Quiet Riding

Horses and Riders Working in Harmony


Horses in the Fog

Trot

[As additional resources, links to book reviews and book purchasing information can be found beneath the quotations when this information is available.]

Trot — General

"The true extended trot is the one which is the result of maximum impulsion in collection. During the last strides of cadenced trot, passage, or piaffer, the rider, by opening his fingers, allows the horse to extend."

Nuno Oliveira (translated by Phyllis Field), Reflections on Equestrian Art
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"On a horse, you cannot make yourself follow the motion. You must allow the horse to do it for you..."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"When you see a rider's head wobbling, it's almost always because he has stiff hip joints."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"...it's the period of suspension that makes a trot expressive and pretty to watch."

Jane Savoie, Cross-Train Your Horse, Simple Dressage for Every Sport
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"It is through the trot, the most natural of all the gaits, that the horse is made light to the hand, without having his mouth spoiled, and stretches his limbs without risk of injury."

François Robichon de la Guérinière, The School of Horsemanship, Part II
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"The trot is rather like a trampoline. You can let it launch you or you can soften its lift according to how softly you use your legs and how your center of gravity lines up with your base of support."

Kathleen Schmitt, The Seamless Seat
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"Inequality in the diagonal pairs of legs at any kind of trot points clearly to asymmetrical strength and dexterity or rider imbalance."

Kathleen Schmitt, The Seamless Seat
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"A forefoot that stays on the ground longer than a hind leg [in a trot] or that has a more deeply flexed pastern than a hind leg shows that the center of gravity is somewhat more toward the forehand than the hindquarters."

Kathleen Schmitt, The Seamless Seat
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"Over-spectacular trot movement arising from intentionally created tension in the horse's back is not only worthless, it is also very harmful."

Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Balancing Act
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"It doesn't make sense to sit the trot when the horse is tense and blocked in the back, even if the rider can sit with sensitivity and suppleness."

Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Balancing Act
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"With novice horses, hyperflexed back movers and leg movers, and horses with weak or sensitive backs, it is recommended to do a posting tot or a balanced forward seat."

Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Balancing Act
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"An over-spectacular action of the forelegs at the trot is worthless when the hind legs sprawl our behind and the horse's back is tight."

Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Balancing Act
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"It is hard to sit to the trot on a tight back so sitting trot shouldn't be done until the horse 'carries' his back again, works supplely, and is eager to rediscover joy in movement."

Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Balancing Act
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"Sitting the trot, we can aid the horse more consistently, rhythmically and subtly."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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"The best way to learn to ride sitting trot is on the longe on a horse that goes rhythmically forward with long strides and lowered head."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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Trot — Rising

"Rising trot is not limited to knowing how to lift oneself off the saddle and to fall back in rhythm and cadence. It is necessary for the rider to know how to use the legs without effort or tenseness in order to push the horse forward while rising in the saddle."

Nuno Oliveira (translated by Phyllis Field), Reflections on Equestrian Art
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"On each rise try to feel that you have a spring pulling your center (or your belt buckle) diagonally upward and forward toward the sky."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"Be aware of how much your hip and knee joints open and close as you post. Your knees must move as freely as your hips."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"...for your ankles to be soft, they must hang below, not in front of, your hip joints. Forward feet will result in stiff ankles. Soft ankles will allow the heels to sink with each posting motion of the trot."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"We can allow our platform to drift up and forward out of the saddle when it is more work to oppose the gait's lift and swing than to let our platform float for a bit. Some people call that posting, or rising to the trot."

Kathleen Schmitt, The Seamless Seat
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"To post easily you let the horse push you up; as that happens, you simply swing your pelvis forward through your elbows, leading with your stomach and raising your chest."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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"If your shoulders go up and down as you post, you're straightening your knees and positing from your stirrups."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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"If your lower legs swing, you're in the chair position and will pull on the reins to rise."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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"...you can help him slow his rhythm by slowing your posting, rising barely off the saddle and staying down just slightly longer than his rhythm dictates."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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"You can easily post without stirrups without gripping with your knees, because keeping them lowered wedges them onto the horse each time you swing your hips through your elbows."

Mary Twelveponies, Everyday Training: Backyard Dressage
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Trot — Extended

"Your hands must soften so that the horse knows he can go forward, but not so much that his balance is upset. His center of gravity must stay back in his body during the longer strides."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"He [the horse] needs continuous light, though positive, contact from your two hands so there will be no loss of energy out through the front."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"A horse needs lots of balance and strength to trot the entire length of the ring with lengthened strides, and you will need much practice to stay with the horse's movement. So keep the number of long strides limited until you know that both you and your horse can stay in perfect balance."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"Before the lengthening deteriorates, ask for the down transition to the ordinary trot."

Sally Swift, Centered Riding
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"During the extended trot, you should show actual lengthening of your horse's stride, not just speed."

Nancy Cahill, The Classic Western Rider
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