Trouble with diagonals!

[Bradders]

Now that Bobby and I have reached the heady heights of doing several laps of the school in trot, I have discovered a bit of an issue!

On the left rein everything is hunky dory (well, as hunky dory as it can be for me at the moment ), but on the right rein, I am having a few difficulties On the incorrect diagonal everything is fine, but on the correct one, I find he throws me on to a sort of sideways wiggle - sorry not very good at explaining - I am struggling to go with it.

Part of the issue may be that my lower back is very weak on the right hand side.

I have a horrible feeling that practice is the only solution, but wondered if anyone had any suggestions to make it a little more comfortable?

Thanks

[lmevans]

Practice is the only solution 


sorry that was mean 


Be seriously, it almost is the answer. If he's throwing you around on one rein only, then it implies that he is unbalanced on that rein too. So the pair of you are not helping each other being one-sided in the same direction. Part of his issue will almost certainly be that you are one-sided that way, and are throwing him out to match. It always happens that way. but he may also be naturally inclined on that direction too. I have one horse that is naturally left sided and one that is right sided... very handy for making me straighter! Remains to be seen which direction Orio will favour 

To help him build strength and balance on that side, you can work on specific stretching exercises and ask him to work that rein a little harder inhand. Getting equal give into a bend on both sides is difficult, and you have to be certain that you are keeping a sharp eye on the quality of the movements on both reins. He'll most likely show you a stiffer shoulder in and whatnot on his stiffer side as well as chuck you about at trot.

Secondly, keep the trot on that rein short for your own sake. Several short repeated transitions into trot and back on your uncomfy rein would probably be more beneficial that many circuits getting thrown about. If you can warm up your body with some simple stretched before you get on to ride, that might help too. Aim to push the trot just a few strides further each time, with a good bend and balance, then back to walk. See how it feels to go onto the 'wrong' diagonal through the corners and the 'right' one on the straight. It might help build the strength and balance in you.

[yvonnemzz]

Just a thought but  it may help. I constantly change diagonals every 7 or 8 strides when doing rising trot - even when riding in straight lines and when hacking. This gives both you and the horse time to strengthen and become ambidextrous in time. You should gradually get the same feel on either diagonal. When this eventually happens you will know that the horse has evened out and is working either side equally.

[crdodgeon]

When you say sideways wiggle, do you mean more of a wobble, or more of a rotation, or neither? I'm only asking as I found in trot that I had a tendency for a wiggle, that sort of threw me slightly to the right, which was very definitely exaserbated by my lower back issues. (It was worse on one rein than the other, but I was riding different horses all the time, so less easy to work out how it correlated to a particular horse's weaker rein).

Have you, or can you see a physio/chiro or similar? At least it would help you get some exercises to strengthen your back. Or one of those gym balls to sit on  - works your core (says the woman who hasn't got one, but would if she had the space!!!)

[DollysMum]

Ditto the gymball suggestion - I love mine

[Bradders]

Thanks guys 

Trying to think what sort of wiggle it is Will concentrate harder next time

IIt also dawned on me in bed last night that I am a numpty - it is on the left rein that I wiggle, not the right!

But some good suggestions - thank you

[ros]

You're not a numpty and it doesn't matter really what sort of wiggle it is because it'll disappear with all that practice   I also have always made a habit of changing diagonals - I like to settle into a regular rhythm, so I tend to swap for each trot session rather than after a certain number of strides. With M I can't tell the difference between the diagonals (except, of course, by feeling the swing) - it's just as comfortable either way. I do think it's important to work both sides evenly, byt the way, otherwise you just create a different problem   And it does come!

[Talltails]

And it does come!

This is good to know.  I don't have access to a school, and do pretty much all my schooling on hacks.  I do change diagonal about every 10 strides or so - Jackson is asymmetrical and has had SI problems, so I need to make sure I am working both sides equally.  And in walk, I am good (using Heather's "let the legs follow the swing of the belly" method) knowing which hind is coming forward under him... but this ability disappears in trot 

So, on the very infrequent occasions we have a lesson - in an arena - I can never work out which diagonal we're on 

Any tips on how to transfer the ability to follow the hind leg's movement in walk to being able to do it in trot would be much appreciated  (I do keep trying... hopefully, if nobody has any foolproof (and they do need to be fool proof  ) suggestions, it will come in time.  BTW, I am slightly handicapped by an inability to tell my left from my right, so any suggestions need to relate parts of my body to parts of the horse's body, rather than "when the left leg is doing X, you will know because your right leg is doing Y"  ).

[ros]

I think we all have our own ways   Personally I find it easiest to feel what my own bum is doing in the sit phase. If I'm on the right rein, for example, I'm rising as the off fore is coming back, and sitting as the off fore is thrusting forward - that coincides with the near (outside) hind also coming forward under the horse, and that in turn causes the horse's left (outside) hip to drop, and THAT causes me to feel that as I'm returning to the saddle my right hip is being swung up and in, and my left hip is dropping - a sort of rolling effect if you can imagine? So if, for example, I'm out hacking, from sitting trot (or the first two or three strides of trot from walk) I decide which diagonal I want to be on, then pretend I'm on that rein in the school, and think which way I want to feel the Bum Swing   and I clock when it's the inward swing (on the rein I'm pretending to be on) then I rise on the next stride  

That's all terribly long-winded, I know, and not as scientific as it might be, but if you can feel the different things happening - your hips rising/falling, your legs swinging alternately under the horse and so on, you can pick whichever movement on the part of you and the horse that you find it easiest to match, and go with that. Sooner or later it's like driving and you don't have to remember which gear you're in!

[thecatsmother]

So if, for example, I'm out hacking, from sitting trot (or the first two or three strides of trot from walk) I decide which diagonal I want to be on, then pretend I'm on that rein in the school, and think which way I want to feel the Bum Swing   and I clock when it's the inward swing (on the rein I'm pretending to be on) then I rise on the next stride  

  Or as I think of it "rise and fall with the bum to the wall"  This is adapted from the "looking at the horse's shoulders to tell your diagonal" i.e. "rise and fall with the shoulder to the wall" i.e. when the horse's outside shoulder is going forwards, you rise with it, and when the outside shoulder comes backwards you sit. When you're sitting the trot you can feel each seatbone rise in turn as the horse's hind is on the floor and pushing up, as the other seatbone dips as that hind comes under the body. So when I go rising I concentrate on the outside seatbone and let myself be gently flung forwards into the ride when that seatbone rises.

I also change diagonals when out hacking, but I often do it by staying up in the rise for 2 steps rather than by staying sitting for two.

Re Bradders original query ie.. the wiggle, it is probably as Lucie says, a combination of both of you. One thing to help stabilise you may be to concentrate on keeping your shoulders still and level. i.e. sit tall (though of course folded slightly forwards from the hips) and try to imagine your shoulders staying absolutely still, with your hips being gently flung forwards and then gently letting them fall again.

Another thing which may help is doing rising trot without stirrups? Not being masochistic, it really helped me when sorting out feeling the diagonals (as mentioned above) but also really gets the feeling of dropping the weight through your legs and not standing in the stirrups, and using the horse's movement and your upper body stability to perform the rise (which is more actually a sort of lightening/rolling forwards in the saddle and letting your knees drop down as the outside seatbone is flung forwards)

[Talltails]

Another thing which may help is doing rising trot without stirrups?

I actually do this out hacking. I ride with a bareback pad, and we have two trots... the one I can sit to, and the one I can't  .  For the second one, I just rise slightly.  I will start thinking about what my seatbones are doing and see what it tells me.

The rise and fall with the leg by the wall has been shouted at me since I was a nipper in riding lessons... I never managed to connect it with anything I could feel 

and I clock when it's the inward swing (on the rein I'm pretending to be on) then I rise on the next stride

I think I can do this.  It just means I need to keep concentrating on the swing as I ask for a walk/trot transition, and then feel that for a few strides of trot, then rise...

Thanks for the suggestions, folks