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The correct diagnonal

2K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  NeryLibra 
#1 ·
I grew up riding Western so I never learned English posting, or terms for that matter. I just took up English riding 2 months ago. Since then I have learned to do a posting trot, and recently learned about the correct diagonal. My trainer is always telling me how good I am at always picking up the correct diagonal, but is always getting after another girl who can't seem to figure it out. She has been riding English for 5 years, and even jumps, so I don't understand why it's so hard for her, yet so easy for me. I just go with my horse's movements, I use him to 'propel' me up, so to speak. I just figured everyone did this. Am I incorrect?
My trainer always has us look down at the outside leg and tell her if we are on the right diagonal (going up when the leg goes forward, and down when it goes back), and she will say yes or no. I have never not been on it, except a few times after going over a trot pole or something and his trot gets so big I have to 2-point the whole thing, but I easily correct. It feels off if I am not on the right diagonal. IDK, I just don't really understand the whole process. I just get that I naturally get it, somehow...lol.
 
#2 ·
Lucky you! I sometimes have to glance down and I have been riding English for a few decades. However, some horses it is easier to tell which diagonal you are on, some, not so easy, for me anyways.
 
#8 ·
I was always only okay at picking out whether I was on the correct diagonal or not without checking, until I rode my current horse. Somehow the feel is just totally right in the correct diagonal and so wrong in the incorrect one, I have no other way of explaining it, but it's definitely a plus.

I think you just got blessed with good feel from the get go :)
 
#9 ·
A lot of people post incorrectly. You're likely posting correctly so you are being 'pushed up' at the right time.

:) Way to go! It's hard to get the correct diagonal because you have to ride correctly, or take a quick peek.

But waresbear is right.. you can definitely feel it better on some horses than others
 
#10 ·
Naturally we have the 'correct' rising trot... HOWEVER
At times with green horses, or unbalanced horses it can be beneficial to post on the incorrect lead. I personally have never had to, but know of a few that have.

My current 'lease' horse makes my life difficult, and I have to check. I can't feel the difference!
 
#11 ·
Some people have an easier time of it than others. Some are quirky. When I start posting I always end up following my horse's right leg - which is great if I'm going left! If I'm going right, I just assume I'm wrong and stay down an extra beat to correct it.

Some people just post and have no feel at all and just get lucky 50% of the time. I think if she devotes time to specifically that she will get it.
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#12 ·
I find it hard to be honest! And I've been riding for about 8 years (although over half of that with no instructor)

Can I make sure.. you rise when the outside leg goes forward, yes?! Sometimes I can feel I'm on the wrong diagonal as it's harder to be pushed out of the saddle when I rise and I feel like I'm on the wonk when I sit.. does that sound right?
 
#13 ·
Yep you rise/post when the outside leg does forward. If a horse is incorrectly bent then it's harder to rise to the 'proper' leg

If you're wonky when you sit, that could mean you favor one leg more so than the other, your tack is crooked/has slipped
 
#18 ·
The way your posting is spot on - you're letting your horse and your body do the work, and yes, I believe not thinking about it is the easiest way to get things correct almost 100% of the time. You're not overcompensating, therefore bouncing too much, and you're not worrying yourself about getting it right. When I rode, I had a much more difficult time riding properly, picked up horrible habits that were impossible to break (never did break them before I had to stop) and always got nagged at if I was actually thinking about what I was doing. As soon as I went onto autopilot, I was told by all of my instructors (rotating through four of them regularly) that I rode better than I ever had before, and even better than some of those who were in the saddle long before I was. On difficult horses too.

For you, it could have something to do with muscle memory. Sitting the trot constantly helps you develop a true sense for what your horse is doing, and the more you do it the more natural it is for your body to be in tune with the horse. Almost like with driving, your muscle memory is developed to get off the gas and apply brakes when you see a light in the distance turn yellow; riding is exactly like that. If you're always riding the same horse, the muscle memory is amplified because you're extremely in tune with that horse's specific gait and you instinctively know when you're out of balance with your horse. It'll feel "wrong" because you and your body are used to what's proper and balanced, not putting yourself off-kilter or throwing off the rhythm. So if you're lessoning on the same horse all of the time, it's only natural that you've developed a feel for what he's doing under you and how you can work to make it feel "right" again.

I leased a horse a few summers ago and only rode him the entire duration of the lease. It got to the point where he and I could do anything asked of us (except jump, bad joints on his part) and pick up everything correctly without flaw; posting diagonals, cantering leads, etc. As soon as I was assigned to a different horse, one with choppy strides and stride lengths compared to my lease horse, I bounced around like a sack of potatoes despite my best efforts to ride in harmony with the horse. I constantly picked up the incorrect leads or diagonals and I couldn't sit his trot for the life of me. It wasn't because I was a poor rider, I managed to stay on when he threw his little bucking fits and all that, but his strides weren't natural to me or what I was used to.. and everything about him felt wrong.

So just some food for thought, I ended up digressing and forgot my original point.. other than it may just be muscle memory and you two being tuned into each other. And some horses are harder than others to ride. Lol.
 
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