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Riding Lessons. ;D

BANNED December 13th, 2012 10:11:07pm 2 Posts

Wooo I'll be 1st to try this thing out! So every Saturday I have riding lessons with my friends mom. I AM IN LOVE WITH THAT HORSE!!! I want him to be mine . Lol. Her mom did tell me I ride Dusty more then her daughter does. The cool thing is though that I can go over there and ride when ever I want but time I get off of work its dark /: so when its starts to get darker later then I'll be riding all the time after work. But with lessons , I am getting good! I been working on my cantering lately. Im still a little nervous to do it but getting there. The only thing is I keep feeling like Im going to lose my balance and fall off :3 Hints? ... and I ride Western. The horse I ride is a bigggg boy paint horse(: Hes amazing. A little butt sometime but still amazing. (:

 

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Gothika - SEA's ( Lost 1 of my puppers :( ) December 13th, 2012 11:30:40pm 1,146 Posts

Im afraid I don't have anything usefull to say lol. I've had the same problem but It just passed over time. Its only with new horses now. You can try to increase balance with a gym ball (finding your center point while sitting on it like you where sitting on your horse)

 

Wild Park Stables December 14th, 2012 1:09:21am 1 Posts

When cantering in the western saddle, try leaning back and sitting a bit deeper in the saddle just a bit. I know it may sound like your posture will be messed up, but it allows, especially for me, to help find the beat of the horse's canter (mainly when I don't know the horse). This may not work for you, but I found it works rather well with my mare. Try it, since a horse naturally buckles down when picking up speed this going deeper will help without having to worry about being unseated or falling off. I hope it helps! Let me know! :)

 

levon December 14th, 2012 1:50:28am 2 Posts

 

Krystique. ◈ Starter of Texas Heelers. December 14th, 2012 6:06:53pm 225 Posts

Thanks you guys! What about trotting also?

 

a z a l i e - 🌵 2024 APHA World,Reserve and Bronze Champion-blitzy still watching- December 15th, 2012 12:21:20am 1,856 Posts

Navi: when trotting you can either do the posting trot or you can slightly stand in the stirrups(unless you are showing of course!) which i believe is also called "two-pointing" not really sure! A bouncy horse will be hard to sit, i dont care who you are! just try to keep most of your weight in your butt and feet! :)ive heard that the english discipline is a good way to learn balance too.

 

Simplicity [AQH] December 15th, 2012 6:01:28am 18 Posts

I agree with Azalie and Wild Park Stables. I had the same problem when I began riding. I also ride Western (cutting and western pleasure). A friend recommended that I take a couple english lessons and see if it helped. Boy did it! I personally feel that english makes you focus on your balance more than western does(or in a different way at least). 3 or 4 lessons really made me consious of my balance which greatly improved the issue you were discussing. A second thing that helped is what was discussed above. Think of it as sitting on your pockets. Try to keep your weight on your back pockets and feet. It may feel a little odd at first but you will quickly notice the change :) It may not fix the issue entirely...some horses are simply bouncy but it will make it more comfortable and secure.

 

Pigston; quit December 15th, 2012 3:19:56pm 4 Posts

Although I don't ride western.. I do teach a lot of english riding lessons. How long have you been riding for?I feel that a lot of people accidently rush the process of learning to ride. I know my coach pushes her kids way too much and they end up becoming scared and timid. My kids trot FOREVER. THey don't even think about cantering until their trot (not sure if you post or not!) and posting are PERFECT. I have been riding for 16 years and last year at a dressage clinic I wasn't even allowed to canter because they said my trot wasn't solid enough.If I was you I wouldn't push myself yet.. if youre feeling unbalenced and worried about it. There is nothing wrong with just taking it slow. Once you feel that your trot is amazing and you feel super confident at the trot that's when I would start cantering. Being nervous is only going to make it harder for you. So might as well get to the point with your riding that you are so confident that cantering no longer seems like such a feat. As others have mentioned I would also learn to do two-point or half seat. Horses at canter are hard to flow with for somebody just learning. In the half seat you will feel a bit more balence because you have to concentrate on keeping even pressure in both of your stirrups and on your thighs. Also won't have to worry about bouncing around!I also agree with Simplicity that english lessons wouldn't be a bad idea. I always feel like i'm bouncing around in western tack because I don't like how the stirrups are (english princess i guess!! :P) whenever I sit in a western saddle I actually don't use my stirrups because I feel like they throw me off balence and i start moving around in the saddle more then desired.

 

a z a l i e - 🌵 2024 APHA World,Reserve and Bronze Champion-blitzy still watching- December 15th, 2012 3:47:10pm 1,856 Posts

Ive never really had lessons...most was just self taught or watching someone else...or training videos... its easier for me to learn by doing it myself, rather than someone watching what i do...im weird like that! lol

 

Krystique. ◈ Starter of Texas Heelers. December 15th, 2012 5:20:09pm 225 Posts

I actually learned how to ride with English lol xD but had a bad accident so stopped riding then go into Western. So I was used to posting at a trot but now I got to sit and its weird and bouncy sometimes lol xD but thanks you guys!!

 

BANNED December 19th, 2012 7:27:18pm 2 Posts

haha thats awesome paper! Thanks!

 

Samantha - see page to know who to contact directly! December 20th, 2012 8:05:21pm 4,333 Posts

For balance it really is just a practice thing I think. Do what you're comfortable doing, no one ever said you had to push forward - move at your own pace. If you're nervous you're more likely to fall.

 

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