[DocHoliday]

Hello!

I have been searching for an answer to this question that has been on my mind. My friend teaches english riding, and we got off talking about western riding style. She says that in western you post unless your doing work ( cutting, reining ...). But I don't think I've ever seen any western person post. Is it just a preference thing or is it required like in English riding?

Thank you!

 

[MacabreMikolaj]

It really is more of a preference thing, but as a rule, it's good practice to always post during warmup. It helps loosen up your horses back muscles - going directly into a sitting jog/trot regardless of tack is asking them to use those back muscles before allowing them to limber up a bit and round.

I, personally, always post unless I'm doing something that requires a sitting trot. I rode both English and Western and it never changes. Especially in young horses, I find it allows them to balance better and move more freely until they're used to using their back muscles and understanding that a driving seat means more impulsion.

 

[Wallaby]

I personally ride western and I don't post, most of the time. I can comfortably sit the trot of most horses and so I figure, why post and do more work when I can be lazy and do less work? =P
With my horse, Lacey, who has one of the most obnoxiously impossible to sit trots EVER, I try to sit it as much as possible to work on my muscles but I will post quite a bit on her because I feel like I free up her back a bunch when I post. I also post sometimes because I enjoy feeling how free her movement is when I post.

If you're wondering about showing and posting, I'm of no help, but for just general riding around I'm pretty sure it's a personal preference. =)

ETA- MacabreMikolaj- I totally never thought about posting while warming up... That totally makes sense! I will have to give this a try! Thanks for posting that. =)

 

[ilovestitch]

I ride western (have ridden english before and competed) but western is really my focus right now and I personally never post at a trot.

 

[justsambam08]

I always post at a trot---My TB has a horribly long and wonky trot, and he also has crappy balance. But in general I find it more comfortable to post.

 

[RadHenry09]

wallaby: I liked your comment about having to do less work : )

I post most of the time in a western saddle but am getting better about slowing done my Paints trot to a jog and then I can sit it.
My mustang is very floaty so I can sit , when I ride them english I work on trying to get that diagonal w/o cheating by looking.

I also like the idea of posting to warm up , I guess I do that w/o realizing that I do it : )

 

[PaytonSidesHorsemanship]

I post at a strait faster trot but don't at a slower trot or when I'm moving body parts or working circles. I think posting on a a young horse helps them feel a big difference in your riding seat compared to your stopping seat or walking seat. Or any horse for that matter.

 

[kmdstar]

I almost always post in a western saddle, but my horse trots and I'm not training her to jog so I need to post. It depends on the horses movements, if your horse is jogging or doing a sitting trot there is no need to post, if your horse is trotting you will most likely be bouncing around and be much more comfortable posting than not.

 

[Draftgirl17]

I honestly don't know a whole lot about the specifics of each discipline (like what the judge looks for) but i know when we were watching draft western the woman who was giving me pointers on saddleseat and stuff was very much irked by the people who were posting in a western saddle so i was always under the assumption you should post in a western saddle...

 

[Draftgirl17]

I meant to put shouldn't. Sorry :/

 

[EveningShadows]

Seems a personal preference to me...but I agree about the warm up thing.

Some of our horses have a beautiful jog that allows a rider to sit it with ease, others are jarring and bouncy and therefor a lot more work to sit. It also depends on the rider's abilities...a novice will not be able to sit a fast trot and really shouldn't because they'll be banging on the horse's back. Slow the horse down and practice and you'll be ok...

 

[kmdstar]

I honestly don't know a whole lot about the specifics of each discipline (like what the judge looks for) but i know when we were watching draft western the woman who was giving me pointers on saddleseat and stuff was very much irked by the people who were posting in a western saddle so i was always under the assumption you should post in a western saddle...

It's different for practice and showing, if you are showing in a western saddle you do not want to be posting since your horse should only be jogging and there's no need to post to a jog.

Alot of people don't ride western for the discipline, just for the comfort of the western saddle. It depends on what you do though - if you barrel race, you'll probably post (for trot classes & such, I couldn't imagine sitting my horses trot when she goes around the barrels...eeek!), if you do western pleasure...you probably rarely post since your horse probably rarely (if ever) trots.

 

[IndianGirl]

I ride western and always post

 

[Hunter65]

I think it looks funny when people post in a western saddle. My friends posts sometimes (we both have Aussie saddles), I never post.