Classical Dressage Your EquinePost.com Classical Dressage Expert is: Justine Wilson

The Sitting Trot...

Are You Ready?

How many of us have spent hundreds of dollars and just as many hours trying to learn how to sit the trot? I'm guessing more than have ever should have. Here is a little secret that I learned in Europe……

At least 50 percent of your ability to sit the trot is based on your horse's ability to understand how to carry you in the sitting trot.

I will explain, and from this point forward I am begging you not to sit the trot until both you and your horse have a clear understanding of the dynamics….your horse needs to understand how to use his body, you need to understand use your body to follow him.

Exercise: Round Frame, Base of the neck low in the trot.

In this position, your horse is forced to stretch and relax the ligament and muscles over his top line. The muscles we are especially concerned with relaxing are the muscles which sit directly underneath the saddle. We want a springy, relaxed feel. In the trot (forgive me), think Western Pleasure horse jog. Your horse should have a relaxed low frame, base of the neck low to match the height of his wither (not lower). While following his movement, I want you to imagine that you have two pieces of Velcro attached from each seat bone to the saddle. You are wanting and needing to follow the movement of his back.

Is this the type of movement that we are wanting ultimately? Absolutely not! However, what is happening here is you are teaching your horse how to relax his top line, and use his abdominal muscles to engage and push his back up into the saddle. Hopefully, during this exercise you did not have any problems sitting.

Once your horse understands this basic premise, it is entirely up to you to increase the energy without loosing the frame and creating tension. How? Take it in small increments. Find on any given day how much movement you can handle (make it a game, play with it!), or how much movement your horse can create without getting tense over his top line.

Ultimately, my point is that sitting the trot is a 50/50 proposition. You take care of your 50, teach your horse how to take care of his 50.

Justine Wilson is a certified Dressage trainer, and has been teaching Dressage since 1985. For more information regarding her and her services, please visit YourDressageCoach.com

Your EquinePost.com Classical Dressage Expert recommends these websites:

YourDressageCoach.com
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Past articles by Justine Wilson:

Is Your Horse "On the Bit"? (June, 2008) | The First Five Rules of Dressage (according to your horse) (July, 2008) | The "Right" Horse for Dressage (September, 2008) | On Submission. Why you need to be alpha. (October, 2008) | On Submission. Why you need to be alpha. (October, 2008) | Finding the Right Dressage Instructor (November, 2008) | Riding the Back of Your Horse (January, 2009) | The Benefits of Lunging (February, 2009) | Notes on Starting the Young Dressage Horse (March, 2009) | Half Halts 101….. (April, 2009) |

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
He didn't look like much. With his smallish stature, knobby knees, and slightly crooked forelegs, he looked more like a cow pony than a thoroughbred. But looks aren't everything; his quality, an admirer once wrote, "was mostly in his heart." Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of the horse who became a cultural icon in Seabiscuit: An American Legend.