Beginner Rider Needs Help?

Question

Ok well this girl only 17 and a great horseback rider is giving me lessons at my house with my own horse (private) and only $20!! how great is that!! i have never gotten lessons bofore and i had my first one yesterday with her. She says i need to lean off of the reins. Any tips on that? Plus, i need to work on my posting trot. Once again any tips? Thanks so much!

P.S. Now this shows how great she is i don't have an english saddle so she is letting me barrow one of her saddles and a bridle! haha sorry i'm just really happy about it!!

Answer 1

What she means by leaning off the reins is that you should try to use your legs to guide the horse instead of being harsh with the reins. When posting you should say 1, 2, 1, 2 in your head over and over this helps you stay in rythem with your horse, but if you can't hold your self up to post then you should try getting in to jumping position when you trot, this mean staying up for as long as you can but be careful not to plop down on her back.

P.S. your friend seems very nice.

Answer 2

Leaning on the reins is basically it means that you are balancing on the reins. In order to not do that use your legs and keep your heels down which will help you not to balance so much on the reins. Don't worry when I ride English I need to stop leaning on the reins so much and use my leg muscles more. With the posting trot it is hard to get the right diagonal in the beginning. Look at the leg closest to the rail or wall and then post up when that moves forward. Once you get that each time you sit squeeze with your legs to keep your horse going so he/she won't break. Keep the reins in contact with the horse so you can feel him/her in your hands. Keep the reins near your waist or slightly higher. Grip with your knees with the knees rolls and instead of going up and down push your stomach out. Move slightly forward and it doesn't have to be too far. By pushing your stomach out it keeps you from going up and down. Keep your hips somewhat loose. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gwqOOaWo... In this video this is showing by what I mean push your stomach out. Other than that don't get discouraged and English is hard to get the hang of. I ride western mostly but I have just begun to ride English more frequently and they are so different, but challenging in both ways. Good luck!

Answer 3

Your instructor means that your pulling on the rains too much to make your sewlf hold on. Instead try using your legs and loosen up your arms and shoulders. For the posting trot the first thing is the hardest one, you have to feel the beat, if you don't feel the steps the horse is gettng you'll never be able to do it good. So maybe you should judt keep doing a sitting trot and when your trotting feel the beet and the horses legs when they touch the ground ect...

Hope this helps

Hope you have fun! Riding is the greatiest sport!

Answer 4

YOU MUST BE GRABING ONTO THE REINS AND LEANING DOWN ON THE HORSE TOO MUCH.

DO EXERSIZES TO IMPROVE YOUR BALANCE LIKE TURNING ROUND WHILE THE HORSE IS STILL.

AND PRACTISE GOING WITH THE FLOW AND RIDE ON A BIKE AND TRY GOING 12 UP 12 DOWN 12 UP 12 DOWN.

Answer 5

laying of the reins...she probably means quit messing with them because when you mess with the reins than your messing with your horses head....and your posting trot, just remember rise and fall with the leg on the wall...so come up when the front outside leg goes forward and sit back down when the front leg comes back......that will help you keep your rhythm so you are in sync with your horse...its looks really cool when you get it down!

Good Luck and lots of fun!!!!

Answer 6

it means your holding your self up by hanging on the reins, try two point and learn to ride on the lunge line so you can focus on you and not you and the horse, ask her to put you on the lunge lines and ask her to explain things too you too lol

good luck :D

Answer 7

Most riding lessons start off getting too complicated and abstract for students to follow along.  To simplify it, I was taught to ride with my ear, hip and heel in a straight line unless I was going up and down steep hills or galloping fast and needed to lean forward or backward for balance.  Try to keep your center of gravity over the center of the horse and keep as much of a balanced seat as possible.  Use your legs to help cue your horses lateral moves and your seat for forward and backward moves and stops.  Use your hands lightly, unless you ride English and have to keep pressure on the bit.  Those are just the basics.

Answer 8

Next time she comes over, ask her what she means and how does she want you to correct this. That's what you are paying her for. If she says you are leaning on the reins and she can't tell you how to fix it, you're wasting your twenty bucks. As for posting practice, let the horse lift you. You shouldn't go up very much at all. It's a matter of doing it over and over and as you build strength, it'll get easier. One way to build leg strength is to ride two point. Another is to do leg lunges when not riding. Bicycling also helps build up leg muscles.

I'm willing to bet she's going to be more than happy to show you what you need, you just need to ask her what she wants when she tells you something and have her show you if you don't understand what she says.

Answer 9

you need to ask her to give you a lesson on a lunge line (and when she does it you need to drop your reins and not use them at all)... what she means is you are using the reins to help yourself post or stay on the horse... a lesson without them will teach you to use your legs

Answer 10

In the posting trot, allow the horse to push you up and go forward on your hips. Don't put your hands down on the neck for balance; learn to balance without having your hands on the neck. It gives better control. Get a good rhythm going-up down up down up down. Make sure you're not behind or ahead of your horse (meaning you don't feel like you're being pulled forward or you're too far forward.) With the reins, keep a light feel of his mouth but don't balance on his mouth. That jerks and hurts it.

Answer 11

your holding yourself on with the reins. try tying the reins around the neck and try to balance without reins and when you get more advanced  try to trot and canter lots of fun! good luck hope this helps!

Answer 12

The hardest thing about learning how to ride is to establish your balance in the saddle. You need to learn to use your body to counterbalance yourself without using the reins to pull you up. Make sure you are first sitting in the correct position with your shoulders, hips, and heels are all lined up vertically. Then, you can try posting on a long rein at the halt or the walk to get the feel of using your thighs to get up. Once you have the feeling of it at the walk, go ahead and trot on a long rein and try to post, using the momentum of the horse's trot to post up and down. You can place your hands on the front of your saddle to help you. Once you have to motion down, then you can work on your posting diagonals. See if you can have her give you lunge lessons where you riding while she controls the horse on the lunge line so you can establish your seat without leaning on the reins or balancing off the stirrups. With lunge lessons, you can learn how to ride without stirrups and even without your reins so you can establish an independent seat while you ride.