Both English and Western-style riders learn the speed of posting, which is a bit faster than jogging. Learn how to post properly from a horseback riding instructor in this equestrian video
Use horse's propulsion
Rise up
Match horse's rhythm
Use leg strength
Kathy Kentala has been a horse enthusiast since she was six years old. Kathy owns the Bee Cave Riding Center in Texas and specializes in training youth groups.
Any time we take a horse to a nice long elastic trot, something that's a little bigger than that Western jog, you'll find that both English and Western riders are going to want to learn that skill of posting the trot. Often people say, "Oh that's an English thing." We say, "It's not an English thing, it's a riding thing." In our rodeo world, when we're out there behind the scenes, every cowboy-cowgirl is going to be posting those bigger trots. As we watch our rider trotting today, we're going to notice that she posts in a very nice and light, effortless fashion. We use the impulsion that's driven from the horse's hind quarter to give us that lightness that brings us rising up, out of our stirrup, placing a great amount of pressure on the stirrup bar. We rise up and we match the horse's rhythm or the stride that brings us to this one-two, one-two kind of a beat. Once we've established the rhythm of our posting trot, then we want to use all of the strength in our leg to keep it what we call "light and effortless." It's not as though we're just bouncing in the rhythm of the stride, we're working hard to keep it. Where we rise up, strong out of our leg and then sit lightly in the saddle. We often tell children and adults as well, you want to sit down as though you had eggshells on that saddle and you did not want to break them. It makes for a very nice and comfortable way to manage the horse's strut, not to mention it will be a lot of physical challenge to any rider who posts for a given amount of time.
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