Often, I find myself working alone, and I'll tell you - you get to thinking when you're all by your lonesome. I had an epiphany many years ago: here I am, putting some conditioning time on a horse I've been working with for a few years, and I'm in a state of mind that - to be frank - is just present enough to keep my horse honest and using his body well. So my thoughts wander to all kinds of things, such as, "why do hot dogs come in packages of 8, and hot dog buns come in packages of 10?"
But I digress.
This particular day, my thoughts drifted to the lovely posting trot my horse and I were doing - at times on the correct diagonal; at times, not. Cue all the hushed chatter about being on the wrong diagonal on purpose... "why in the world would I want to ride on the wrong diagonal??" And maybe, just maybe a small few of you might follow with, "why do I need to be on a diagonal to begin with? Why does that matter?"
Many of you - if you've ever ridden english or learned how to post the trot - learned the following (or similar) rhyme: "rise and fall with the leg on the wall." For those unfamiliar, there are two phases to posting the trot - the rise phase, where we use the moment of suspension, or bounce in the trot, to propel our bodies upward; and the sit phase, when we return to the saddle, only to rise again immediately. All this is done in rhythm with the horses' movement, so that we're in sync, and always - we're taught - with the diagonal pair of the inside hind and outside front legs. But WHY??
But I digress.
This particular day, my thoughts drifted to the lovely posting trot my horse and I were doing - at times on the correct diagonal; at times, not. Cue all the hushed chatter about being on the wrong diagonal on purpose... "why in the world would I want to ride on the wrong diagonal??" And maybe, just maybe a small few of you might follow with, "why do I need to be on a diagonal to begin with? Why does that matter?"
Many of you - if you've ever ridden english or learned how to post the trot - learned the following (or similar) rhyme: "rise and fall with the leg on the wall." For those unfamiliar, there are two phases to posting the trot - the rise phase, where we use the moment of suspension, or bounce in the trot, to propel our bodies upward; and the sit phase, when we return to the saddle, only to rise again immediately. All this is done in rhythm with the horses' movement, so that we're in sync, and always - we're taught - with the diagonal pair of the inside hind and outside front legs. But WHY??
While the exact origin is foggy, posting the trot was developed to make riding the trot (especially over long distances) more comfortable (here's an interesting article on some origin theories: https://www.elkrivergr.com/blog/the-history-of-posting-the-trot-myths-debunked). But it also allows our horses to move in a more balanced way at the trot - particularly riding in any kind of arc. If we bring our focus to the horses' hind end, the rise phase of the posting trot creates momentum that can encourage the inside hind to swing forward with a little more oomph, allowing the horse to step deeper under himself than he might in a sitting trot, therefore making him more stable and move more efficiently. If his inside hind leg is able to take a larger step, then he can push a little better on the next half of the stride, increasing swing, and covering more ground.
Don't know which leg you're moving with? Try this:
Notice in the following series of photos - when learning to see which diagonal you're posting with, establish a good posting trot, then go ahead and look down at your horses' shoulders. You want to eventually get proficient with feeling which diagonal you're on, but for now you will benefit from seeing what you're doing. Disclaimer: this will take you a while to pick this up; having someone on the ground who can confirm whether you're on the right or left diagonal will be extremely helpful; even better if you can do this on a lunge line, where your attention can be zeroed-in on just this observation.
In this first photo, see the blue line just in front of my horses' withers? If you direct your vision generally there, you should be able to watch both shoulders move forward and back (marked by the black circles)
Notice the next picture, the right shoulder/leg is moving forward, while the left shoulder/leg is moving back; and we have the opposite in the second photo.
Don't know which leg you're moving with? Try this:
Notice in the following series of photos - when learning to see which diagonal you're posting with, establish a good posting trot, then go ahead and look down at your horses' shoulders. You want to eventually get proficient with feeling which diagonal you're on, but for now you will benefit from seeing what you're doing. Disclaimer: this will take you a while to pick this up; having someone on the ground who can confirm whether you're on the right or left diagonal will be extremely helpful; even better if you can do this on a lunge line, where your attention can be zeroed-in on just this observation.
In this first photo, see the blue line just in front of my horses' withers? If you direct your vision generally there, you should be able to watch both shoulders move forward and back (marked by the black circles)
Notice the next picture, the right shoulder/leg is moving forward, while the left shoulder/leg is moving back; and we have the opposite in the second photo.
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Try to feel when you are rising and sitting, that you are rising and sitting with one shoulder or the other. As you are able to see your correct diagonal consistently, the next step is to notice what you FEEL about riding each diagonal. Start maybe with little things you notice in your upper body - maybe there's a shift in your hip or your shoulders; then observe what you feel in your seat and your legs -- I find I can tell my diagonal by feeling the horses front legs moving toward or away from my legs. It's a subtle feeling, but I know it well enough now, having practiced over the years, that I can feel my diagonal accurately every time.
Give it a try! I hope this was helpful, and if so, please let me know in the comments below!
Give it a try! I hope this was helpful, and if so, please let me know in the comments below!
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