarantee yet again that it is the stirrup bars being too far forwards on the saddle. This will make you land on the back of the saddle as you sit which is the very sensitive part of the horses back. If the rider lands heavily the horse will indeed stick his head in the air and hollow. It drives me nuts to see the very tool that should be assisting the rider, actually causing their problems, and is why I design my own saddles help the rider sit easily!

[MuseJulie]

I'm having trouble doing rising trot. I keep bouncing back twice in the saddle. How do I prevent this?

[enlighteneduk]

@MuseJulie

Hi Julie, do you have any video of this happening? I am almost certain it is because the saddle is putting you behind the movement and that you are rising to the trot with your body upright, which makes it even worse.If you have any video I am happy to look at it for you.

[o0Affinity0o]

I have always had trouble with the sitting trot and just a few weeks ago, I tried something different. I intentionally moved my hips forward and back, not necessarily trying to relax, but just focusing on intentional pelvic movement. My sitting trot improved SO much I can't even explain it. To me, it's not really about relaxing, it's all about inducing the pelvic movement until it comes naturally. Granted, I kinda look like I'm humping the horse, but at least I'm not bouncing anymore!

[enlighteneduk]

@o0Affinity0o @o0Affinity0o

If you look like you are humping the horse, then you are not absorbing the movement correctly. Watch the video of me on tthe Shire x TB mare in sitting trot,

and you will see that absorbing the movement the way I describe in the simulator clip, produces a very quiet, apparently still seat, no 'humping', no flapping legs!!

[ConfusedVegetable]

my legs are bouncing too in rising trott. i never knew why until now

thank you for makeing this video! it helped a lot

[misstiqee]

This is the best video yet on here for teaching this, im still learning and cant wait to try this tomorrow. Thanku for putting this up :)

[KarboNeTikz]

Lady, you are fantastic!

I did he whole fashionable "thrust hips forward" because that is what I was taught by my old instructor (I'm a born-again beginner!)

It's so great to youtube videos like this and take the information and put it to practice when mounted. I've got another lesson tomorrow and I'm really going to store this in my memory!

Thanks for your awesome vid.

[cutiepierox]

i can never do a sitting trot. i try to focus on sitting, and i end up bouncing on the horse's back! i feel so bad for my horse. any tips to keep my butt on the saddle? x

[enlighteneduk]

@cutiepierox

The tips are in the video clip!! :-D

[aj466202]

Hi, i have only been riding a short while and am really struggling to do the rising trot and was wondering if there was any way of practice when not on the horse.

[enlighteneduk]

@aj466202

I can almost guarantee what the problem is- the saddles you are riding on have the stirrup bars too far wards. This puts you behind the movement and makes the rider struggle to maintain balance and rhythm! Feel free to post some video if you can, and I will have a look for you.

[enlighteneduk]

@breyerluva22

The movement is 1,2,3,4 in walk and 1,2,1,2 in trot so yes twice as quick, but also with the small flexion of the back needed to absorb the moment of suspension of the trot, which is not present in the walk.

[Kalishka07]

These videos are amazing! :) Very useful to see the 'proper' way of riding compared with the 'usual' way of riding! But I have a question, in the rising trot you say that the seat should move in an arc , this is what i've been doing but my instructor says that I need to move more straight up and down with my shoulders back :S I think i've been pushing my hips too far forward on the rise then sitting on the back of the saddle. Where are you based?

[enlighteneduk]

@Kalishka07

I'm in South Devon, UK, Kalishka, but glad that they help! Have a look at the clip of me riding, that shows the rising trot on a real horse. From the way you describe your rising trot, YOU were right, absolutely and your instructor- not unusually!- is wrong! My book 'Enlightened Equitation' will be back on the market, revised and with nearly 500 colour photos, hopefully in late September.

[MsBarnBum]

I need that!! I'm SO bad at sitting trot!

[CudgegongWB]

Hi Heather. This is a fantastic training device. I ride at elementary level and have never has any teacher tell me to move one side of my butt at a time in sync with the horse. But it makes perfect sense. As ou say all anyone has said is seat deeper. I wonder if you have thought of taking it to the China Horse Fair. I think of all those poor horses with beginners on their backs and I shiver. The China Horse Fair is in October and they have just started sending out the ads for stalls.Thanks.

[dixons30]

Fantastic video, any wonder my horse resist when I ask for trot, I'm doing everything wrong!

[dressage19910]

This is just brilliant. I wish I had seen this decades ago! Tested it on my horse yesterday (in particular the up-and-down separated movement of the seat bones) and suddenly I could feel exactly what was going on underneath me! Must confess that I never before even thougt that the seat bones could move separately...

[enlighteneduk]

@chesnutbrigdestables

Which stables in Hong Kong, Lo wu?

[fashonjunkee]

These video are excellent, thank you sharing these videos, I wish I could get lessons from you!!!!

[mskibibi]

Sorry for the type, that should say "lift" not "left."

[mskibibi]

Thank you so much for this very helpful video. I just started English lessons 1 month ago (I'm an adult beginner) and have the hardest time posting the trot. I now see the problem was I would pinch with my knee to try and left straight up, rather than arcing my back to make slightly forward. One question - what legs muscles (if any) should be squeezing when you post the trot?

[Biofishable]

I'm having great difficulty with rising trot. It must be something to do with my age and the fact that I'm male... useless at multi-tasking. :-)

[enlighteneduk]

@Biofishable

Haha! You need to come on a simulator workshop- soon have you sorted! Love your channel, btw.

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

i'm in Hong Kong... where horse riding is not very popular...

i only go to the stables once a week... so i can't really tell my instructor to change the saddle... :( (but that doesn't make me like them less!! :) )

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

and i find it very difficult to keep my heels down when i'm posting the trot... and i'm often told that my legs swing too much and i'm pinching too hard with my knee. how is it possible to keep our legs in place when we are moving up and down?

[enlighteneduk]

@HorsecrazyMichelle

Watch the first video on walk etc, as it will show you what is wrong with saddles. The stirrup bar is almost always too far to the front and causes the leg to swing forwards all the time and puts you behind the movement. If the bar is under the thigh, the leg stays in place. It is hard enough for experienced riders! You are most likely trying to force your heel down which makes it worse. For flatwork, the heel needs to be no more than about 1/2" below the toe.

[enlighteneduk]

@HorsecrazyMichelle

Also, the movement should not be up and down, but a forwards and back movement of the pelvis, like an arc. If you are locking and unlocking your knee, you will be rising much too high, and opposing the horse! Where are you, in the states or UK?

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

thanks for the advice... :)

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

i am a complete beginner...i want to ask... do we have to pinch really hard with our thighs to maintain the balance?? my bottom doesn't touch the saddle when i'm asked to sit deeply.. i dont want to hurt my horse's back... so wht can i do?

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

i am a complete beginner...

i want to ask... do we have to pinch really hard with our thighs to maintain the balance?? my bottom doesn't touch the saddle when i'm asked to sit deeply.. i dont want to hurt my horse's back... so wht can i do?

[enlighteneduk]

@HorsecrazyMichelle

If you pinch with your thighs you will stop your horse moving, Michelle! So no, the legs must hang by their own weight, not pinching or gripping, just lightly draped around the horse. The Germans say they legs should 'cling like a wet cloth'.

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

i'm a complete beginner...

i want to ask ... during sitting tort... do we have to pinch with our thighs to maintain balance?? and my bottom doesn't touch the saddle when i'm asked to sit deeply... i dont want to hurt my horse's back... so what can i do??

[enlighteneduk]

@HorsecrazyMichelle

If you pinch with your thighs, you will stop the horse moving forwards- we use the upper thigh, together with closing the seat muscles, as the predominant aid in a downwards transition, and also to collect the horse. Sitting deeply means having your leg around the horse, as the Germans say, like a wet cloth, draped, but not gripping. Only then can the seat be deep.

[HorsecrazyMichelle]

i bounces up and down up and down when i am asked to sit deeply ... and i can NEVER touch the saddle....  what can about it?

[enlighteneduk]

@HorsecrazyMichelle

You are trying too hard to sit to the trot by thinking that sitting deeply means you ha\ve to push down against the horse. In this way, it will make you bounce. If you listen to the advice I give on the video, this should help. You have to allow your back to flex inwards and straighten again to absorb the up and down movement of the back of the horse, but also let your seatbones rise and fall with the two halves of the horse's back.

[enlighteneduk]

.Just because you cannot see the two sides of the machine moving at this angle, doesn t mean it doesnt rise and fall unilaterally! The rider is taught to ALLOW the seat to move with the two sides of the horse, not to push both seatbones against the horse, which is so often seen. Having taught a few thousand riders in a 40 year career, from beginners to GP, I think I am fairly well qualified to comment.

[moonstonegoddess]

Wow...thank you so much for sharing this. I have never seen anything like this and I wish all instructors had this similator! Wow...much better to learn this way then on the horse!!!! Wow...I have learned so much just by watching this! I have been doing the rising trot all wrong and now that I have seen this...I'm going to do it right!!!!!!

[PoulnabroneModesty]

Ha weird, i have always been told do follow the horse, now i don't get how she sits down so nicely, is she like going left right?

[enlighteneduk]

@PoulnabroneModesty

If you follow something, arent you usually behind it? :-) The rider is moving in sync with the machine, which replicates the movement of the two halves of the horses back. The seatbones rise and fall as the back moves up and down, so yes, left and right but forward and up, and back and down, not wiggling across the saddle.

[PoulnabroneModesty]

@enlighteneduk Thank you for the answer, I'll have to try that =)

[pegasus1747]

@enlighteneduk How does this replicate the movement of a horses' alternating sides? I see only both sides of her seat moving simultaneously; What am I missing?

[enlighteneduk]

@pegasus1747 Just because you cannot see the two sides of the machine moving at this angle, doesn t mean it doesnt rise and fall unilaterally! The rider is taught to ALLOW the seat to move with the two sides of the horse, not to push both seatbones against the horse, which is so often seen. Having taught a few thousand riders in a 40 year career, from beginners to GP, I think I am fairly well qualified to comment.

[horseridingbuckaroo]

@pegasus1747 I AGREE! how the heck can it mimic the horses alternating sides??? how could you post correctly?

[enlighteneduk]

@horseridingbuckaroo

Actually, you do not need the back to move in two halves to teach rising trot. You are not moving in two halves when posting. As I have been invited to teach and demonstrate with the machines, at most of the major horse events like Equitana, Germany, Horse Event, Holland, Your Horse Live, UK, Sydney Olympic Centre, Australia, and many more worldwide, I have taught several thousand riders on the simulators in the 14 years I have had them.

[enlighteneduk]

It also allows you to feel which hindleg is coming under, or striking off the ground, and when the shoulder is back or forwards. That is how you learn to feel which leg you are on in rising trot!

[enlighteneduk]

Hi BabaaNi,

If you mean why am I pushing the rider's back first one side and then the other, I am not pushing, merely feeling that she is doing so. The horses back works in two halves, not in one piece. Your backside also has two halves. If you match both horses back and the halves of your seat, you move as one unit, and this prevents the seat from leaving the saddle.

[shamisho]

@enlighteneduk I will think of that next time im riding. Thank you

[BabaaNii]

Why do you push one side first in the sitting trot then the other side?

[enlighteneduk]

@BabaaNii

You dont' push at all with the seat, just allow the horse's movements to move your seatbones up and forwards and back and down separately. :-)

[BabaaNii]

This is just so helpful to watch especilly when you are a beginner like me!

[thelovelyboner]

anyone know any way to practice keeping feet in stirrups ? im doing a certificate in performance horses and i need to learn to ride to qualify. help please :(

[enlighteneduk]

More often than not it will be because your stirrup bars are too far forward on the saddle, and when trying to keep to the ear/shoulder/hip/heel line, you have to hold the leathers back at a 45 degree angle. Also, have a look at my stirrups on the videos- they have a much wider footplate and this helps a great deal to avoid losing the stirup!

[pegasus1747]

@enlighteneduk You don't! The horse raises one side of the back, then the other; if the rider is siting in balance, the seat is free to move with the e horse

[maddierockstar1]

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH you saved me from my teacher yelling at me saying your not doing it rite.

[cathatsred]

thank you all you vid help me pass my riding exam! i can't say tahnk you enough!

xxx

[enlighteneduk]

My pleasure!!

[enlighteneduk]

Thanks for the positive comments, and glad to have helped you all!!

[eventerkatie84]

I would LOVE to give this a go, I think this video explains my problem - the rider on the Equisimulator seems to have a lovely, supple back, whereas I am a little more rigid for some reason. I naturally have a very sway back, I think I am absorbing the movement in my middle back, not lower - any suggestions are welcome!

I have vids up of my riding if that helps.

Thank you so much for posting this, would love to see more!

xx

[DJBelbe]

if i ever go to england again i'm trying that!!! my poor mare has to guess leg aids because i have to work her on rising trot all the time! i simply can't learn to sit the trot! only time i ever sat a trot properly was on a horse that only moved it's back sideways and not up (no suspension). on any horse that trots properly, i just bounce like a sack of potatoes...sad

[verybigmath]

Thank u so much for uploading this vid it really helped explain everything and what my trainer is always trying to tell me. i'll try all that next time I get on a horse :D 5* and I subbed!

[katarinamisdemeanour]

I wish someone had taught me this way! I'm 24 and have terrible lower back problems due to poor position and balance, heaven only knows how the horses must feel! It is my dream to be able to ride in unison with a horse that is comfortable and accepting, and despite having worked in dressage yards and had intensive schooling, there has always been resistance/discomfort in both myself and the horses. I will have to save up and attend one of your courses Heather! Thank you!

[enlighteneduk]

The machine does make a bigger trot., but it is not so easy to see the movement of the lower back. I cannot see that I do not explain how to sit to the trot in this sequence, the usual method is to say nothing other than 'sit deeper'! Out of interest, how would you explain to the rider how to sit to the trot, and likewise in my canter video, how would you teach the rider to sit to the canter? Most people seem to find my explanations pretty clear!

[demetrdc]

Interesting device. However two comments for the sitting trot:

a) it seems that she is doing a slow western jog that it is easy to sit, even for beginners. I would like to see a more active, medium speed trot

b) it does not really explain how the rider is able to sit the trot (or the canter in her other video)

[enlighteneduk]

Sorry Sahara, avoiding bouncing on the back of the horse, is the whole point of these machines ;-) It is never acceptable to bounce on the back of a horse- he is a living animal and it hurts him!

[sahara934]

go a bit faster please. she should be a tiny bit bouncing a little. just a suggestion

[SheezaArtBreaker]

wish i had one of those thing!