The Nervous Novice Blog Post # 2

The Nervous Novice Solves Beginner Riders' Greatest Dilemmas... #2 – Going With the Flow

Dear Nervous Novice,

I’ve been riding for close to two years, usually twice a week, one lesson and one practice ride by myself. I’m still fighting falling forward or back, mainly at the posting trot, and it really doesn’t matter which of the barn’s horses I’m riding. Everyone I ride with says this will improve with practice, and my instructor just tells me to keep at it. I get around OK for my flatwork and am even cantering little jump courses, but it bothers me that I still feel unsteady at the trot. How many more years will it take?

- Tipping Like a Metronome in Kalispell

Dear Tipsy,

Riding twice a week? How many years will it take to meld your body with your horse’s motion?

Hmm… How about we consider not time, but circumstances, to crack this dilemma? You’re riding twice a week, on different horses, in – likely – different tack, and you already seem comfortable negotiating small jump courses? First I say kudos, not bad at all for your time in the saddle.

It sounds like your riding has reached the point where you’re starting to touch on the elusive, much-touted “feel.” You’re probably starting to sink into your leg at the canter and over jumps, so you're learning what it’s like to be “with” the horse’s motion at times. That realization makes awkward moments at the trot stand out even more.

As to why you’re falling forward and back during posting trot, there are numerous possibilities. One of the most common in schooling horse situations is a badly balanced saddle that puts your seat back and leg forward. This “chair seat” position is easy to sit but horrible for posting. It makes you heave up and fall back behind your lower leg, causing your horse to back off his forward motion, whereupon you pinch with your knees and tip forward, and so on. Never pretty.

I’d start by checking with your coach and correcting any saddle fit issues on the horses you ride. When it comes to schooling horses and saddles, a $30 riser pad can make a world of difference to all parties. If you find you’re still tipping and falling in a balanced saddle, then position work is in order. (And really, when is it not?)

A major hurdle for beginner riders is achieving a still and stable leg while posting, and there’s one sure-fire cure – posting with no stirrups! If your instructor’s game, do a lunge lesson with no stirrups or reins. In fact, do several. It’s the quickest way to a stable, independent seat and leg. At the very least, kick off your stirrups for a few circuits of the arena during your practice rides. You’ll learn the true meaning of “no pain, no gain,” but before long, you’ll be two-pointing without stirrups and kicking all of our butts at shows.

There's another position fix for the posting-tipsy that doesn’t involve miles of no-stirrup work (though you should still do it). It’s quite common for beginner riders to arch the lower back in an effort to keep their shoulders back. This creates a stiff up-and-down posting motion, tightens the knee, and causes – you guessed it – tipping! It also gives you a duck butt, and that’s not a compliment.

A simple exercise of pressing your belly button to your spine (known in dressage-speak as tightening your core) as you post actually loosens tension in your lower back muscles, softens that arch, relaxes your knee, and lets you sink into your lower leg and post in a softer forward-and-back motion that moves with your horse.

Tipsy, there’s no quick fix for learning to move with your horse, sweaty saddle pads are really the only way to get there – but fixing position problems instead of fighting them will help make the most of the two days a week you have in the saddle.

Sink and Squeeze and Relax Those Knees!

The Nervous Novice

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