Any horse back riders out there; I have a question about diagnals!?

Question

I can't ever seem to get on the right diagnal, any tips? Sometimes I can tell when I have the wrong diagnal on certain horses, but other ones I'm usually on the wrong diagnal.

Answer 1

On certain horses it is really easy and on some horses it's really hard.  For my students that have trouble picking it up i usually put them back on the lunge line for a few lessons and have them shut their eyes.  They start in a sitting trot for a few circles to get the feel of the horse and then I have them try to start themselves on the correct diagnal.  If they still have trouble, I call it to them or better yet have them sit the trot with their hannds on both sides of the horse's withers so they can litterally feel which should is doing what.  A few lessons on the lunge usually fixes it for most students.  And remember the only one who cares about whether your on the "right" diagnal is your trainer and the judge at shows.  I tell my students to be sure to ride different diagnals every little while on like long trail rides as it can make your horse more tired on one side than on the other.  So don't be afarid to switch it up every once in a while, even after you get the hange of it.

Answer 2

Well, I am not going to giive you an essay like others have done, but I hope this helps. Just remember that when the outside shoulder is going foreward, you should be up. Easy as that. Also, when you go into a trot, sit a few strides before you start to post. This will help you learn when to start. It will come with time!

Answer 3

Ok, well, first of all when you look down at the horse's shoulder, you have to look at the very front of the shoulder, so when his OUTSIDE shoulder goes forward, the you post, then you just follow his gait rythym. Hope I helped ya!!!!

Answer 4

ask a round look for one check ever  for one

Answer 5

You should rise and fall with the shoulder on the wall. When the shoulder against the wall/rail goes forward, you should be standing up. So you need to glance down to look at the leg or look at the shadow of the horse's leg against the wall to see if you're on the right diagonal.

Answer 6

Look down at the horse's outside shoulder (the one closest to the rail, or outside of the ring / circle you're on.)

You go up when the outside shoulder moves forward.

It's really as simple as that. If you can discern when the outside shoudler is moving forward and when it's moving backward, that's all you need to figure out.  Mimic the motion (shoulder goes forward, you rise at the SAME time. Shoulder goes back, you sit down.)

Answer 7

Start by looking down until you can tell when you should be rising out of the saddle.  You can see when the outside front shoulder starts to come forward...  at that time, you should be rising.  When that shoulder gets as far forward as it can go, you should be up in your post.  As the shoulder goes back, you should be falling back down.  When the shoulder is all the way back, you should be sitting.

Have someone help you...  sit on the horse in your sitting trot, on a lunge line, and look at the shoulders, while the person lunging you tells you up-down or forward-back or whatever.

Once you know what to look for, then start posting...  try to feel which leg is moving when.  and when you think that front outside leg is going forward, that's when you could start to come up out of the saddle.  once you're posting, look down and check to see if you're right.

(you can try to feel it multiple ways...  try to feel the back legs pushing you up...  the inside back leg should push you up when you begin your post.  you could try to feel when the front outside leg goes forward.  and this sounds silly, but it helped me the most...  try getting down on your hands and knees and moving your arms and legs into the trotting position...  it helped me the most because people kept trying to tell me to feel my diagonals, but I didn't know what I was supposed to be feeling.  I asked, but I never got the explanation that I wanted.  by getting down and doing it myself, I could feel what the hips and shoulders would be doing at the trot, so i could figure out what the horse would feel like when I was supposed to be rising and falling.)

Try doing a lot of circles at the trot.  The reason you post is because the horse's outside legs have to move farther around a circle than the inside legs...  just like yours would do if you walked in a small circle.  because the legs will be moving farther on one side, the impulsion will feel different.  start by sitting the trot and trying to recognize the stronger stride.  do it both ways.  then start posting and try to feel the same thing: which stride is stronger.  I didn't realize that I could actually feel it until I tried intentionally posting on the wrong diagonal around a circle...  it's actually very uncomfortable because you and the horse are off balance.  so post both the correct and incorrect diagonals and try to feel the difference.

once you can see the diagonals with the shoulders, feel the stronger stride at the sitting trot, feel the difference in comfort in the posting trot, you should easily be able to pick up the correct diagonal without looking down.

It is really kinda hard.  People kept yelling at me not to look down, but they wouldn't explain it correctly to me...  I had to just go play on my horse by myself doing a lot of circles and figure-8s and stuff.  I allowed myself to look down until i figured out what to feel.  and that's how i taught myself to feel my diagonals.

I'm not sure at what point you're at with your diagonals.  if you can't tell by looking down at the shoulder, try standing on the outside of the arena and watching someone lunge your horse...  watch his outside front shoulder to see how it goes up/down and forward/back.  then get on and try looking for it.

for feeling the diagonals and the stronger stride and stuff, it helps to have a really long gaited horse that's going to propel itself forward with a long sweeping stride.  it's easier than a westernish horse that takes small steps anyway so you can't feel the bounce.

It's easier for me on different horses too...  I like a nice long TB.  I get on shorter strided things and I have to concentrate more to pick up the right diagonal.  just keep working on it.  If you have any other question I'll be glad to address it.  Good luck!

Answer 8

for trot or canter?

For the trot, when the horses leg that is closest to the wall goes forward, you should be forward to.  If you cant tell, look at the horses leg closest to the center of the arena.  When that leg goes forward, you should be sitting.

For cantering:

The term "lead" is used to tell which fore leg of the horse is farther forward (leading).

    * A horse is on his "left lead" when his near (left) fore leg is leading.

    * A horse is on his "right lead" when his off (right) fore leg is leading.

Cantering on the wrong leg occurs when the horse strikes off incorrectly with the wrong leading leg.

    * If you're cantering to the right, the off (right) fore leg leads. It is the leg that extends the most in front.

    * If you're cantering to the left, the near (left) fore leg leads.

Answer 9

When it comes to the issue of diagonals at the trot, it helps to remember two very old rhymes that my old coach used to use with me. They are " Rise and fall with the leg on the wall", and "Forward and back with the leg on the track". Both of these little sayings refer to the fact that with diagonals, the motion is with the OUTSIDE front leg- that is, the one closest to the rail or track. When you post, you rise as that leg moves forward and sit as it moves back. The way to tell if you are on the correct diagonal is to glance at the horse's shoulders for a split second- if you see the wrong leg is forward when you are rising, then you will know that your diagonal is not correct. When you change directions, you should always change your diagonal- and the easiest way to do this is to sit for 2 strides and then resume posting. Correct diagonals are REQUIRED in hunter seat equitation, in most of the English Pleasure classes, in working hunter under saddle classes, and in low/handy hunter classes at shows. Interestingly enough, there was a rule change in the dressage divisions some years ago that prohibits judges from taking points off a rider's score for an incorrect diagonal.  ( I used to work for a judge, which is why I know about this rule) I'm not altogether sure that this change is really a good idea, though, because it removes the incentive for trainers and coaches to teach their students the correct techniques. Horses that are consistantly ridden on only one side all the time become very stiff and one sided, in my experience. I am currently working through issues related to this with my own horse, who was schooled that way a lot before I got her. Any way, I hope this helps you figure out where you are. Good luck.